Hi everyone and welcome to the June Newsletter! We hope our members who were taking school exams are all finished now and able to relax a bit and look forward to their Summer holidays! This month’s pic is of Liam and Ricki, one of the ARC horses that Liam rides and we picked his picture this month due to his good news!
WELL DONE LIAM
A big well done this month to Liam who went down South in May and sat his Stage 4 (event) ride – this assessment involves riding 2 horses on the flat, 2 horses showjumping (up to 1.10m) and 1 horse x-country. Liam had an (unplanned) dismount in the x-country section (he was fine and unhurt) so we knew he wouldn’t achieve that section as if you fall off in a BHS assessment you are not able to carry on, but he had done the dressage and SJ sections by that point and we were delighted when he got his results and had passed both with great feedback. Liam will now nip down to England again in June to do the XC section and we’ve advised him to pack his superglue for his bum to ensure he stays on this time J ARC funds the staff teams BHS assessments and training, so this is one of the costs that your lesson fees and membership fees go towards – ensuring we are always upskilling our coaching team.
COFFEE AREA WORKS
As many of our members will have noticed, we are having some work done on the Hippotherapy side of the coffee area, to raise the roof of that section of the room and put in some reinforced roof beams. The work will take around 10 days to complete and during that time that section of the coffee area will be out of bounds and sectioned off.
We are carrying out the roof repairs as we are hoping to make a rather fancy (expensive) purchase this year, but we need to keep it a secret until we have some confirmation back from some organisations that we have made funding applications to.
MEMBERSHIP RENEWAL
As noted in our last newsletter, annual membership is due on or before 1st June 2024 for all riders (other than those who are currently on introductory memberships – you will pay a pro rata membership amount when your intro period expires). We ran a discounted period for membership during May to encourage pre -payment and as membership expires on 31st May, anyone who has not done their membership by now will not be able to ride until they have completed their membership forms and made payment. From 1st June 2024 the cost for Single Membership is £130 and £240 for Family Membership. So do please ensure you have your membership all completed and done so we can let you ride in June!
CANCELLATION CHARGES
Just a reminder this month of the reasoning behind our cancellation policy as we have had a couple of incidents this month where riders have been a little “sharp” with our reception team when they have been advised that a cancellation fee applies.
We have had a cancellation fee in place for seven years at ARC – always 24 hours and we have taken pre-payment for sessions for four years now in order to secure bookings. The cancellations fees are necessary as we try to keep the cost of riding down for everyone as there is a cost associated with a cancellation within 24 hours.
Firstly, we can’t fill your slot – particularly in a group lesson as if we filled your slot then that rider may want to ride each week in the group and that would result in you losing your slot, which nobody would want if they had just missed a week due to illness/busy at work etc.
There has also been quite a bit of work already done by the time you cancel – the horse worksheet is done the day before, the horse is caught in early in the morning and we have staff working through the day to care for that horse in the stable and groom/tack up the horse for the lesson (in addition to turning the horse out afterwards). So, whilst we understand nobody likes a cancellation fee, as a not-for-profit club, we can’t afford to take a financial hit each time someone has to cancel at short notice, so do please be understanding that the cancellation fee is a requirement.
LUNGE DAY AND LEADERSHIP DAY
A reminder that we are running a lunging training day on Mon 22nd July from 10a.m – 2p.m – this training day will cover theory of lunging/how to fit the equipment and then how to actually lunge – so really beneficial for anyone who wants to do BHS assessments but also anyone who is interested in equine behaviour/how they learn as it is really important for groundwork/lunging.
We are also running a “leadership” awards day on Tuesday 23rd July (10a.m – 2p.m) which is aimed at teenagers (12 years – 18 years). The current leadership sessions we are running on a Saturday are proving very popular with the group – helping them to develop their confidence, teamwork and resilience and make new friends – the leadership sessions are non-riding so are suitable for non-riders too.
Each of these activity days costs £60 so if you would like to book for either, please just let us know in reception.
BHS ASSESSMENTS/CAREER INFO SESSION
We will be running a career/info session with Sally on Saturday 22nd June at 9.30 a.m (one hour) where Sally will present some info on the BHS Assessment career pathway (for potential riders/coaches/yard workers) and be able to advise on different routes into the equine industry for anyone who is interested. The session will cost £10 per person and can be booked through reception – we thought it was good timing to run a session to provide equine career info as many are either picking subjects/planning what to do in S3 or S4, whilst others are planning on what to do when they finish school or contemplating a career change!
LESSON FEE INCREASE
A reminder that lesson fees increase for group lessons (hour and half hour) and peak time private lessons from 1st July 2024. We continue to offer an extended time on block booking cards that are purchased in June if anyone would like to buy some more than usual to take advantage of the saving (you get the block booking card at June prices so pre increase). For those of you with a standing order payment, Ali will contact you early in June to advise of the change that needs made to your standing order payment.