Casual Dressage & Jumping Day | Tuggeranong Adult Riding Club

A few words from Marg Heaney from our affiliated club, Tuggeranong Adult Riding Club about their casual dressage and jumping day

On Sunday, 26 July Tuggeranong Adult Riding Club held its annual Casual Dressage and Jumping Day at Equestrian Park, Curtin. The word ‘casual’ is added so competitors don’t feel they have to plait their horses and dress formally.

Right up until the day of competition it was a wait and see situation for the organisers because of COVID-19, but finally, it went ahead.

There were so many entries submitted online a month before that entries had to be suspended after three days! The judges can only score so many horses in one day!

Sunday dawned cold and raining, but nobody wanted to cancel the event so it went ahead. About 30% of entrants were scratched, so it was quite well attended under the circumstances. It just goes to show how desperate riders are for a bit of competition!

A big thank you goes to Kambah Pony Club committee members who did a superb job of catering under extreme conditions out in the open! They brought a large horse float and erected three marquees in front of it, so they were undercover. The only problem was a large lake which developed in front of the serving table. 

The three dressage judges were in their cars at the ends of the three dressage arenas. The showjumping judges were in a horse float parked at the showjumping arena and the scorers were also in another large horse float. They are very versatile vehicles!

It did not stop raining for the entire day, but luckily there was no wind. That came on Monday! The competitors generally seemed to be enjoying themselves and apart from being sodden, said they had a good time. Of course, the horses don’t care – they’re out there anyway, rain, hail or sunshine.