Hi Everyone,

I think I need to introduce myself first. I am Hilary Secker and I am just 13. I have one horse, Foxy, who is seven but she really thinks she’s a pony! I have done all PC activities with my branch, Cheshire Hunt North. I have had Foxy two weeks now and I have my very first one day event on her this weekend! Exciting and nerve-racking! Keep riding!
Hilary

This is a pic of Hilary with her old pony Sonny.

Hilary and her best friend Foxy

Hello everyone,

I have now reached my four week anniversary with Foxy. We have packed so much in that it is hard to believe that it has only been four weeks. We've had a rally with Stephen Hadley (the famous showjumper), we've taken part in the Grasshoppers Final and have done two One Day Events already!!

The first one day event was almost a Level 3 course (that is 2'9"). We had a super day - our dressage was very interesting - we were going brilliantly until Foxy decided to have a buck and a squeal!!! Showjumping was ace and so was the cross country although I did have a stop due to technical difficulties (I took a dodgy line).

Our second ODE was just last week, over a BE Intro course although it was a Pony Club event. I had never jumped so big cross country before. To say I was nervous when I walked the course was an understatement. Foxy was magnificent! In the showjumping she listened to me and gave me so much confidence for the cross country, we flew round with only one stop (again a technical difficulty!!). I have to mention the dressage too (oh dear). The first half was appalling - Foxy was more interested in what was going on around her than listening to my aids - but still, she only squealed once and managed not to buck! We improved our dressage score by 0.3 penalties on the competition before - well, an improvement is still an improvement.

I have school exams coming up so I am easing off the competitions (Mum's orders). But we still have a lot of training and rallies to fit in. Rallies are great because I see my friends and ride Foxy at the same time. Of course I think Cross Country rallies are the best, but not everyone would agree with me. Some actually prefer Dressage rallies - can you believe that?

Signing off for this week,

Keep riding!

Hilary x

Hey everybody,

Gosh it’s hard work eventing! If you’re not competing you’re training or schooling! Luckily we have had a bit of rest from eventing helping my Branch host Area Games! It’s always fun when our Branch hosts something because you feel part of the organisation. I got to add up tack and turnout scores but some of the scores were shocking. I think some Branches need to have a few tack cleaning lessons!

Foxy has come on so much it’s unbelievable! Unfortunately it didn’t happen overnight! We had a good few hours of training for it to have even started to change for the better.

We had another ODE this week and it was, if possible, more fun than the last one! The weather was horrendous but, luckily, when Foxy and I were actually competing it wasn’t too bad.

Dressage was much better. We achieved our aim, no squealing, bucking or jolly cantering off! Unfortunately I had Foxy going a bit too quietly so the judge thought her head carriage was too low. At least it was down!!

In between dressage and show jumping the rain was so heavy we had to get all the horses onto the box before they got drenched asap! Foxy wanted to stay outside and carry on munching the grass, even if the rain was lashing down! Show jumping was as good as usual. It was bad luck that I had the very last pole down to achieve four faults in total. It was a tricky fence, a short-strided double going downhill.

Showjumping in style!

(Photo thanks to fotograffs)

Cross-country was great fun as always. The course was neither big nor scary but posed a few technical questions. Seeing as this is only our third ODE together we did very well to finish with one stop at a very technical corner. It was sloping rails and about three sides on a tight dog-leg to a corner. Poor Foxy didn’t have enough time to see the fence and was confused about what she needed to do. We sailed over it second time and the rest of the course flowed beautifully.

Our favourite discipline - cross country.

(Photo thanks to fotograffs)

I have Novice event training this week. It’s for all those people who might want to be considered for the Novice teams later on in the year. Rallies continue and the fun never stops. We have camp pretty soon; it’s so exciting! Soon I have exams so I won’t be doing much but I always 'school' after school!

Keep riding,
Hilary

Hello everybody

The horses have finally gone out for the summer. Foxy and her fave grazing pal Snowy (a 14.2hh Connemara) are in a heavenly paddock. The flies have been awful though, so we have had to put cute fly fringes on them both. Foxy’s is gold and black, very stylish! Snowy’s is more a manly, leather coloured one. Foxy loves living out. She doesn’t mind the rain (which is just as well, because it hasn’t stopped raining for ages) and she and Snowy take it in turns to lie down.

Foxy and Snowy in their fly veils

Foxy enjoying a good roll!

My exams have finished, finally! So now I can get back to some serious training. And lots of FUN! I have a pairs cross country on Sunday, there’s nothing more fun than that! I am riding with a friend whose horse is huge – bigger than H+P's new blogger Sophie's – Alfie must be at least 17hh and he's still growing!! It will be a real laugh if we have to dress at a fence (that is jump it together alongside one another), I will be in shadow and it will be impossible to match his stride. I’ll try and get a photo to show you.

Can’t wait for the sun to come back, I hate getting drenched at cross country rallies!

Keep riding
Hilary x

Hey all

It’s been a busy week as far as Foxy is concerned. It was Cheshire Show week so I was washing and plaiting to get Foxy looking spick and span.

We did the pairs cross country on Sunday and we did have to dress (ride side by side over a jump) at TWO fences! Luckily the sun was in the right position so I could still see and wasn't totally in Alfie's massive shadow! We would have come 3rd but because Alfie’s stride is so much bigger than Foxy’s we gained five penalties for bad dressing! Later Foxy and produced a wonderful clear in the Open but we were two seconds too slow to get placed.

On the first day of the Cheshire Show (Tues) my Pony Club took part in the inter-hunt relay. I was picked for the B-Team so it was stress to get Foxy REALLY clean for the Tack and Turnout. It turned out to be a great success because our A-Team came 3rd and my team came 4th.

The relay itself was good fun. It was a course of jumps and you had to go through some bending poles in the middle. We had to hand a whip over to each of the members of our team so they could then do the course. What made it so much fun was that you had to race another team! My team was very inexperienced (including me!) so we didn’t get past the first round. It didn't matter though because we all had fun and we were really pleased with our ponies who had all tried so hard.

The relay handover.

On the Wednesday I did the novice working hunter class. It wasn’t too technical but the course did pose a few questions. Only half of my class turned up because of the awful weather and even fewer went clear. A lot of people got eliminated at the last, which was a grass covered water tray. Someone was even taken away in an ambulance after they had a fall at it!

Foxy makes the hardest jump of the course look easy!

Foxy jumped her heart out and when I didn’t place her too well for a fence she helped me, and vice versa. There were no slip-ups, even though I did jump the last a bit sooner than Foxy, and we jumped clear! I haven’t had a lot of practise in showing so it wasn’t top notch, but I was happy with it! The in-hand show was great fun and it went well! The judges had to confer for a short time and then they called out the line up and I came 4th! I was so pleased! We then came back home after a long day.

I have combined training at the weekend, in the rain! In a fortnight I have another ODE, finally! Foxy will be just as pleased as me!

I hope that this awful rain goes away soon; it’s hard to jump in this weather!

Keep riding
Hilary

It's been awful these past weeks. After having no room to squeeze anything extra in, we've ended up with nothing to do. The rain has cancelled almost everything and so Foxy and I haven't had a proper trip out for weeks! We finally had a proper ODE when it was the Area Horse Trials. Our Area Rep (the person in charge of the branches in my Area) had it moved so that the XC phase could go ahead! Even the big kids where excited to be out doing again!

All of my Branch did really well at the qualifiers. Two individuals qualified for the championships and one of the teams missed out by point 1 of a mark!! Everybody enjoyed themselves and every horse went well!

Foxy was overjoyed to be back out there on the XC course, so much so we went round far too fast and got 4.8 time penalties! The dressage phase wasn't terribly good as the wind was making Foxy a bit spooky but, as we always say, she didn't blow up in the canter. The show jumping course was very technical, even though it appeared otherwise. Foxy rattled a few poles but luckily they all stayed up so we got a clear. I was so pleased to get a double clear I didn't mind the time penalties!

Foxy and I have also qualified for the Riding Club's ODE champs and so we are already preparing ourselves for it. I qualified as a team so it's all efforts for the club.

Let's hope the rain holds off, I really hate combined training!!

Keep Riding,

Hilary

Hey everyone!

It's like the calm after the storm now! The champs took up so much time that it seems weird that we're doing nothing now. My branch hosts the National Novice Championships, so not only did we have to worry about the competitors but the competition itself! However, the running was smooth and all went brilliantly! An open team from our branch got through to the Show Jumping champs so it was training for them. Also the Novice Show Jumping team got through so we were at both champs!!

Unfortunately my eventing team didn't get through to the champs (I was a novice) but to make up numbers I was allowed to go H/C. It was a wonderful experience even though I wasn't competing! It was both mine and Foxy's first championship course and a few of the more technical jumps seemed a bit imposing.

The dressage went okay, we didn't blow up in the canter!! Foxy was very excited in the Show Jumping because of the Cross-Country so we had one down. We were right at the end of the day for the XC so the nerves built up! Foxy got so excited that she leapt out of the start box at the beginning! We went round really well but one jump(no 16) was very technical and neither of us had seen anything like it before so we had a run out! I was a little complacent that she was going to jump it, so it was also a fall!! However, I got back on and completed the course, which is a great achievement. Even though I fell off it was so much fun and Foxy really enjoyed herself.

I have the Riding Club Show Jumping Champs in Lincoln coming up which will be great fun, as well as the Oliver Townend Eventing Challenge at the weekend. Foxy is going to have a holiday after Lincoln before the winter season starts.

1st March
Hello everyone, it’s Hilary here,

You may remember, I used to blog on the H+P site, a couple of years ago - well, my Pony Club - the Cheshire Hunt North - has been asked to be part of the entertainment at this year’s Horse of the Year Show.

It is a great honour and we are all very excited. We were told that the ride would be made up of 16 riders, 12 of which would be 12 years or under. The other four would be older as they would be the leaders. The 12 would ride ponies no bigger than 13.2hh and the four leaders were not allowed ponies bigger than 14.2hh. After two weeks' of auditions the decisions were made and I was lucky enough to be picked as a leader.

Since then we have started rehearsals, one every week at the moment. At this week’s practice they played possible music as we rehearsed. We also learned the beginning and rode it with the music! As our theme is HOYS School Musical we are listening to songs from High School Musical, Hairspray and Grease etc. It is so much fun when we ride to the music, especially as we all know all the words!!

Our youngest ride member, only five years old, came to rehearsals this week. She rides a really sweet Shetland and as you can see they make the cutest pair!

We all have HOYS fever at every practice, and we can’t wait for everything to be ready for performances! I will keep you posted after every rehearsal to let you know how we are getting on.

Keep Riding
Hilary

Hey all

Hilary here:

Our practises for the Musical Ride, we'll be performing at HOYS, have really progressed this week.

We practised the beginning of the ride again but we have also added on the next bit! It’s really starting to come together. We had the music on as well so that added extra excitement to the practise!

To begin with some of the younger riders were finding it difficult to stay shoulder to shoulder so we all did an exercise to help. This involved us holding our partner's shoulder as we rode around.

Soon we all had the hang of it and we were allowed to let go!

It was also decided this week, which side was the boys and which were the girls. This is good as it means we can now start thinking about the costumes, particularly headgear. This could be a problem as we must stay safe and wear our riding hats.

We stay in the same pairs every week and the ponies often become friends.
Sometimes the pairing is so good that the ponies even look alike! Just look at these two!

Hope and Annabel (their riders) are becoming firm friends too!

The spring grass is on its way, so practises might get a little exciting soon! Will keep you posted!
Keep riding
Hilary

Hey all,

Hilary here:

Two weeks have passed since I last blogged. The Musical Ride is progressing at a fast pace now. Last week we perfected the start and continued with the middle section. This week, we started to learn a new move. Although when watching it looks pretty simple, in reality it’s really hard. I don’t want to give too much away but I will say that half the ride faces one way and half faces the other.

The new move is progressing well...

Also, last week in keeping with our HSM theme it was decided who was going to be cheerleaders and who was going to be basketball players. I wanted to be a basketball player so badly that I swapped sides! I didn’t think my pony would look good with pompoms!!

On Sunday we were all treated to a full dress rehearsal of another musical ride our branch (the Cheshire Hunt North) is doing in memory of our former DC, Psyche Kennerley. They are performing a ‘Me and My Shadow’ dressage to music display at the British Dressage Winter Championships at Hartpury. It is brilliant – there are only eight in it, four of our more senior members and four littler ones (the shadows). If you are going to the Championships, check it out - it is well worth seeing.

It will soon be the Easter holidays and we are all looking forward to spending more time with our ponies. I think rehearsals will continue though.

Hey All,

Hilary here:

Hope everyone’s had a good Easter. Practices stopped for the holidays but started again last Friday. After two weeks it was surprising how naturally everything fell back into place. There were only a couple of occasions where we went wrong.

The whole ride has now been choreographed and it is looking really good. Did you know there’s only 164 days to go (or less!) so I hope you have got your HOYS tickets booked? All our practices now will be spent perfecting the moves.

The High School Musical music is being added and we are all looking forward to hearing it. We don’t know which tunes are being used yet. My vote is for “We’re All in this Together” to be in it! Which High School Musical song would you vote for?

The Dressage to Music ride at Hartpury was a huge success and all the riders had a lot of fun.We have got a lot to live up to!

Until next time, keep riding
Hilary

Hi everyone

Hilary here:

There is just 100 days to go until our musical ride at HOYS!

We can hardly wait – we were measured for our costumes this week and saw what they would finally look like. Personally, I prefer the boys’ costumes over the girls’, but I would say that – I play a boy!

The music has been finalized and we are now working hard learning the cues. It is important for us to remember these so that we can slow down if we are going too fast or vice versa. I think you will love the music – I do! We all can’t help but sing along all the time. We will have to try very hard not to when we are performing – although you will probably be singing along too.

There is only one more practice before the summer holidays and we are trying to make sure that it is perfect before we take a break. There is a lot to look forward to in the holidays – the Area qualifiers for dressage, show jumping and eventing. Pony Club Camp (yippee) and NO SCHOOL!

I also have to tell you about some other amazing news – our branch has been asked to perform at the Royal Show in celebration of the 80th Anniversary of the Pony Club.

Not our musical ride, but a sort of parade. We will be appearing three times during the day on July 9. There are about 40 of us doing the ride and it covers all the disciplines of the Pony Club. If you are at the Show come and see us.

Bye for now, keep riding
Hilary

Hi everyone

Hilary here:

Summer holidays are here and so practices have stopped for a while. However, we are all still busy.

The Royal Show was a huge success and H+P’s Sarah and work experience student Hannah came to see us and took some photos. We did a demo to celebrate The PC's 80th anniversary.

We all had a great day and even got to watch the Scurry ponies race (which included my old games pony Oscar). It is a shame that it was the last Royal Show – because it was fab!

Fundraising for the musical ride is continuing and this weekend we had a tombola stand at Tetton Horse Trials in Cheshire. We also had a Name the Pig competition and a Guess the Weight of the Cake competition. Everybody was very generous – we had one particular customer who supported us about 10 times!

A highlight of the day was meeting Oliver Townend who had won four sections! Not only did he take part in our tombola, but he also had a go at naming the pig and (there is more!) had his photo taken with us! We had a great time and are looking forward to the next fundraising event.

63 days to go now.... we are all getting very excited!!

Keep riding
Hilary

Hi Everyone

Hilary here:

We’re all so thrilled now the Summer Hols are over. After our nice long break, musical ride practices started again so that we can make sure that we are foot perfect when we get to HOYS. It was like we had never been away – everything went brilliantly!

The best part of coming back after the summer was that the costumes are ready! Final checks needed to be made to make sure they all fit, so we had a huge try on. They look amazing and we all got very giddy.

The costumes just make this all seem so much more real, which is very exciting! They’re so good that it was hard to take them back off again afterwards! I could have stayed in mine all night!!

On Saturday those who get H+P by subscription phoned those of us who don’t and told them to get to the shops straight away as there is a two page article about our branch with photos in it! It’s worth checking out!

There is so little time until HOYS now, it’s unbelievable! As we only have four more practices left, the final tweaks are being made to everything. Soon we will be having our dress rehearsal and then it will be off to HOYS! It’s so exciting!!

Keep Riding,
Hilary

Hey Everyone!

Hilary here:

Wow, we’re here at HOYS! We’re sitting in our room right now waiting to watch our team in the Mounted Games. We’ve already done one performance on Wednesday and one on Thursday night and everything is going really well! The atmosphere is electric and it’s only Friday!

Everyone loves the music (which changed ever so slightly since the article in H+P) and we’re all singing along. It’s really funny to see everyone’s faces when we walk past them in our costumes but it also gives you this thrill from hearing everyone clap when you perform a tricky movement. The horses look brill too; there are all sorts on them now, from glitter to glow!

It’s so great being here. We’ve all got blue wristbands and it’s so much fun using them to get everywhere around the show. We have walked past Robert Whitaker and Geoff Billington already and we expect to see more during the weekend. We are really close to the International Stable Yard and so we see a lot of the horses when we go for our morning hack. We are also stabled near Daniel Naprous (Luke is directly opposite one of his horses!) which is also pretty amazing!

The shopping is HUGE! We saw the area before all the shops were put in and it is unbelievable that they managed to fit all those stands in that space!

We all get very excited every time we get dressed for our next performance and we go into the arena with HUGE grins on our faces. It’s so much fun that the only bad bit will be going back home!