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Where has the time gone????? It's March already!The club started back training in earnest in February with the target being "THE HORSE OF THE YEAR SHOW" held each year in Hastings and is the premier event on the New Zealand Equestrian calendar. This year the club decided to take just one team to the show, last year we took a very large team and the logistics were just to great. Whilst this may have disappointed some it proved to be the correct decision. So training it was and as a result we were able to hold a practice display prior to the show along to which we invited friends,family and anyone who wished to watch and it proved to be really worthwhile. Pics below show one of the practice days at the club.
Sadly Nora left for Australia after spending some months with us to continue her world travels and she will be really missed, but as always seems to be the case we gained a couple of new faces to assist, first to arrive was Doria Kuder from Montpellier, France who hails originally from Germany and her Vaulting club "Lörrach" is based in Basel , Germany. Doria had just started her overseas experience NZ being her first stop! Katharina Luehrmann from Hungen in Germany who's club is "Horloftac" also joined us but Katharina was at the other end of her world trip and will be heading home at the end of March.
Doria and Katharina spent February and March with us and helped with the preparation of the team for The Horse of The year Show plus doing a myriad of other things around the centre, such as helping with our special needs riders , general farm work etc, and we were really happy to have them along as they have contributed wonderfully well.
The "Horse of The Year Show" was a great success and everyone seemed to enjoy the three days in Hastings. The weather was great ( during the days) and the crowds excellent. This year we had pretty much a trouble free run with the exception of the Thursday night practice which, due to delays in the programme meant the team practiced in the dark!! The team performed brilliantly on Friday evening and Saturday and received tons of support from the audience but because of programme delays the Sunday performance was cancelled, a blessing actually as the day turned quite cold and it meant we arrived back in Waikanae at a decent hour.
As usual the support from the parents and friends who accompanied the vaulters was magnificent, pitching in with make-up for the performers, helping Catarina with the horses, doing all the many tasks required and of course most importantly feeding everyone and again Julia did a stirling job! even managed a very professional imitation of Candy Lane in the clubs Saturday night entertainment "Dancing with the Stars" back at the holiday park! The Saturday night entertainment is becoming a feature of the Show weekend!!! Pics lower down! rated R18 in some cases.
Then it was show time!
Well we hope you enjoy these pics, just some of the many taken. The kids were fantastic and Catarina, Ruth Lyn and all the helpers did a marvelous job and best of all everyone had fun doing it, which is really what it is all about. HOWEVER IT DOESN"T STOP QUITE YET!!!!!!There's still Saturday night and the clubs much anticipated annual impromptu show, loosely referred to as a fun night for those not initiated and who would have, had they known, run as far and as fast as they could! With the exception of Brad (one of the guys in white shiney pants!!!). Brad is a natural for this type of event and Hannah his wife says he secretly looks forward to dressing up and being part of the action each year!!! The idea is that the group (vaulters) rope in adults, supporters and any unfortunate who happens to be passing and cajole them into being part of a team that has 30 minutes to create a 3 minute performance to be presented before four totally independant judges and in front of anyone who might want to watch. (The patrons at the Hastings holiday park where the team stays usually comes out in force to watch)!! Costumes are brought to the venue from our clubs ever increasing wardrobe and each team is given a theme and dresses appropriately (although appropriately is probably not the correct terminology in this instance). The theme this year was "DANCING WITH THE STARS" and each team (there were four) had to create dances to suit: "The Tango" "Belly Dancing" "Rock n Roll" and "Pole Dancing" whilst the writer was unfamiliar with this last dance we were fortunate that a number in this particular team were and as a result gave a very educational and enlightening display. An ageing Jason Gunn (although we suspect he may have been Jason's grandfather) and the very energetic Candy Lane (Julia) officiated along with a 4 member panel of guest judges. Two international and two locals. Let the photos speak for themselves (remember some are rated R18!!!!) and whilst some pains were taken to disguise identities those wishing to know who the dancers were can contact the club for full details.
Well before anyone reading this contacts the Broadcasting Standards Authority, or the Commissioner for Child Welfare let them be aware that the writer has already set the wheels in motion and the offending parents warned! However a magnificent dinner followed with plenty of humour and fun..until the rain that is...but hey it was a great weekend and the company just first class. Thank you all sincerely for your continuing support and participation and the vaulters, well as I said before, they were just great!
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