The Pony Club Tetrathlon Championships

Pony Club triathlon competitions are held throughout the winter season, and involve air pistol shooting at a target, swimming as far as you can within a set time period, and running a set distance as fast as you can. The distances and times vary according to the competitors’ ages, and for boys vs girls. Tetrathlon competitions run through the summer season, which include the horse riding phase, in addition to the shooting, running and swimming. This riding phase is a course of cross country jumps and obstacles to be completed within a set time. The competitors can compete as part of team of 4 as well as an individual, and it is a very friendly competition, with competitors bringing different strengths to their team. The pony club hold two National Championships each year, the Winter Triathlon Championships in the Spring, and the Tetrathlon National Championships held in August. Competitors have to be placed in the top 2 (triathlon) or top 4 (tetrathlon) in area qualifying competitions held across the UK and Ireland, to qualify for the national championships.

Two Quorn members qualified for and competed at the Tetrathlon National Championships: Victoria Sercombe within the Open Girls category, and Jade England within the Junior Girls category. The Tetrathlon National Championships are held over 3 days at Bishop Burton in Yorkshire in August.

Professor Sarah Freeman, Jade’s mother writes:

This was our first experience of a pony club championship, and our first experience of camping with a pony. As expected, for August, it poured with rain for the first two days, and we established that our new tent does leak if it rained continuously for 48 hours. The venue had a 6km hacking track which all the competitors could use throughout their stay. By our second day there, there was mud everywhere, but the sun did come out for the last two days when everyone was running or riding. Jade’s pony Teddy had been geared up to peak fitness, and initially decided stabling and rain was boring and the 6km track was a racetrack, but did settle throughout the time. The cross country

course was what you would expect for a championship competition, full up size, with pretty much all the technical questions you could ask (ditches, water, corners, skinnies, combinations, jumping into and out of woods).

Jade is young in her class and has struggled with an ankle injury this year, so her overall scores were not very competitive. However, she swam a personal best and really enjoyed the cross country. She was the only Junior East of England girl to ride clear in the cross country phase, finishing 1 minute and 45 seconds inside the maximum time (which I am sure was down to good technique at the gate and slip rail, not speed cross country), and riding this course was undoubtedly her highlight of the competition. It was her most testing course yet, and raised many of the technical issues that she has worked on in the Caroline Moore pony club training.

The Sercombe family were a source of calm experience throughout, giving advice on facilities and events, and walking the course with Jade. Victoria did consistently well in her class. She was very unlucky that a wet area of ground meant that Bucks slipped on take-off for one fence and they had a fall on landing in an otherwise clear round in a very testing open course (with very few clears). This meant that Victoria was just outside the top 10 placings in her class, but did finish safe and sound. Victoria was also in an Area 6 team which did very well and were placed 7th overall.

We are very grateful to Robin and Margaret Graham-Brown, and to Dave Hallam, for their fantastic support for training and competitions throughout the year, and their kind words of wisdom and experience always. We are also grateful to Margaret and Sue Henton who both travelled up to Bishop Burton just to see both girls compete on the Saturday, and our friends in the pony club for all their messages of support. We are very lucky to have such a wonderful group, who always encourage our children without ever putting any pressure on to perform. We very much hope to go back again next year, but we would love to this to be as part of a team (so we can compensate for Jade’s running issues..) – hope to see you with us through the next year!

And here are just a few pictures from the National Championships a Bishop Burton:

Dave Hallam and the girls on a course walk

Jade and Teddy in full flight

Jade looking ahead to the next jump

Victoria giving of her best in the run