Author: Kate

In tribute to our dear friend Olivia Inglis, NCHTA junior committee members Tori Doak and Hannah Klep have come up with the idea to ride this weekend with a black star attached to their saddle cloth, rather than a black arm band. Olivia’s cross country shirt had 3 black stars along the sleeve. We have made roughly 300 black stars for everyone who wishes to wear them.  Come to the secretary’s tent when you arrive to collect a star so you can #rideforolivia in all three phases. Judges, officials and volunteers are also welcome to wear them on their shirts!

To help everyone understand what the confusion is all about, the dressage tests have been renamed.  NCHTA was not aware of this when our schedule went to print.  The tests we chose were the Ev 2015 tests.  By mistake, they got printed as EA 2015.  So please see the link to the correct tests, by going to the Eventing NSW schedule of tests.
EvA60 are doing test 1 which used to be called Ev 1.1 2015
EvA80 are going test 2 which used to be called Ev 1.3 2015

And EvA95 are doing test 3 which was the Ev Prelim 1.

All riders have received an email with the links to the correct test.  I will be updating the draw file as soon as I can!

Please click here for the link to the draw page.  This has the draw and riders notes.  A copy has also been emailed to the address used when you entered. The test for EvA95 is here
We are looking forward to welcoming you to Canberra!

Sorry about my premature posting of the draw last night!
Please click here for the draw: http://wp.me/P39Irs-6h

The draw is now available to download on Draws/Results page.

EDIT: at 720am – taken down to fix up stuff ups!

http://wp.me/P39Irs-6h

Fundraising for Rod:

Please consider donating to the fund to help one of our most dedicated Eventing NSW volunteer, Rod Winchester visit his family for Christmas in the UK.  Rod hasn’t enjoyed the best of health lately, and this would be a real treat.

Even if every rider donated $10 it would pay for it! So don’t feel it needs to be a large sum – every penny counts!

https://www.subscribeonline.com.au/sub/subscription1.asp?orgid=160

Tests for the weekend:

Ev Prelim 1

Ev PN2

2015 FEI CIC* A

FEI CIC**2015A

FEI CIC***A

Here is the Timetable for the weekend, the draw will be available later tonight.

Looking forward to seeing everyone soon!

Entries have been received and the numbers are exciting – 2* has a large number of horses entered, and a waiting list has been put into place.  We are hoping to be able to accept all those horses.

The timetable for the event is being worked on now, and if anyone really wants to come who haven’t entered already, be aware that you will be wait-listed.

We are holding a working bee tomorrow from 10am.  Please let Kate or Ben know if you are attending so we can make sure that we have sufficient tools (and food!) ready for you.

See you in two weeks!

 

NCHTA has offered Vince Roche the position of CC Designer after the resignation of long term FEI course designer  Grant Johnston.

Vince wrote to me saying “After accepting the offer to design the Canberra Three Star track in 2015, I first asked a number of Three Star riders for their observations on the course. The responses were remarkably similar. Firstly, the creek crossings upset the flow of the course and the rhythm of the horses, so that it took three or four fences to get the horses going again after each crossing. Secondly, the course was too twisty, again upsetting the flow and rhythm of the horses. Thirdly, the footing was often too firm, especially the landings and in particular the landings after the drop fences. Finally, there was a feeling that the course was a little too difficult for its place in the calendar – prior to Goulburn and leading up to Adelaide, and it needed to be a little softer to leave a “sweet experience” memory for horses on the Three and Four Star competition pathway.
Mike Etherington-Smith spent a day with me in April – walking around the course, making observations of the previous course and also suggestions for the new course – and we bounced ideas between ourselves. He also made himself available to comment critically and make further suggestions a short time afterwards when I had produced my first draft plan.
So what did we come up with? The creek crossings have been reduced from two to one, by starting on the eastern side of the creek. In addition, to minimise the disruption to rhythm and flow of the track, it is planned to open out the sides of the track down to and up from the creek. In addition, we plan to realign the track immediately after the (only on-course) creek crossing to go straight ahead from the track out of the creek through the trees, rather than further affecting the horses rhythm by a hard right turn at the top of the riverbank.
The other balance that I hope to achieve is an adequate number of simple but maximum dimension “let up” fences between the complex fences – to allow horses to recover their confidence and rhythm after the “complexity and busy-ness” of the combination fences. The first few fences at the start are designed to get the horses going forward as well as getting them jumping up into the air. The last five fences are meant to keep the horses and riders switched on – important for safety.

Generally I have tried to avoid excessive turning especially early in the course where it is important to get horses moving forward well. In addition, the siting of a number of combinations has been re-sited to get the best footing and camber for the horses. We have worked hard to optimise the flow of the course.

NCHTA has borrowed a few 3 star portables for 2015 to help with the budget – as I would like to spend more effort and expense on the footings at most of the Three Star fences (especially the landings which in the case of most fences would benefit from application of 5 cm of sawdust or used stable shavings on the landings). I hope we may be able to do this also for the Two Star course. Also we plan to reshape the landings from the three FEI fences into water to make a “landing ramp” of road-base sloping down from 10cm deep at the base of the jump to zero over three metres – to ease the impact of jumping a drop into the flat footing of a water jump.  Similar take off and landing ramps are planned for the related jumps in the middle of the water.

So what is the overall aim? I hope that Canberra Three Star (and by reflection the Two and One Star) courses be regarded by our riders as pitched at exactly the right level of difficulty vs confidence-endowing for horses that are planning to go to Lynton two weeks later and then to Adelaide Four Star.
We need visible and palpable efforts made to improve the going – especially takeoffs and landings to minimise the wear and tear on our elite horses.

And then we hope that the Canberra CIC will get the entries in the Three Star to show the committee that all this extra work is worth the effort!!

Entries are now open for the CIC event that NCHTA are holding on the 3rd and 4th of October.
Click here to enter online with nominate

As always, we welcome anyone who wishes to volunteer and assist in the following ways:

• Attending working bees in the weekends prior to the event, and during the week to assist Ben Smith with course prep.
• Dressage pencilling and Marshalling
• Showjumping set up/pole picking/pack away (Saturday and Sunday)
• cross country jump judging (Sunday only)
• Hospitality (both days)
• Pack up (afterwards!)

If you have spare a few hours (or days) I know we would really appreciate it, please contact Kate

 

 

Last Wednesday the ACT Equestrian Association discovered by accident that almost the entire cross-country course at Equestrian Park has been provisionally included on the ACT Heritage List because of its proximity to the Yarralumla Woolshed. The nomination is for the Yarralumla Woolshed and Outbuildings and includes their rural setting (ie the cross-country course). You can read this document at http://www.legislation.act.gov.au/ni/2015-153/current/pdf/2015-153.pdf.

Neither ACTEA nor the National Capital Horse Trials Association (NCHTA), who manage and develop the course, were consulted about the provisional registration. Nor was the government land custodian, Sport and Recreation Services.

While we are still getting our heads around the detail, it appears that the provisions of the ACT Heritage Act 2004 may hamper NCHTA’s ability to continually upgrade and develop the course, should it be included in the final listing. This is because the legislation controls matters such as changing structures, excavation and modification of a site on the Heritage List. There are 145 jumps on the Equestrian Park course from 60cm through to Three Star level that may need to be moved, demolished, rebuilt or substantially modified over time. While the heritage protection of the Woolshed is a good thing, we are not convinced of the necessity or justification for extending the listing to the cross country course behind it.

ACTEA, EPMG and Sport & Recreation Services are actively working to minimise the harm caused by any inclusion in the Heritage List. In the meantime the public have only until cob 14 May to lodge objections or make comments about the listing. These comments will be considered by the Heritage Council in their decision about final listing of the Woolshed and its landscape setting.

You can help in this battle. If you are a club who hires the cross country course for your events, or a rider who uses it either as a competitor or recreational rider, or a trainer who uses it for clinics, now is the time to make your opinion heard about the cross country course.

You can make comments on the value of the cross country course and its contribution to the larger experience that is Equestrian Park. You can say how it contributes to the quality of equestrian facilities in Canberra. If you are a competitor you can say something about the course in comparison to other national and international courses, and what would happen if NCHTA could not continue to develop this course. Your comments do not have to be long, it’s numbers that count, but anything you say should stress how lucky Canberra is to have such a high class equestrian facility developed and maintained by the entirely volunteer efforts of NCHTA.

Please email the following text to  heritage@act.gov.au 

I am writing in response to the notice of provisional registration of the Yarralumla Woolshed and Outbuildings, Weston Creek, to the ACT Heritage Register.

I write as [a member of National Capital Horse Trials Association (NCHTA) / a competitor at Canberra Horse Trials] to oppose the inclusion of the equestrian cross country course in the provisional listing. This course is one of the best in NSW and allows riders of all levels to compete in horse trials competitions – from amateurs and juniors just starting out, through to Olympic short-listed competitors. The Three Star course has been used for pre-Olympic preparation and selection since the lead-up to the 2000 Olympics.

The current course comprises around 145 jumps, which are regularly moved, changed and rebuilt. This includes a water jump, which involved substantial excavation, and regular changes to the contour of the land with the creation of mounds, steps and banks. Over the last few years, NCHTA has invested $88,000 in maintaining and upgrading the course.

Anything that undermines NCHTA’s ability to continue to develop the cross country course will inevitably lead to its deterioration over time, and the loss of a world-class equestrian facility to the ACT and to elite equestrian sport.

While the heritage protection of the Woolshed is a good thing, the justification for extending the listing to the cross country course is not clear. The rural setting for the woolshed is already protected in numerous ways, including its zoning as Open Space (Park) under the National Capital Plan and through the recent establishment of an Offset Management Plan to conserve, manage and improve habitat for the Golden Sun Moth.

The current landscape of Equestrian Park reflects development of the cross country course over more than 20 years. While it remains “a rural landscape”, this hardly makes it unique in the Bush Capital. Furthermore, the provisional listing states that the landscaping “helps to block views of encroaching development”, which is clearly not the case.

Before imposing a potentially onerous regime of negotiation and approvals on the small group of volunteers who manage the cross country course, I urge the ACT Heritage Council to take account of very weak case for listing the area, given the substantial changes in the landscape since the 1960s and the existing protection of the land as open space.