February Newsletter

Horse AchilHi everyone,

Achil here – Sally decided I deserved to write yet another newsletter because I’ve FINALLY been able to be ridden again after all the complications with my head! More about me later though…..

QUIZ NIGHT ANNUAL FUNDRAISER

We are holding our annual fundraiser on Saturday 30th March at the Holburn Bar from 7p.m till 1.am. We run an annual fundraiser to help raise money to cover the cost of more equipment for the club and in this case, cover some of my (Achils) vet fees

The quiz is open to everyone over 18 years old and it’s not a horsey quiz as we like to make them so that everyone can enjoy them whether they are horsey or not. Tickets are £17 and include your buffet, quiz entry and DJ. It is teams of 4 for the quiz, but don’t worry if you don’t have a team – we always organise teams for those who don’t have a group of 4 and make sure you’re on a team with people you know or have similar interests so it’s also a good way to meet other members.

We hold an auction, silent auction, raffle and tombola as well on the evening, so we are also looking for prizes from members! There is a huge variety of stuff you can donate – the auction items tend to be bigger more unusual things, the silent auction slightly smaller things, the raffle is fairly basic things (bottles/toiletries/candles e.t.c.) and the tombola is pretty much anything low cost! We would really appreciate it if members could have a look at home or think and see if there is anything they can donate – it’s your club, so please try to help us raise funds for it! For auction and silent auction items, we offer advertising on our social media pages with links to a company web site/Facebook page in the lead up to the event so it is a good advertising opportunity for local businesses too.

STABLE MANAGEMENT

We are running both a beginner and novice stable management course on the first week of the Easter holidays – they are both the first week as our staff are going to a convention in the second week. There are still a few spaces on each course – so both beginner and novice run from Mon 1st April – Thurs 4th April inclusive and cost £155.00 with a £50 deposit payable on booking. If you would like to join one of the stable management courses, then just ask at reception and they can help you book onto the course.

BUSY COUPLE OF MONTHS AHEAD!

We have quite a few things on during February and March that are “new” to us at ARC, some of which may be useful to members.

On 11th February, we are running an “equine careers day”, where a local equine vet, vet nurse, professional rider, farrier, a member of the mounted police  and one of our coaches will give a short talk on their specific careers and then there will be a Q and A session and an opportunity for attendees to go and discuss things with each professional. The afternoon is scheduled to run from 1pm- 3p.m. The event is free of charge and everyone is welcome – if you would like to attend, then please let Ali know by emailing lessons@aberdeenridingclub.com or popping in to add your name to the list.

On 11th February (in the morning 11a.m – 12p.m) we are also hosting a BHS Challenge awards training session which is designed for local coaches who may want to deliver the training for Challenge awards. This should be booked directly through BHS Scotland but local coaches are more than welcome.

We are also hosting two BHS Stage one assessments – one on the 4th March and one on the 5th March and quite a few of our members are taking part in it. Initially we were just holding one assessment, but there was a fair bit of demand for it and a waiting list so the BHS contacted us and asked if we would run two – this is great for riders and candidates in Scotland as it means the BHS Education team are listening to demand and trying to put on enough assessments for everyone.

MY PROBLEMATIC HEAD

So as I said at the start of the newsletter, I just started being ridden again at the start of this week – it has been a long road for me back to health after all my tooth problems but (fingers crossed) I have now been off the antibiotics, steroids and anti-inflammatories for two weeks now.

As I have (hopefully) kept you members updated, I have had a lot of issues with my teeth – initially two years ago I had to have a broken tooth removed under general anesthetic, then I had a filling put in another one, then I needed another molar removed (this time understanding sedation) but as the molar had an infected root, it had affected my sinuses so I had to have a hole drilled into my head and have my sinuses flushed out every day for a few days at the vet hospital.

I was then unfortunate enough to get a fungal infection in my sinuses (which needed a different antifungal flush out) so I had to go back to the vet hospital, then once I got home, I got a really unusual infection in my skull plates which was really hard for the vets to get on top of as I’m resistant to a lot of antibiotics!

Now everyone at ARC knows that I’m worth fixing because I teach so many people how to ride well, but my treatment over the last two years has mounted up to an eye-watering £13,748.54p. Ardene have been brilliant vets – they have discounted a lot of my treatment and my special friend vet Alice really went above and beyond to try to fix me – but this is a huge amount for a not for profit club to find over 2 years. So Sally agreed with me that we could set up a Just Giving page for members to make a small donation to my fund – the vets fees are paid – it just means that if we raise some funds then there is plenty in the pot to buy new equipment with instead of it all going on my head! We have 400 riding members – so just think – if everyone was able to donate £10, then that would be a huge chunk of my fees!

The link to my Just Giving page is http://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/achil?utm  so if you can, please visit it and make a wee donation – there is also a link to the page on our club Facebook page.

Thanks!

Achil

xxxx

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