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Great weather for ducks!

More photos on our facebook page!

Well the good news is that the Common is looking absolutely gorgeous at the moment so green and lush – the ponds are filling up beautifully and certainly all the ducks are very happy and we are seeing them in places we have never seen them before including the riding tracks in some cases –  boy has it rained!  With the wettest April recorded the horse tracks are holding up remarkably well and Claire has been out and out taking some fabulous photos.

We are all really looking forward to the next few months as we have so many exciting things coming up, our Quiz Night is on Thursday in Cafe Rouge then we have a Shoeing Lecture/Demo by our brilliant farrier, Sean Roche and a Wine Tasting in the stable yard.  Please let us know if you would like to come along if you haven’t already done so.  It’s lovely to welcome back ‘Rocky’ to WVS, he normally resides in Wales but spends the Summer months with us so that his owner Sheena can get to spend more time riding him and of course get some practise in before taking part in our Show in June.

We’ve got some very exciting news,  Maria and Panda, who both work on Sundays are expecting their first babies so we won’t be seeing them mucking out or riding for a while – we wish you both the best of luck. It does mean of course that we have two new members of staff to welcome to WVS but more about that soon…….

WVS was delighted to welcome Jill Perry and her horse Gem, a Welsh Cob. Jill is riding from Sandringham House in Norfolk to the Dinefwr Castle in South Wales, via Buckingham Palace to celebrate the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee year and the Olympics and raise money for five charities including World Horse Welfare. Jill set off on 22nd April and is expecting to ride between 15 and 20 miles a day and anticipates it will take her about a month to complete. If you would like to support her by donating please call Jill on 01279 718 282, 07984477991 or email jperry-trec@live.co.uk. Jill is accompanied by Natalie on Shrek and Marc on Guinnes who will be riding with Jill to Park Lane Stables in Teddington

Free Shopping Bags for Members

Next time you come riding please pick up one of the superb Wimbledon Village Shopping Bags which we are giving out free to all our Members.  The bags which have been made by Bags of Ethics are environmentally friendly, and have been provided by the Wimbledon Village Business Association (Carol is on the committee) and it it hoped that they will encourage people to be ‘green’ and also promote our lovely Village! Please leave your e-mail address to receive details of any special offers and promotions in the Wimbledon Village Shops.

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WVS Charity Ball

Click on photo for more images

A really great time was had by one and all at the Wimbledon Village Stables Annual Charity Ball on Saturday 3rd March.  The excellent team at Cannizaro House, led by Jeff Ward, were still busy cheerfully serving drinks at 4am. Almost in time for the horses early morning feed!

170 members together with their family and friends attended the ball and Maria stayed back at the stables to ensure that all was well back at the yard.  Everyone really enjoyed the champagne reception, photo booth and entertainment so kindly provided by deVere United Kingdom, Investment Managers and all the other generous sponsors. A huge thank you goes to Parissa, our wonderful make up artist, who gave makeovers to several people and donated all the proceeds to the charity. Also our wonderful instructor Hugh  who displayed his skill as a DJ and kept the party dancing through the night and into the early hours.

Patrick Print OBE, FBHS (immediate past chairman of the British Horse Society) arrived early to spend a day coaching our instructors and, very generously, offered a raffle prize of a special lesson to one lucky winner. Patrick was also kind enough to present the Vivian Colyer dressage trophy to Tracey for the excellent test she and Jazz had ridden. Over 30 people entered the test, which was judged by Jennifer, and competition was fierce. All of the horses at WVS are becoming better and better at dressage thanks to the wonderfully high standards set by the instructors and the dedication of the riders.

Wonderful raffle prizes had been arriving at the stables throughout the week donated by generous local businesses and riders. Bill once again kindly supervised the drawing of the lucky raffle tickets and a full list of donors is given below!

As well as providing everyone who attends with a really fabulous night out at the stunning Cannizaro House Hotel the ball, each year, provides a very generous donation to The Royal Marsden Hospital. This year the donation will be £7,200 which, I am sure you will agree, is really something we can all be rightly proud of.

Photos from the evening Graham Holland Photography (GDH77)

Click on photo for more images

Here are some testimonials received:

“Seldom have I been to an event where everyone is so complimentary of each other.  In a room with so many people, everyone seemed to know everyone else and it had a real community feel to the whole event which considering the scale of the event was something you should be proud of.”  Kevin White, DeVere United Kingdom.

“Thanks so much to  Carol and Caroline and you and everyone else involved for such an enjoyable evening yesterday.  Huge amounts of hard work always make things go effortlessly well!” Cathy and Clive

“It was a fabulous Ball which was so well organised, well done to you all” Teen and John 

“A big thank you for a wonderful evening Saturday. What a party, amazing people, lovely food, everything so well organised. Thanks again.” Charlotte

We would like to thank the following for their generous Sponsorship:

DeVere United Kingdom
Rob Booth, Christopher Denniston, Barbara Arnheim, Angela Stewart, Sheena and Patrick Evershed, The Clarke family, Susan Poole

Also a big thank you to those who donated raffle Prizes:

Cannizaro House Hotel, Hobbs, Caroline & John Bowis, Patrick Steel Photography. Donna Few, Picollinos, Gillian Greenwood, Cathy Williams, Patrick Print OBE FBHS, Hemingways Lounge Bar, Having a Ball Dress Hire, Andrew & Sandra Treagus, Rose and Crown.  Senti, Dawn Painter, The Bayee Village,  Bayley & Sage, LMA Polo,  Theo the Magician, Emily Corcoran Photography, Wimbledon Books, Franconian Sausage Company, Chris Branch, Horse & Country, Dog & Fox, Senti, Matches, Bill Bottriell, Bellissima Beauty Boutique, Maison St Cassien, Riding Club London, Pet Pavilion,  Robert Holmes, Dede Wilson, Cafe Rouge, Piccolino Wimbledon

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Photo Competition

1st Place - Wardrobe malfunction!

3rd Place - Careless Whisper

We are delighted to announce the results of our Facebook Photo Competition which was kindly judged by the renowned photographer Patrick Steel.  As well as taking into account the number of votes each photo received, he also considered the composition and the quality of the photographs.  The winner was ‘Wardrobe Malfunction’ – a brilliant shot captured by Peter Cox.  Patrick particularly liked the fact that it was such a great action shot as well as the expression on Sasha’s face before the inevitable happened.  We would just like to reassure everyone that she did not suffer any injury – apart from maybe her pride!  Second place went to ‘As good as it gets’ – a lovely tranquil shot (again taken by Peter Cox) which demonstrates really clearly one of the reasons we all love riding.  Third place with by far the most votes was ‘Careless Whisper’ – a super photo, taken by Marie Noel Lemaigre showing a lovely equine/human interaction – it would have been placed higher if certain things in the background had been cropped out!

We would like to thank everyone who took part, everyone who voted and also the donors of the lovely prizes as well as Patrick for judging!

2nd Place - As good as it gets

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WVS Annual Sponsored Ride 2011

Sponsored Ride 2011

Congratulations to all 45 riders who took part in the 2011 Wimbledon Village Stables Sponsored Horse Ride and raised over £11,000 for the Royal Marsden Hospital, £1,000 for the Holly Lodge Centre in Richmond Park and £1,000 for the Wimbledon and Putney Commons Conservators.

As usual the ride took part over two days and on Sunday 23rd October our highest sponsored rider was Rob Booth who raised an impressive £1213.75 and the prize for the highest sponsored on Tuesday 25th October went to Donna who was sponsored £1000.

We are very grateful to Christine Frazer from Savills who judged the Fancy Dress competition on both days and awarded Eduardo and Pauline on Dora and Winnie first prize on Sunday, dressed as a Spanish Indian and Cowgirl and the winner on Tuesday was Donna on Alice dressed as an oompaloompa followed up by ‘The Cats’, Kirsty and Fernanda, 3rd were Kim and Jess as Fairies and fourth ‘Three little Piggies’ Genna, Jess and Kate. The Sunday Rider of the Day was Grace on her lovely pony Hazy, and the Tuesdays was Christine on Mario.  Do take a look at the wonderful photographs that our official photographer Peter Cox took – they are all on his website.

We would like to say a huge thank you to everyone who took part, and to their very generous sponsors and also to the Members who usually ride on a Sunday and Tuesday who gave up their rides so the event could take place. We could not have raised such a magnificent total without you.

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Royal Marsden Hospital

The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit the Royal Marsden Hospital

Caroline and Carol were very honoured to be invited to attend the opening by their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge of the new Oak Centre at the Royal Marsden Hospital.  The Oak Centre for Children and Young People will be one of the largest comprehensive cancer centres in Europe for children and teenagers. Over the last 8 years Wimbledon Village Stables has raised over £137,000 for the Hospital through our Sponsored Ride, our Charity Ball, the Carol Concerts and other events.

Following a tour of the Oak Centre, their Royal Highnesses unveiled the plaque and declared the Centre officially open.  The event attracted huge media attention and it was very exciting being there. As the Royal couple departed, patients and hospital staff crowded on to the building’s balconies waving Union flags and a huge cheer erupted as the royal car pulled away.

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Annual Awards Evening

WVS Annual Awards

Wimbledon Village Stables Annual Awards Evening was held at Hemingway’s in Wimbledon Village. It was a fabulous evening, very well attended and a great time was had by all.

Our award evening is a light hearted event and is an opportunity to bring together fellow riders & members who ride at different times and don’t usually meet at the stables.

We don’t take the awards too seriously but we felt the following are worthy of note:

Most Improved Rider – Rosan. Kate (her instructor) says of Rosan “‘she has worked so hard over the past year; she never says ‘can’t’ and she always strives to do the best she can”.

• Jumping Rider of the Year – Pat. She has shown unrivalled dedication and her drive to succeed and improve is infectious; she has been a pleasure to teach.
• Rider of the Year – Lucy. She is a talented rider who always has a positive approach to her riding. She is very modest but always enthusiastic about whichever horse or pony she rides.

We would like to say a huge thank you to Kelly and her team at Hemingway’s wine bar for their hospitality and professionalism and for looking after us so well and to all our Members who attended the evening and helped to make it such fun.

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Merton Business Awards

Russell Payne, VINCI Construction UK Limited, presenting the Best Hospitality and Leisure Award to Caroline Stevenson and Carol Andrews

Two hundred and forty people from local businesses, as well as the Mayor of Merton, attended the prestigious Merton Business Awards held recently at the All England Lawn Tennis Club.  We took a table of ten members of WVS staff to the event.  Other Village businesses were located around the room and they joined with those on our neighbouring tables, who had been charmed by our girls, in celebrating our successes with the loudest cheers of the evening.  We were thrilled and delighted to win the Hospitality and Leisure Award and to be the runner up in the Small Business Award.

Thank you for your support over the last year and for your testimonials which contributed to our success and made clear how much you, as well as we, appreciate and recognise the work of our brilliant team.

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Annual Members’ Show

2011 Members' Show

Our Annual Member’s Horse Show  was a great success.  Well done to our Show Champions, Jess on Casper and our Show Jumping Champions, Marian and Alice.  Both very worthy winners.

We would like to thank our judges Penny and Pat for all their hard work in choosing the winners of all the classes.  Condition & Turnout was won by Jo on the immaculately turned out Mario.  The two Best Rider classes were won by Sophie on Jazz and Solene on Cracker.  Riding Horse was won by Jess and Casper and the Riding Pony was won by Deborah and Rolo.

Working Hunter winners were Sandra and Winnie and Jess again on Casper. Peter Cox took some brilliant photos which can be seen on his website. One of the stars of the show was Patrick and Kate who finished the day off by jumping a whopping 1.15m fence to come second to Sasha and Pod who won the staff jumping by clearing a massive 1.25m!

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