Hoofprint Gaddesden Place RDA Newsletter

Spring 2016 www.gaddesdenplacerda.org.uk

Enquiries Tel: 01442 246924

Published by Gaddesden Place RDA Centre - Briden's Camp, Hemel Hempstead, HP2 6EX

A Private Limited Company Registered in England and Wales No: 7512961

Registered Charity No: 1140330

We have some exciting new projects this year! Firstly Vaulting is coming to Gaddesden. If

you have ever seen equestrian vaulting you will understand why it is growing into a popular

activity within RDA. The benefits of team work, agility, fitness, and fun make it an exciting

addition to any group. See page four for more information on this and some photos of

“Codey” and his training to become a vaulting horse.

If all goes according to plan, by September, Gaddesden Place RDA Centre will be the first

disabled vaulting group in Hertfordshire and the first in the East Region to use a real horse!

Secondly, we will be introducing a new Horse Care programme on Wednesday evenings.

Ask our Centre Manager, Louise Lumsden

or email her at centremanager@gaddesdenplacerda.org.uk

if you are interested in signing up for this.

Also, please don’t forget to buy your tickets to the Barn dance on 11th June as

they are sure to sell out. Yee ha!

Contact karen@gaddesdenplacerda.org.uk for tickets

Latest News!

Codey and Tonto have

both been to church!

To St Mary’s Church in

Redbourn to be precise.

This was to help them

launch us as their Charity

of the Year which we hope

will be rewarding, not just

financially but in the form

of friendships made and

contacts formed.

The congregation young and old certainly seemed interested to hear about our work and

many came to give the ponies a pat while they mowed the churchyard grass.

As you can see from the photo, it was a gorgeous spring day and the ponies seemed to enjoy

their outing. ooooooOoooooo

Term Dates

Sat 28th

May to Fri 3rd

June inclusive

Summer half term:

(holiday rides and riding assessments during half term)

Sat 16th

July Last day of Summer term

Sat 10th

September Autumn Term: RDA restarts

Mon 24th

October to

Sat 29th

October

inclusive

Autumn half term:

Sat 10th

December Last day of term before Christmas break

Other Dates for your Diary!

Sun 22nd

May -RDA Regional Competition at Oaklands College, Smallford Campus, St

Albans AL4 0JA. Please let Christina Grieve know if you are able to help

either for a couple of hours on Sat 21st May to help set up, or on the

actual day.

Sat 11th

June 2016 Barn Dance £15 per person including hog roast, juice and water. Veg

option available. BYOB. At Northchurch Social Centre. Tickets from

Karen Gosen. karen@gaddesdenplacerda.org.uk

Sun 26th

June Sponsored Ride on Gaddesden Estate. Volunteers required to marshall

this event. Please contact Margaret Keith if you can help.

Fri 15th

to Sun 17th

July RDA National Championships at Hartpury, Glos. GL19 3BE. More than

400 competitors and 250 horses go to this event!

Sun 24th

July Volunteers buffet lunch at Margaret Keith’s house. 1pm onwards. This is

a “Thank you” to all our wonderful volunteers for the dedication and hard

work throughout the year. We hope the sun shines as Margaret has one of

the best views in the County from her garden!

Sun 25th

September Sponsored Ride on Gaddesden Estate. Volunteers required to marshall

this event. Please contact Margaret Keith if you can help.

Fri 7th

October Golf Day “The Rider Cup” at Stocks Golf Club in Aldbury. £75 per head

including bacon rolls to start and dinner. Contact

theridercup@outlook.com to book a place

Sat 15th

October Quiz night, Markyate Village Hall.

DATES FOR YOUR DIARY

Christina coaching Will Cochrane on

Beetle and being trained by Nicky and

Tracy from the Diamond Centre.

Hannah Cullen a vet student on work

experience, was roped in to help with the

vaulting demo, with Tracy from the

Diamond Centre giving guidance to

Christina.

Louise Training Codey on the

Lunge at Gaddesden

Two Shacks Barn vaulters

practice their routine on the

barrel horse with the assistance

of Sam Gilman, whose legs are

just visible!

Nicky and Tracy from the Diamond

Centre demonstrate on Beetle

RDA Vaulting comes to Gaddesden!

As many of you know we only have six ponies at Gaddesden Place RDA

and options for expansion of our activities is limited by the available

grazing. While our trustees are always interested in suggestions to reduce

the waiting list, there were some sceptical looks when starting up a Vaulting

group was suggested!

The best way to understand Vaulting is to see it in action so off we went to

visit other RDA Vaulting groups. We soon realised what a great team sport

it is! Training a team of disabled vaulters to execute a gymnastic routine

only requires one horse. Vaulting offers all the benefits of team work,

agility, fitness and fun. Vaulters also learn to interact with and care for their

horse. The other advantage, for those in mainstream school, is that sessions

can be run after school when we hope some young and gymnastic

volunteers will be available to help demonstrate the moves!

“Codey” the pony, Louise, Christina, Val and Karen are being trained to

deliver vaulting sessions and are practising by training our volunteers.

Initially we had a couple of visits to Shacks Barn RDA Vaulting Group near

Towcester and the Diamond Centre in Carshalton, Surrey. Then Nicky

Sutcliffe and Tracy Glover from the Diamond Centre very kindly brought

their vaulting pony “Beetle” to us for a training session. We have been

practicing regularly with Codey and they were happy with his progress.

There are plans for us to do more training over the summer term. We have

applied for a grant to buy some more equipment and pay for Codey’s

summer training camp with able bodied vaulters prior to beginning vaulting

at Gaddesden in September.

Many thanks to Sam Gilman from Shacks Barn, Jane Barker from Perry

Group, Nicky Sutcliffe and Tracy Glover at the Diamond Centre as well as

Marisa Bretherton-Mackay at National Office for their help, advice and the

equipment they have lent to get us going.

We hope to offer some taster sessions to riders who might like to join us, so

please let Louise, our Centre Manager, know if you are interested.

Many Thanks to:

Chilterns Chapter of BNI for their

support!

The Chilterns Chapter of Business Network International (BNI), a local business

networking group have been raising money for Gaddesden Place RDA over the last

year. The group, who meet weekly at Latimer House, have held a wine tasting and two members ran a half marathon.

They presented us with a cheque for £1,000 which is much appreciated.

Oscar (wearing his

new hat made by

the Christmas

knitters) studies his

Grade 1 Riding

Cert with coach

Christina.

Grade One Riding Aoife Keaveney

David Grigoire

L J Winzar

Oscar Gray

Felicity Loria

Gabriel Aspart

Lara Crawley

Adam Fendrich

Liberty Proctor

Iqra Hussain

Jahrel Kerr

Amy Johnson

Max Markowski

Rebekah Warner

Grade One Horse Care Felicity Loria

Gabriel Aspart

Lara Crawley

Rebekah Warner

Grade Two Riding Samantha Wilson Luke Kingsman

Grade Two Horse Care Samantha Wilson Luke Kingsman

Grade Four Horse Care Jack Eldridge

Endeavour Award

Sebastein Clewlow

Aoife and her Mum

LJ with his Mum

David with his Father

Coach Julie Wilcox and

Jack Eldridge

Sun 22nd May???

Are you free???

The RDA Regional Competition needs you! Oaklands College in St Albans is the venue. If you can help please tell

Christina Grieve or email

info@gaddesdnplacerda.org.uk Tasks are varied and the day is not only worthwhile but fun. Your help will be much appreciated by all involved.

Sandra began volunteering for RDA eight years ago. She

had been thinking about joining the Chiltern District RDA

Group for a while, and when she heard we were merging

with Gaddesden Place RDA she decided that was the time to

come along.

Having her own ponies meant Sandra was a natural, and

she fitted in to the Wednesday morning session beautifully.

A quiet and self- effacing person, Sandra was the ideal

helper. She was happy to handle the trickiest horse, which

soon settled in her capable hands, whilst being kind and

empathetic to her riders.

Sandra’s sudden illness took everyone by surprise, but she

kept in touch from her hospital bed, where she was

obviously missing (as she put it) “all her furry friends”.

Her loss is considerable, as has been evident from the large

sum raised in her memory, to date over £800. On a personal

level, I miss seeing her with her husband David walking

over Whipsnade Common in the early mornings to tend

their ponies, and then again at the end of the day; a truly

devoted couple.

Sandra is also missed at Dunstable Sainsbury’s , where I

still expect to see her giving a wave from the tills, or busy

on supervising duty… Hilary Fox, Volunteer and friend

In the summer of 2013, Sandra and her husband very kindly gave up one Sunday to take Bramble in their trailer to a

local show at Toddington where Beaky, one of our volunteers and trainee coaches, jumped him in the local

competition there. Bramble was very well behaved and they came home with a 4th rosette. Bramble loved his outing

and this would not have been possible without the generosity of Sandra and her husband. Sandra was a great help to

Beaky on that day, offering her sound knowledge and advice. I will always remember Sandra for this and her lovely

smile! Cathy Bolshaw, Chairman and RDA Coach

(Editor note-Funds raised in memory of Sandra have been used to purchase a special supportive saddle for very

small riders as well as a wooden bridge and some nesting boxes to put in our new Sensory Garden, where riders

may be lucky enough to spot wild birds, which we know Sandra loved.)

Sandra Watson 1944-2016

Many thanks to Students from UTC Watford for their support!

UTC Watford is a University Technical college which specialises in Event Management. Students Erica Gosen and amy Jourdan organised a 1950's diner event as part of their Travel, Tourism and Event Management course. Their hard work raised £300 for Gaddesden Place RDA but it looks as though they had some fun too!

ooooOoooo

Emma Loveland, Principal of Watford UTC said: "It is excellent practical experience for our students to put the skills they are learning here into practice at a public event. They organised the event from start to finish, from its overall promotion, to hosting on the day".

Here are Karen and Rebecca

suitably dressed for

a Christmas collection!

Sainsbury

collection on 21st

December 2015

raised £763

and the

Easter collection

raised £430 Many thanks to all

volunteers who gave up

their time to help us and

also to Sainsbury at

Apsley for their

continued support.

Thank you to the Christmas knitters!

Some lovely things were knitted prior to Xmas to raise funds including hats, scarves and even some tinselly hedgehogs. Grateful recipient Libby Grieve with her Christmas present which she takes to bed with her most nights.

Anna says her mum is an ‘avid quilter’ and the quilt took a few months to make. It travelled with Jan between the UK and the US whilst being completed. It is completely made by hand, no machine stitching in sight! The picture shows the quilt on a king size bed (dimensions are 220cmsx190cms) and is a truly unique, one off piece.

If you would like to bid for this beautiful quilt, please email

info@gaddesdenplacerda.org.uk with the subject “Quilt” and your bid.

Many stitches in time…… We have a unique hand-made horse themed quilt to auction which has been painstakingly made by Jan Sapte, the mother of one of our volunteers, Anna. Jan has very generously donated the quilt to us with all the proceeds going entirely to Gaddesden Place RDA.

Silly hats, daft jumpers, elves and Santa?

It must have been Christmas week

at Gaddesden!

Gwen (Wednesday Coach) writes a Tribute to Paddy Thirteen years ago I took home a huge pet from Gaddesden Place RDA - a piebald

Irish cob (crossed with a bulldozer) who was showing signs of arthritis so could no

longer be used for lessons.

Paddy had a huge character backed up with the sweetest nature, and I had so

much fun with him over the years. He enjoyed a walk down the lane with the dog,

loved a fuss and a bath - but the thing he loved even more than polos was a roll in

the mud!I made a promise to the trustees that I would look after him - and with

the help of the vet and a very patient farrier who Paddy would sit on at every visit,

keep Paddy as comfortable as possible - and to love him until the end of his days.

That sad day came on April 5th, and I had to say goodbye to him at the top of his

field where the wild daffodils were flowering. It was the last kind thing I could do

for him. Rest in peace Padster- you are a star!

The Gaddesden Place Fire! The Gaddesden Place Fire! The Gaddesden Place Fire! The Gaddesden Place Fire!

While searching for our website one day ( www.gaddesdenplacerda.org.uk ) I pressed a wrong button and

found myself bidding for an item on ebay! As you can see below, I became the owner of a tatty postcard of

“Fire at Gaddesden Place”. Evidently, this was a big event in 1905, as big as Buncefield was a hundred

years later. There was no telephone and the local fire brigade was in its infancy. One of the estate workers

had to gallop on horseback the three miles to Hemel Hempstead to raise the alarm. A horse drawn manual

water pump was despatched which arrived an hour and a half later. No text messaging in those days!

The hilltop location of the house meant that water had to be pumped up from the River Gade but the

pump and pipes could not maintain the pressure required and estate workers had to form a human chain

from the river to haul water up the slope.

Staff were all evacuated safely and estate workers managed to remove many valuable items such as

paintings, antiques and the wine collection. Apparently the following day, hundreds of people came to

survey the smoking ruins. The butler, fearing the crowds might begin looting began to return the wine to

the undamaged cellar with the assistance of a footman.

Unfortunately a wall of red hot bricks collapsed, killing the butler and trapping the poor footman who later

died of his burns. It appears an enterprising photographer in Berkhamsted quickly began to sell postcards

judging by the message on the reverse dated only a few days later, which tells the addressee in High

Wycombe she will write at length soon.

Some good did come out of the tragedy because money was raised to build a modern fire station in Hemel

Hempstead with better equipment.

And Have Fun!

Gillian being hoisted off the

wheelchair ramp

Do you know the main Objectives of Riding for the

Disabled???

They are to deliver opportunities for;

• Therapy

• Achievement

• Physical Activity and enjoyment

To fulfil these objectives the Gaddesden volunteers and

coaches train continuously to improve standards. Over the

past year, volunteers attended training at Oaklands College in

St Albans as well as “in house”. Coaches attended training at

Digswell Place RDA and also medical conditions training

organised by our County Coach. Staff have had training at

National level. All coaches have First Aid and Safeguarding

certificates where required and are regularly reviewed. The

team works hard to deliver a high quality experience.

RDA gives individuals the opportunity to;

• Reach therapeutic goals

• Achieve their personal ambitions

• Combat social isolation

• Develop life skills

• Experience the outdoors

• Connect with animals

Many thanks to the

team from TUI Luton!

Over Easter, a team from TUI Luton volunteered to help with some much needed maintenance. TUI is part of the international travel group which includes brands such as Thompson, First Choice, Falcon, Hayes and Jarvis, Sunsail, Austravel and Crystal Ski holidays. The team painted part of our Indoor School which was in dire need of some TLC!

The wooden boards which line the arena are subject to a great deal of wear and tear. Sand from the arena surface is one problem. Another is the moisture from the overhead sprinkler system, which is used to lay the dust and keep the working surface soft. These quickly eat away at the wooden boards. Regular maintenance by painting with a preserving paint helps to prevent rot and extends the life of the school. We are really pleased with our smart painted boards. Thanks to Team TUI and hope the paint came off easily!

Behind the scenes...... A day in the life of Pete the Farrier

Pete has been making sure the Gaddesden pony’s shoes are at their best for the past 25 years.

On a bright sunny day in April Hoofprint went to the yard armed with coffee and hot cross buns to watch

him work and ask him some questions.

How long have you been

a farrier? Pete started an

apprenticeship when he

was 16 and has been

working as a farrier ever

since. We didn't ask him

how long that is! Today

the apprenticeship to be a

farrier is 4 years.

How do you know

which size of shoe is

right for the pony?

The size of shoe required

depends on the size and

weight of the pony and is

measured beforehand.

What are horseshoes

made of?

Horseshoes are usually

made of mild steel as

these are very strong

and durable. However,

race horses have shoes

that are made of

aluminium which are

much lighter (otherwise

it would be like Usain

Bolt running in wellies!)

How often do horses

need their shoes

replacing? Usually every 6 weeks

but this will depend on

how much work the

horse is doing.

How long does it take to

shoe a pony?

“It's all in the

preparation” said Pete,

but generally 40-50

minutes per pony.

Make sure the pony has a

hay net to distract it!

Size the shoe, Take off the

existing shoe.

Pare the wall of the hoof

back - making sure the

hoof is symmetrical on

both sides using a rasp to

trim and smooth the hoof

Fit and nail the new shoe

make sure the clenches

(ends of the nails) are flat

and secure.

You can see that

Bramble looks very

relaxed and doesn’t mind

his shoe fittings at all.

Pete also showed us how to make and shape a horse shoe using a

furnace which involves a lot of skill.

Thank you Pete for keeping our Ponies' hooves in top

condition!

Can you help? We need auction prizes for our Charity Golf Day on Friday 7

th October. This will

be our biggest fundraiser for 2016 and the auction is a very important feature of

the day. Several prestigious companies have already offered support including

Champneys and The Good Housekeeping Institute but we will need many more

pledges to make the day a success. If you can donate an experience, or a lovely

treat as a prize, please email Karen Gosen :

karen@gaddesdenplacerda.org.uk