META ST. VALENTINE'S / CARNIVAL SHOW

At 10 am on the dot our Fancy Dress Parade participants filed down into the arena to show off some amazing costumes, so good in fact that the Judge had to resort to applause from the public in order to reach a decision. Proud fancy dress winner was José, a most convincing old lady, costume all home-made.

Pony rides started early too and we soon had a line of anxious youngsters awaiting their turn on Magic.

Second on the programme was Gymkhana. Taking part were four new riders, Francisco and his twin sister Isabel, Celia and Amparo (recently arrived from Germany) and our favourite Norwegian pupils, Maria and Frida, who visit their holiday home on Condado de Alhama whenever they can and always make a point of coming to ride with us. Everyone took home a well-diserved trophy.

Our novice jumpers; Noa, Ellie, Georgia, Kiki and Mimi, did very well over a course of cross poles trotting on Lily. Once again trophies all round for a great effort.

In the meantime Mollie took over the pony rides and we called the raffle winners, prizes being free classes and hacks, META T-shirts and cuddly toys.

Then the serious jumping began. Only three riders took part on this occasion but they did a fantastic job over a Chase-me-Charly and rounds at 50 cm, 80 cm and 1.10 cm.

Emma Barber de Martino rode Golfo at a slight disadvantage as he is such a small chap next to Midnight and Ecolo but she well and truly demonstrated that she is a very capable rider. She made Golfo fly over those obstacles and will soon have to move up to a bigger pony.

Becky Driffield showed us an extremely professional approach to riding Midnight, a complicated horse with plenty of potential. She calls him her ‘project’ and is happy to put in hours of training until the time is right. We are already seeing the results of her perseverance and patience.

Leah Twomey who, as for other shows came over from England to lend a hand with the horses pre-event, rode Ecolo and allowed an old veteran to show his colours. He didn’t knock down a pole or put a foot wrong. However Midnight is coming up close and could soon be the star of the stable.

The bigger jumping rounds accumulated points – there was tough competition between Ecolo and Midnight but Leah on Ecolo just won over Becky on Midnight and Emma came in a worthy 3rd on Golfo.

We were very proud of our big girls and are happy to say that we have some up-and-coming quality riders. We now have three young lads who could soon give the girls a hard time in competition.

As always the atmosphere was great, a lovely family day out. The weather was glorious and the META BBQ went down well. The Piccadilly Coffee Company sent over some of their special muffins, chocolate doughnuts and cookies for those with a sweet tooth, just the job with a cuppa or a coffee.

To sign off we would like to thank all our public and clients for continuing to support us. A special word of thanks to Teresa Hicks and the Costa Cálida Chronicle for taking us under their wing. Thanks to the girls, Kim, Anne and Julie for helping us with the organisation and to the lads, Moisés, Moshe and Alberto, our META BBQ specialists. And last but never the least, our wonderful META horses for their patience and willingness – they always come up trumps on the day!

Meta Riding Centre, Crrtra El Palmar/Mazarrón km 20.400, (Mu 603),
La Costera de Alhama, Murcia

636 172198

http://www.horseridingbymeta.com/

Blog:- http://www.horseridingbymeta.blogspot.com/

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