Multi-activiy weekend -how good is this!

The Benalla Club put on another great multi-activity weekend on the 1st, 2nd and 3rd October. We are also getting into the habit of providing fine weather to boost everyone's spirits, mild temperatures around 20 degrees each day with clear skies. Despite the flooding of the King River in early September, the grounds have hardened, and were lush with grass and ideal for carriage driving activities. Everyone enjoyed their training sessions with Mike Thill from Friday to Sunday. A good number took advantage of the cones course on Saturday including being timed by Jack Wind and Jim Adams. The cones course included carpet and a false bridge which all participants took in their stride. The complimentary barbeque on Friday night went down a treat with everyone taking the opportunity to catch up on all the gossip. Saturday night's socialising included a 5 minute demonstration of the Benalla Club's blog. We also had the drawing of the raffle which included 15 prizes supplied by local sponsors including 2 fine bottles of wine from John Gehrig.
We asked and were generously given, an entertaining talk by Lorraine Cairns about her "Road to Rome" trip. Her description of the lead up and conclusion of the team's travels were very insightful on how challenging it is to compete overseas. Lorraine was able to provide a very vivid picture of the contrast and similarities between European and Australian Carriage Driving, which was most informative. We would like to thank Lorraine for her time and providing the human aspect which can't be drawn from a blog or written article.
As promised, the Benalla Club put on a 1 hour CDE where 11 participants took advantage of implementing the training and practice of the previous 2 days. The design of the marathon course was conservative allowing for the possibility the Oxley grounds may still have been affected by floods, which thankfully they weren't. Participants had horses ranging from shetlands, ponies, pony pairs and a clydesdale thoroughbred cross. There were no prizes or sheep stations up for grabs, just people meeting their own goals and looking to put things in place in readiness for the season ahead.
Again the club's volunteers ensured a friendly smooth running event and we hope to see everyone at our next event in March 2011. Jack Wind