Hi everyone and welcome to the November newsletter. Winter has well and truly arrived now, and we are all freezing away in the shed whilst coaching. Never mind – only a few months to go till Spring!
XMAS AND NEW YEAR
As per previous years, we will be going down to skeleton staff teams and skeleton lessons over Xmas and New Year as historically quite a few of our members are away and like a break over the festivities.
So our skeleton lesson timetable will be as follows:
Weds 22nd Dec – skeleton lessons
Thurs 23rd Dec – skeleton lessons
Fri 24th Dec – riding school closed
Sat 25th Dec – riding school closed
Sun 26th Dec – riding school closed
Mon 27th Dec – skeleton lessons
Tues 28th Dec – skeleton lessons
Weds 29th Dec – skeleton lessons
Thurs 30th Dec – skeleton lessons
Fri 31st Dec – riding school closed
Sat 1st Jan – riding school closed
Sun 2nd Jan – riding school closed
Mon 3rd Jan – skeleton lessons
Tues 4th Jan – skeleton lessons
Weds 5th Jan – back to normal timetable
During the two weeks above, our staff take some additional well-deserved time off, although one of the Senior staff will be on each of the “closed” days to look after the horses.
Do please ensure that you check with reception about lesson timings for the two-week period as your lesson time/coach may be different for those two weeks – Ali will be able to advise at the start of December of times/days of lessons if you would like to ride during that period.
Could we also make a plea now that if you are taking a break over the festivities that you please remember to book in for your lesson when you intend to return. Historically, we have always had a big problem with people forgetting to book into their lessons in the New Year and if we don’t know you’re coming, we don’t know to have a horse tacked up and ready so please make sure we know to avoid disappointment if you turn up and we weren’t expecting you.
Could we also make a plea now that if you are taking a break over the festivities that you please remember to book in for your lesson when you intend to return. Historically, we have always had a big problem with people forgetting to book into their lessons in the New Year and if we don’t know you’re coming, we don’t know to have a horse tacked up and ready so please make sure we know to avoid disappointment if you turn up and we weren’t expecting you.
TRAINING DATES
The training sessions that we put on in October were really popular with people attending everything from “How to buy a horse” to “How to coach a group lesson”. We have now released the November training session which are as follows:
Sat 6th November (4.30p.m) – How to lunge over poles.
Sat 13th November (4.30p.m) – How to coach a group of teenagers and keep them engaged.
Fri 19th November (5.30p.m) – Equine business management (products and pricing them).
Sat 20th November (4.30p.m) – The systems of the horse and how they work together to keep the horse healthy.
If you’d like to book into any of the training sessions either in person or via live video call (StarLeaf) then just drop Ali an email at lessons@aberdeenridingclub.com
PONY STARS
The Pony Stars sessions continue to be super popular! We currently run sessions on a Saturday at 10.30 with Liam and a Monday at 4.30 with Laura. Pony Stars session cover all aspects of pony care, but also some “life skills” for the under 12s too. We don’t do stable management courses in the December holidays as Xmas/New Year always break up the week, but we are going to run a Pony Stars day this year on Wednesday 22nd December which is the first day of the city kids holidays. Whilst we know quite a few riders will be away, we thought parents might also appreciate something the kids could go to (and be tired out by) just before Xmas.
If you would like to book your child onto the Xmas holidays Pony Stars session (10a.m – 1p.m on 22nd December) then it costs £35 for the 3 hours and is all dismounted activities. If this is the first time your child has attended Pony Stars, then you are best to buy their Pony Stars pack which is a bag, book, stickers and activities/puzzles they can do at home and is available from reception for £25.
If you would like to book your young rider in for the 22nd December Pony Stars, then bookings for that session open on Monday 15th November, so you can call from that date to book them in.
We still have some spaces on the Saturday and Monday Pony Stars each week too so if you are looking for your young rider to get a bit more fun practical experience then just ask Ali about them at reception.