Bonsall Riders was formed in April 2007 and now have 13 horse riding and non-riding members. Bonsall didn’t have many horse riders and recently the horse and pony owning population has increased significantly which made us think that it would be a good idea to get like minded people together and form an interest group. News of a meeting to discuss the future of Bonsall’s bridleways was passed around by word of mouth and the first meeting took place in Village Hall.
The challenge of horse riders and motorbike riders using the same routes in Bonsall safely together was high on the list of the group’s priorities and people attending the meeting were asked how they would like to deal with it. .
Elizabeth sourced some information from the British Horse Society about becoming an affiliated Bridleways group and organised a bank account, Pamela developed a constitution, Equal Opportunities Policy and membership structure and Liz Stoppard is also developing a website for the group.
The Constitution was agreed at a meeting in May and it was decided to apply to the British Horse Society to become an affiliated bridleway group; to help ensure the protection and maintenance and improvement of bridleways with the aim of providing a safer environment for horse riders and drivers and to promote social activity the unite the local horse community.
The first well attended social ride took place on a very hot Saturday in June with riders meeting at Slayley and riding out to Ible and back, with Jane Williams providing a very welcome drink of water for horses and riders half way around!
The group has been kept busy over the Summer organising a visit from Karen Hinckley, Access Officer for the BHS; helping members who have been having problems with getting their horses loaded onto a trailer; plant identification so that members can identify any potentially poisonous plants growing their fields; many social rides over the school break all of which were weather permitting due the what seemed like never ending rainfall; plaiting and trimming demonstration where David Speck’s recently acquired Skewbald Cob mare Amber was transformed (much to her impatience) from scruffy mare to almost show quality having had her ‘feathers’ and mane trimmed by some of the attendees; days out to Chatsworth Horse Show and other local shows, a horsey Quiz and a couple of attempts were made to walk the Grangemill path but were unfortunately washed out by heavy rain!
The group intends to walk and survey bridleways in the Bonsall area and beyond to find out which one’s could do with a bit of TLC in the future. Other future events in planning are a visit from local farrier to give hoof care advice and share anecdotes from over 40 years visiting yards; visit to a professional yard to ‘see how it should be done’; group bookings to various horse events; talk by local equine vet on first aid for horses; demonstrations by various equine specialists along with weekend rides as long as the weather holds.