A TOTAL of 14 members of the Peebles and Tweeddale Pony Club made the journey to Auchinleck in Ayrshire last week to compete in the Pony Club Area 19 regional Dressage and Eventing competitions.

All of the members and ponies were beautifully turned out and acquitted themselves well against some much bigger clubs from across the South of Scotland and the central belt. The Novice Dressage “White” team of Lesley Walker on Otterhill Bumble, Hazel Mowat on Aliludo, Jenny Mowat on Red Star Runner and Anna Hunter on Jumbalaya rode to their best to take second place overall.

Individually Lesley and Bumble finished fifth and Anna and Jumbalaya were sixth.

In the Open Dressage section Caledonia Bhatia on her lovely Connemara, Derrartha Thomas, were the clear winners of the section and qualified for the Pony Club National Championships in Cheshire in August.

The second day of competition was the Eventing, with all the members showing off their skills in Dressage, Showjumping and Cross-country. Although there were no placings for the teams or individuals, all of the young riders gained valuable experience to build on for the future, and came back safely and in good heart.

The Peebles and Tweeddale Pony club were also successful last month at Hopetoun House Horse Trials.

The first team of Alice Bryce, Lindy Walker, Jenny Mowat and Libby Davidson competed in the first class of 70cm and the second class which was the 70cm relay and did fantastic to come fourth and first, respectively.

In the 80cm class, with a team consisting of Alex Riba Segues, Olivia Noble, Anna Hunter and Daragh Ramage, they did really well but unfortunately didn’t get placed.

In the 90cm class with the team of Persia Bhatia, Caledonia Bhatia, Lesley Walker and Hazel Mowat did very well to come third in their class.

And in the 90cm Relay the team of Daragh Ramage, Persia Bhatia, Caledonia Bhatia and Hazel Mowat came sixth.