Post by lisah on Mar 14, 2011 15:17:17 GMT 1
Hello everyone
Well, the evenings are getting lighter, the mornings are lighter and soon spring will be here for real!
We are getting ever closer to show and competition dates and the Planning Committee would like to wish horses and riders the very best for the coming season. You will see from our calendar of events on the main website (www.scotnorthexracers.co.uk) that there is already a lot arranged, and more still to be announced.
So, here are the latest news items.
NORTH LAMMERMUIR RIDING CLUB & SCOTNORTH TEAM UP
We are delighted to announce that we have paired up with North Lammermuir Riding Club (NLRC) so that all our events are open to NLRC members at ScotNorth member rates, and vice versa. Please visit their website www.nlrc.org.uk to view the calendar of events.
NLRC have already arranged 2 exciting events
• 16th April – Mini express event at Hodges Farm, Pencaitland, East Lothian
• 7th and 8th May – Clinics with Patrick Print OBE FHBS
Details of both are in our calendar of events, and you can also download the relevant schedules.
NLRC run a number of dressage and jumping shows throughout the year and it is felt by offering mutual ‘member rates’ at our events, it opens up even more for people to go to and enjoy their horses. I am sure this is the start of a long lasting and mutually beneficial relationship between the two clubs.
ROR SCOTTISH SHOWING SERIES
We are so happy to see that the RoR now have a Scottish Showing Series – no more long and expensive journeys down south to try and qualify for Hickstead etc. The RoR is the biggest race horse charity in the UK and it is wonderful that ex racehorse owners in Scotland and The North now have their own series.
If you are into showing and would like to qualify for their Scottish Championships, to be held at the Royal Highland Show in 2012, then please visit their website and register your horse. www.ror.org.uk Please note that the RoR registration stipulations and their judging criteria for the show ring differ from ScotNorth’s criteria so please ensure you read these carefully so that you are aware of the differences.
ROR CLINC WITH DAVID GATHERER
The RoR are running a clinic, free to horses registered with them on 3rd May at the Scottish Equestrian Centre, Gleneagles. Please visit the RoR website for details on how to register for this.
GOODBYE TO A SCOTTISH LEGEND
I know there have been a few members who have lost horses in the past few months and our hearts go out to you all. However, there is one fabulous horse, a horse whose career I followed when he was racing, and continued to follow when he ‘retired’ to the life of a successful eventer and show horse. Please indulge me to tell you all about this most wonderful horse, and his mum.
Skippers Cleuch (Skips to his friends) was without doubt the most successful and gutsy racehorse that Scotland has produced in my lifetime. He always looked fabulous in the parade ring and he also looked like he ‘belonged’ there – he was a horse who truly loved his racing. I screamed myself stupid time after time when he ran, he was magnificent. He was so successful – of 18 starts he had 10 wins and a second, in all disciplines - but his magical career was cut short when he fractured a bone in his neck.
His owner (David Stevenson/Ashleybank Investments and a great supporter of ScotNorth) loved him so much that Skips got sent for the very best veterinary treatment, not so that he could race again but so that he could go on and have a great life as a ‘retired’ racehorse. He had given his owners and trainer a fantastic run and they felt they owed it to him to give him a fantastic retirement. Len Lungo (his trainer) and David gifted Skips to Amanda Creedon (Mindy to her friends) to go off and enjoy the quiet retired life.
However, Skips had other ideas and went on to have a fabulous partnership with Mindy and a successful eventing career, and he took on a new string to his bow of top show horse. I can still hear Mindy’s scream of total shock and delight when Skips won the first ScotNorth Masterclass at Thirlestane Horse Trials in 2009. There was not a dry eye in or out of the show ring! When he came into the ring I remember Clive Storey saying ‘’Wow, if that behaves it is my winner’’ and Skips behaved like a dream. The following year he won the coveted Roschal Memorial Trophy at the first ScotNorth Festival of the Ex Racehorse at Hopetoun House – this was for the horse that Peter Scudamore would most like to take hunting, what an honour for Mindy and Skips.
Skips attended ScotNorth parades, always looking totally on form and always having a ball. Many of us have loved seeing his eventing photos on the forum and following his ‘quiet retirement’.
Sadly Mindy had to make the decision we all dread, the one final act of love that we all have to face but one that we owe to our horses, and he was pts after a sudden bout of colic. Skips stole the hearts of many of us, he and Mindy inspired us to get out there and jump/event and he was the most fantastic ambassador for ex racehorse ownership.
Mindy, we all send you our love and want to thank you for sharing Skips with us over the past few years and for giving him the most fantastic home that any horse could wish for.
Mindy will be putting up a memorial trophy for her beloved boy and I am sure that Skips will watch proudly as his fellow ex racehorses all compete to win it.
Wishing everyone the very best for the 2011 season, have fun, be safe and remember to post photos and updates on the forum so everyone can share in the great fun and pride of being owned by an ex racehorse.
LisaH & the Planning Committee
Here is one of my favourite pics of Skips and Mindy xx
Well, the evenings are getting lighter, the mornings are lighter and soon spring will be here for real!
We are getting ever closer to show and competition dates and the Planning Committee would like to wish horses and riders the very best for the coming season. You will see from our calendar of events on the main website (www.scotnorthexracers.co.uk) that there is already a lot arranged, and more still to be announced.
So, here are the latest news items.
NORTH LAMMERMUIR RIDING CLUB & SCOTNORTH TEAM UP
We are delighted to announce that we have paired up with North Lammermuir Riding Club (NLRC) so that all our events are open to NLRC members at ScotNorth member rates, and vice versa. Please visit their website www.nlrc.org.uk to view the calendar of events.
NLRC have already arranged 2 exciting events
• 16th April – Mini express event at Hodges Farm, Pencaitland, East Lothian
• 7th and 8th May – Clinics with Patrick Print OBE FHBS
Details of both are in our calendar of events, and you can also download the relevant schedules.
NLRC run a number of dressage and jumping shows throughout the year and it is felt by offering mutual ‘member rates’ at our events, it opens up even more for people to go to and enjoy their horses. I am sure this is the start of a long lasting and mutually beneficial relationship between the two clubs.
ROR SCOTTISH SHOWING SERIES
We are so happy to see that the RoR now have a Scottish Showing Series – no more long and expensive journeys down south to try and qualify for Hickstead etc. The RoR is the biggest race horse charity in the UK and it is wonderful that ex racehorse owners in Scotland and The North now have their own series.
If you are into showing and would like to qualify for their Scottish Championships, to be held at the Royal Highland Show in 2012, then please visit their website and register your horse. www.ror.org.uk Please note that the RoR registration stipulations and their judging criteria for the show ring differ from ScotNorth’s criteria so please ensure you read these carefully so that you are aware of the differences.
ROR CLINC WITH DAVID GATHERER
The RoR are running a clinic, free to horses registered with them on 3rd May at the Scottish Equestrian Centre, Gleneagles. Please visit the RoR website for details on how to register for this.
GOODBYE TO A SCOTTISH LEGEND
I know there have been a few members who have lost horses in the past few months and our hearts go out to you all. However, there is one fabulous horse, a horse whose career I followed when he was racing, and continued to follow when he ‘retired’ to the life of a successful eventer and show horse. Please indulge me to tell you all about this most wonderful horse, and his mum.
Skippers Cleuch (Skips to his friends) was without doubt the most successful and gutsy racehorse that Scotland has produced in my lifetime. He always looked fabulous in the parade ring and he also looked like he ‘belonged’ there – he was a horse who truly loved his racing. I screamed myself stupid time after time when he ran, he was magnificent. He was so successful – of 18 starts he had 10 wins and a second, in all disciplines - but his magical career was cut short when he fractured a bone in his neck.
His owner (David Stevenson/Ashleybank Investments and a great supporter of ScotNorth) loved him so much that Skips got sent for the very best veterinary treatment, not so that he could race again but so that he could go on and have a great life as a ‘retired’ racehorse. He had given his owners and trainer a fantastic run and they felt they owed it to him to give him a fantastic retirement. Len Lungo (his trainer) and David gifted Skips to Amanda Creedon (Mindy to her friends) to go off and enjoy the quiet retired life.
However, Skips had other ideas and went on to have a fabulous partnership with Mindy and a successful eventing career, and he took on a new string to his bow of top show horse. I can still hear Mindy’s scream of total shock and delight when Skips won the first ScotNorth Masterclass at Thirlestane Horse Trials in 2009. There was not a dry eye in or out of the show ring! When he came into the ring I remember Clive Storey saying ‘’Wow, if that behaves it is my winner’’ and Skips behaved like a dream. The following year he won the coveted Roschal Memorial Trophy at the first ScotNorth Festival of the Ex Racehorse at Hopetoun House – this was for the horse that Peter Scudamore would most like to take hunting, what an honour for Mindy and Skips.
Skips attended ScotNorth parades, always looking totally on form and always having a ball. Many of us have loved seeing his eventing photos on the forum and following his ‘quiet retirement’.
Sadly Mindy had to make the decision we all dread, the one final act of love that we all have to face but one that we owe to our horses, and he was pts after a sudden bout of colic. Skips stole the hearts of many of us, he and Mindy inspired us to get out there and jump/event and he was the most fantastic ambassador for ex racehorse ownership.
Mindy, we all send you our love and want to thank you for sharing Skips with us over the past few years and for giving him the most fantastic home that any horse could wish for.
Mindy will be putting up a memorial trophy for her beloved boy and I am sure that Skips will watch proudly as his fellow ex racehorses all compete to win it.
Wishing everyone the very best for the 2011 season, have fun, be safe and remember to post photos and updates on the forum so everyone can share in the great fun and pride of being owned by an ex racehorse.
LisaH & the Planning Committee
Here is one of my favourite pics of Skips and Mindy xx
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. The first time i met them I was blown away by this mega fit horse, he looked amazing. What a brilliant partnership they were and an example of what this club is about. A horse of a lifetime without a doubt! 
