Dear friends & members,

 Welcome to another season with Accrington & District Riding Club!

 Our show dates for this year are 18th May, 15^th June, 29^th June, 20th July, 17th August, and 21st September, please note that the trophy show will be 17th August, fingers crossed for sunshine. Qualifiers this year will be run for   NCPA Pony of the Year, Ultimate Showcase of Champions, North West Show Jumping Championships, Premier Riding Club Championships, Supreme Interclub Challenge, the North West Championships, the Festival of Champions & the Royal London Show.  Please be aware due to the large number of end of season qualifiers the onus is on yourself to let us know you wish to compete, not for the committee to chase & hound people to enter.

 Full details of the qualifiers can be found in our schedule, plus any changes to classes we have made. A new class for this year is a beginners jumping class, which will be nice low inviting fences, ideal for novice horses or ponies, by popular demand we will be increasing the number of novelty classes to four per show, plus two gymkhana games.  Changes to the schedule include the Brood Mare and foal classes will be run later in the season (July, August, September shows), the novice working hunter horse class will be combined with the novice working hunter pony class. In the riding club horse or pony class competitors will only be asked to jump one small fence just to demonstrate their animals all round ability. The novice ridden classes will be split at 14.2hh (148cm), giving one class for horses and another for ponies. So please make sure you are referring to a 2008 schedule when making your entries.    Please take time to read your schedule to ensure that you fully understand the rules and regulations of the club. If you are informed it helps create a riding club which runs smoothly and safely.

 On the 27^th January we are holding an indoor show jumping competition please come along and give your support otherwise we can’t guarantee to run this event in future years, last year we where rather disappointed that very few members entered the Show Jumping day at Croft Top, when so many of you request that we hold winter competitions. We are running a pre-season indoor show at Hyndburn & Rossendale Equestrian Centre (Croft Top) on 30^th March, this show will be a trophy show, each class winner will receive a trophy, and at the end of each section of classes (in hand & ridden) a championship will be held, with sashes to the Champion and Reserve and a perpetual trophy presented to the champion. Please find a schedule enclosed, as this is the start of a new season come along and have a go, there is something for everyone, you will see from the schedule that we only plan to use the large indoor school at Croft Top leaving the small school for working in. This gives a nice large arena for the classes to be judged in ensuring everyone has plenty of space (just in case a few horses or ponies are full of the joys of spring!!!)

Please find enclosed two very important forms one is your membership form, remember discounted rates are available before 1^st April. You will notice that several rates are available please tick the correct one. If you are able to receive all correspondence from the club via e-mail rather than by post, please ensure that the e-mail address you give is current and your mail box a reasonable size. The other form is a sponsorship form to maintain the high quality rosettes and trophies we present this support is vital.

 Wishing you all the best and much success for 2008 !

 Yours truly,

ADRC Committee (Junior & Senior)

 Important Dates:

 27^th January – Show Jumping

30^th March - Pre season show – Croft Top

18th May – Points Show – Showground, Rishton

15^th & 29^th June – Points Show – Showground, Rishton

11^th, 12^th & 13^th July - Premier Riding Club Championships, Myerscough

20th July – Points Show – Showground, Rishton

2^nd & 3rd August - Ultimate Showcase of Champions – Great Yorkshire

17th August  - Trophy &  Points Show – Showground, Rishton

24^th & 25^th August - North West Show Jumping Championships (tbc)

7th September - NCPA Pony of the Year, Somerford Park.

21st September – Points Show – Showground, Rishton

27th & 28^th September - Supreme Interclub Riding Club Championships

October – North West Championships & Festival of Champions (tbc)

22nd November – Presentation Night – Accrington Town Hall