Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Winter News & Updates

Hello All!

We hope everyone that attended the Royal this Saturday had a terrific time. It was a great show and Reba was very brave, jumping that carved pig! It was amazing to see so many Raynham riders all there, with 75 in our group buy section and many others who purchased tickets separately.

If anyone has pictures of the Halloween Schooling Show, especially the costume class, please email them to info@raynhamstables.com. We’d love to post some on the blog!

There are tons of updates included in this email:

- New Session Started

- Winter Riding Tips

- Snack Bar

- Awards Banquet

- Winter Training Program

NEW SESSION STARTED!

November 1st – December 23rd

Just a reminder that the November - December lesson session started on November 1st. If you ride on Saturday or Sunday, this session is only 7 weeks so that we can wrap up before the winter break. This means there are reduced session fees for weekend classes.

Nov-Dec Weekend 7 Lesson Package Pricing

Group: $280 + HST = $316.40

3-person Semi-Private: $315 + HST = $355.95

2-person Semi or Private = $350 + HST = $395.50

All weekday classes are priced as usual. Please remember that the pricing on the website does not include HST. Many riders missed adding HST to their September cheques. If you owe HST from the last session, please add the outstanding amount to this session’s payment.

WINTER RIDING TIPS

Riding year-round is the only way for aspiring riders to achieve consistent progress. We live in Canada so cold weather and snow is a part of life but there are many ways to keep riders comfortable when riding in the winter. Both the tackroom and viewing room are heated to keep parents cosy. We also have the NEW Snack Bar in the camp trailer, see details below. Riders need to dress in LOTS of layers so that they stay warm tacking up and then can remove layers once they get hot while riding (think of dressing as you would for a day skiing).

· A warm coat that you can remove once you mount & a vest to wear while riding

· Long underwear under breeches. You can layer sweatpants on top to stay even warmer while tacking up

· A hat, mittens and scarf for tacking up and a headband or winter helmet cover to keep ears warm while riding

· Warm ski socks with winter riding boots

· Winter riding gloves and hot packs for those really cold days!

The majority of our students ride year-round. If you are unable to cope with the cold (it’s tough for some of our youngest students) we highly recommend only taking off January and February as those are the coldest months. Last year we were riding outside until the end of November, it was so mild! If you take more than two months off, you will find you have regressed significantly when you start up again.

NEW SNACK BAR

Students stay warm riding, but what about the parents? We want to keep parents happy during the winter months so we’ve decided to heat the camp trailer and offer snacks and complementary hot beverages to keep parents cosy and warm! We are going to hook up a video feed from the big arena so you can view your child’s lesson from the comfort of the camp trailer. If you have any requests for snacks you’d like us to carry, please let us know! We will continue to heat the tack room and small area viewing lounge as well.

AWARDS BANQUET

Friday, November 26th

Reception @ 6:00pm, Dinner @ 7:00pm.

The Awards Banquet is rapidly approaching! The banquet will be held at Le Jardin again as the venue and meal was fabulous last year. Everyone is welcome to attend, invite your friends and family! It’s going to be a fun-filled evening with dinner, dancing, awards presentations and silent auction. If you cannot attend but have an item you can donate for the silent auction, your support will be greatly appreciated. All funds raised will go towards supporting the 2011 show team and facility improvements. Tickets are $55.00 per person ($45.00 for show team riders). Tickets are available for purchase at the house.

ATTENTION ALL RIDERS! When Nikki’s computer hard drive crashed, we lost some of the results from the 2009 – 2010 In-House Schooling Show Series. Please send in all of your results!

WINTER TRAINING PROGRAM

We want to support riders that are dedicated to developing their riding throughout the winter. This is the BEST time of year to advance your riding as your coaches and favourite horses aren’t away at shows!

Program Details

· Weekly 45 minute Practice Ride on Fridays

· Horse Guarantee (same horse for all lessons & practice rides)

· Themed lessons with weekly lesson topics posted on blog with a related educational article

· Bi-weekly Friday Night Training Sessions. We’ll do one dressage test night and one stadium jumping night per month. This is a terrific opportunity to practice going in the ring and receive feedback from your coaches.

· At the end of the training session, riders will have the opportunity to participate in EC Rider Level testing

Who: Open to all riders that are taking two lessons/week

When: Program offered November – End of February (lessons as regularly scheduled)

Cost: Pay for lessons as usual. Program is an additional $125.00 + HST per month. Boarders: $50.00 + HST Program starts immediately, will pro-rate November.