Annual Weekend In The Woods 2007

Amanda Watts reports on the 2007 Annual Weekend in the Woods held in the Thetford Forest. Well, another ‘AQHA.UK Weekend in the Woods’ has come and gone, and what a wonderful time we all had! 27 horses and riders, 25 non riders, together with a small band of organisers, made one big, happy family for the duration, sleeping in assorted trailers, caravans, horseboxes and tents, and eating meals together around the campfire. The Weekend in the Woods is a great opportunity to relax with your horses, enjoy the beauty and tranquillity of Thetford Forest, and socialise with like-minded people in the great outdoors. Before this starts to sound like a naturists dream, may I just add that casual jeans and t-shirts were de rigueur (not a sparkly slinky or crystal encrusted tunic in sight!) and, furthermore, it was noted that several amongst us kept the same pair of socks on throughout the whole weekend… On arrival on the Friday evening, we were treated to a demonstration of round pen work by Erika Roberts, a Natural Horsemanship devotee from the US. She had a very handsome, if somewhat opinionated, flaxen maned cob to work with, and it wasn’t too long before she was able to direct his movement and get him to respect her space a little more.          Two escorted rides went out on the Saturday morning, a slow walking ride for those who wished to keep the pace nice and steady, (including one or two whom I suspect were nursing a slightly sore head from the wine the night before), and a slightly faster ride for people that wanted to up the pace a little. The tracks in the forest are superb and there is so much wildlife to see. Mike Dawson and Kevin Tennant acted as our trail bosses, guiding us safely through the forest and back to base, all without the aid of satellite navigation! Saturday afternoon saw the Reality Trail competition, a fun and testing array of obstacles to negotiate, challenging even the steadiest of trail horses, and judged by Erika. The winner was Sue Evans on Lani.  A few other prizes were awarded around the campfire that evening too, such as the oldest participant (Sheila Fitzpatrick!) and the person who travelled the furthest. Also gratefully received were AQHA.UK goody bags, filled with useful information from AQHA, gifts and rosettes. After we’d all enjoyed chow fit for the most discerning cowboy (chilli, rice, tortillas, and salads plus vegetarian chilli for the not quite so rufty tufty), an idea first suggested by the late Rosie Thompson took shape. Dancing was a passion of Rosie’s, and she had once said that it would be a lovely idea to have some line dancing at the Thetford Weekends. Our teacher for the evening was Tansy Hiner, a very good buddy of Rosie, and a loyal friend to both Rosie and Brian, helping Rosie a lot in her later years. I’m sure if Rosie had been watching our valiant efforts to keep up with the elegantly svelte Tansy, she would have had a chuckle or two! As always, participants were very generous, donating prizes and buying raffle tickets, raising £400 for Macmillan Nurses, an organisation that helped both Rosie and Brian; Macmillan nurses provide expert information, advice and support to improve the lives of people with cancer, advising on treatments, methods of pain control and giving practical, psychological and emotional support.      And so, what about the horses…? Did they enjoy it? Well, we did overhear this from our two boys very late on Saturday night:    ‘Hey, we had a nice day today, didn’t we?’ ‘Yeah, awesome man.’ ‘They’re a funny bunch, aren’t they…?’ ‘Yeah.’    ‘Line dancing I think they called it – they looked kinda silly if you ask me.’ ‘Yeah, but it kept them busy for a while.’ ‘Hope we go out on those nice tracks again tomorrow.’ ‘Yeah, me too. I like it here’ ‘Do you think that pretty little sorrel likes me.’? ‘Yeah, sure man’ ‘That’s good. Sleep well’ ‘Yeah, you betcha.’    Huge thanks to the ‘Weekend in the Woods’ team:  Chris Kent and Kevin Willats, Mike and Mo Dawson and Kevin Tennant, and also to sponsors AQHA.UK, ‘The Winning Formula’ and ‘Back in the Saddle’. To see the amusing video of the weekend click here  (thanks to Ashley and Amanda Watts and Digital  Deceptions and thewesterntube.co.uk )

 

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