Happy Christmas and a very successful new year to you all.

We have the AGM scheduled for 2nd February with a very interesting talk that has kindly been organized by Heather Lonsdale (details in this newsletter) and I look forwards to seeing you all there for what will be my final AGM as Chair of the club. Having been chair of Essendon and then the merged EEFDG, for over 10 years and on the committee for over 20 years I felt that it was time for some new blood and new ideas. Heather Lonsdale, currently Vice Chair of the Club has indicated that she is happy to take over and Emma Wakefield to take over as Vice Chair this will be put to the Members at the AGM. There are always roles available for people wanting to join the committee – and members interested should talk to myself, or other committee members. The committee has been very supportive to me throughout my tenure and I’m sure you will all agree how brilliantly the shows are run by Laura and her team and the great success of the Teams is also a great credit to Emma and her team. We have some real talent and energy on the committee and I look forwards to seeing the club continue to go from strength to strength  I will still be taking a keen interest in the club and will be judging at the test & Train Day and also taking a clinic later in the year.

Membership is very healthy but we hope that you are all looking for opportunities to encourage new people to join. I believe that this club offers many things for many different people and I am very proud of where we stand as a club especially as we have seen many clubs fold or re-trench over the last few years. We offer the broadest range of classes (Intro-intermediare) at all of our unaffiliated shows, we have affiliated shows which offer music classes (and cut-price entries to members), we run clinics for flat and pole work throughout the year and we support the junior and senior teams at area competitions. Please let us know, at the AGM, if you feel we are missing any opportunities for our members. Financially we are still robust despite losses this year. Costs for keeping the website up to date , costs of insurance for the shows and  also the costs team events need to be financed by membership fees and entries. We need to aim for breakeven in our income & expenses and we will do that by recruiting new members and getting good entries at all shows so please so what you can to help. Don’t forget that you can buy from a range of clothing with the EEFDG  logo on  and all  riders get the opportunity to utilise the smart logo’d saddlecloths when they ride for the club (all of which were organised by Louise Clark ).

The winter show season is well underway with 3 of the winter league shows already having taken place with the 4th leg to happen in February – so you all still have opportunities to gain points for league trophies and also to qualify for the Winter Championship.

As well as being a part of Area8 (Essex) and the National level competitions, we have also recently taken the decision to join London Riding Clubs which is an unaffiliated body offering talks, training, social events and competitions to members of their clubs. Further details will be provided shortly but will be of particular interest to those of you who work or live in London.

I look forwards to seeing as many of you as possible at the AGM but in the meantime Good luck to you all for the year ahead

Kim Ratcliffe
Chair

Winter League next show on Sunday 26th Febuary 2012

View diary dates and schedules for up coming competitions here

All competitions will be held at Woodlands Stables, Chingford, London, E4 7RE

Good luck to you all!

Good news: Woodlands is outside of the low emissions zone!

EEDFG teams had a very successful day at the recent Area Winter Dressage Qualifier held at Norton Heath on 8th October.

The junior team was made up of Amy Adamthwaite, India Sheridan and Jodie Richter.  Amy kept up her amazing record of 100% wins in Area competitions by winning the Prelim with over 70% -  very well done Amy, we are proud to have you representing us!  New team member India Sheridan rode the adorable Banana beautifully to finish in 3rd place in the Novice.  The team finished equal 2nd but were relegated to 3rd place as when there is equality the 4th team member’s score comes into play, and they only had 3 riders due to the 4th person falling ill the day before.  This happened at the Winter Championships last year and is a tough way to drop a place – we really need some more juniors to come forward to support the absolutely brilliant ones we already have!

The Senior teams literally swept the board.  The EEFDG Oaks consisted of Sophie Butchart, Jan Greenlees, Carly Dimes and Angela Fenn, and the Elms team was Jacquie Field, Michelle West, Suzanne Adamthwaite and Gemma Pye.  Our riders dominated in the Novice class, which was won by Sophie, with Jan in 3rd place narrowly beating Jacquie into 4th.  New member Angela showed what a great asset she is to the Club by winning the Prelim convincingly.  The Oaks team finished with two wins and a 3rd and won the team event by a wide margin, and have qualified for the Winter National Championships at Hartpury in April.  The Elms team weren’t far behind in 4th place.

On the day out of our 11 riders 9 scored over 65% and 3 had amazing plus-70% scores.  What a wealth of talent we have!!

A huge Well Done to everybody involved, and the very best of luck for the seniors at the Championships.

Please email Emma Wakefield at emmaequus@btconnect.com if you would like to ride for the Club or have any queries.

We have had a very successful summer as a club! Well done to Jacqui Field and Claire Burne who both competed in the Trailblazers final.

Sofie Butchart won her novice and Prelim regional final….and was placed in both classes at the Nationals.

Jan Greenlees was second to Sofie at the regionals and also went to the Nationals. See if you can spot the photo of Jan and Sofie on our website.

Please let Rachel Kellett or Kim Ratcliffe know about your successes, qualifications etc at Dressage or any Equestrian discipline.