Wimbledon Village Stables News

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A really great time was had by one and all at the Wimbledon Village Stables Annual Charity Ball on Saturday 9^th March.  The excellent team at Cannizaro House, led by Jeff Ward delivered their usual faultless service and delicious food and they were still busy cheerfully serving drinks at 4am. Almost in time for the horses early morning feed!

Nearly 200 party goers celebrated the occasion and everyone thoroughly enjoyed the champagne reception, photo booth and magicians 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 Heather and Kerry from Esente Hairdressers in Wimbledon who styled people’s hair and donated all the proceeds to the charity.

The Dressage Trophy was won this year by Marian Clout and her stunning horse Blaze and she proudly collected her trophy from instructor Jen  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 Bottriell 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 is over  £9,200 which, I am sure you will agree, is really something we can all be rightly proud of.

We would like to thank the following sponsors;

deVere United Kingdom - Protecting our clients wealth, now and for the future

Stephen Ballentyne, Barbara Arnheim, Andrew & Sandra Treagus, Karim Souki, Sheena & Patrick Evershed, Linda & Andrew Colin, Cathy & Clive Gordon and Katie Paton

 Thank you to the following for donating raffle prize;

Masahiro and Makiko Honzawa,  Carl Hester,  Cannizaro House Hotel,  Andrew & Sandra Treagus, John & Caroline Bowis, Hilary Bodin,  Susan Poole, Abi Doyle,  Jo Macphearson, Charles Wilmot-Smith, Esente Hair, Maison St Cassien, The Bayee,  Bailey & Sage,  Lester Bowden,  Dawn Painter,  Fire Stables, Wimbledon Village, Rose and Crown, Wimbledon, - Wimbledon Books,  Horse & Country, Patrick Steele,  Franconian Sausage Company, Nichola Sharwz, Light Cafe Wimbledon, Susan Anthony, Lynda Dawson, Cathy Gordon, Having a Ball, Patrick Print OBE FBHS

WVS Sponsored Ride 2012

The 37th Annual WVS Sponsored Ride raised a phenomenal £20,000 and riders are still receiving sponsorship.  Although the sun did not shine on us we had two brilliant days.  In total 39 riders took part over the two days.

Sunday’s ride received the most sponsorship with Marian being the highest sponsored rider raising over £2,500.   Caroline and Katie did a fantastic job raising over £1,000.  The fancy dress had a good turn out with Donna, who dressed as a spider, winning.

The ride followed its traditional route round part of Wimbledon Common then into Richmond Park and back onto the Common.  With the stags in the Park in the middle of the rutting season there were some nervous faces when the bellowing was heard but as there was a super hero on the ride we did not need to worry!  Our wonderful photographer Peter Cox was on hand to snap some lovely photos of the ride.  They will all be on his site soon!  After the ride everyone headed to the Café Rouge for lunch and the awarding of the rosettes.  The fancy dress rosettes went to Sandra as a frog on a Lily Pad, Grace and Katie as Harry Potter stars, Amanda as a Fairy, Celine as a Rock Chick, Mandy as Avatar, Marian as a Super Hero to name a few.  Thanks to Teen, from Savills Estate Agents, for judging the competition again this year.   The rider of the day was Amanda who did a superb job keeping the very exuberant Mario in check!

Have a look at Facebook for more photos

On Tuesday the highest sponsored rider was Jo who raised £1,000.  The other highlight of the ride was Carol convincing nearly all the riders, at the last minute, to come in fancy dress.  We decided that parading 20 horses up and down the high street would brighten up a rather foggy Tuesday morning.  The idea worked!  Numerous shoppers and shop owners came out of their shops to see what was going on!  Those not lucky enough to be on the ground floor were leaning out the windows taking pictures of the horses! The riders then headed off on the route.

Once again everyone met in Café Rouge for the after ride formalities as well as a delicious lunch.  Jim, Carolines dad, gave a lovely talk about what a difference everybody’s hard work raising money for the Royal Marsden has made.  With bananas, wombles, monkeys, clowns, bats, skeletons, cowboys, wizard riders, Ghostbusters, batman, superman, wonderwoman, elves, princesses, it was a very tough fancy dress to judge.  Kim, from Peacock Solicitor, was given the job to split the competition.  Tasha with her homemade Ghostbuster & Celia as a skeleton were the outright winners.  The rider of the day went to Debbie on Dumpling who has only been riding for a couple of months so a 2 ½ hour ride was a wonderful achievement.

WVS would like to take this opportunity to thank all the riders who took part as well as their very generous sponsors for raising such an impressive amount for the Royal Marsden Cancer Charity, The Holly Lodge Centre and Wimbledon & Putney Commons Conservators.

WVS Awards Party

Have a look at more photos on the Facebook page

Our Annual Awards party on Sunday at Hemingways was again a wonderful success so many thanks to everyone who came and everyone who voted in the various categories.   We were thrilled with the responses, particularly those insights into wonderful moments that have been enjoyed either riding or just cuddling one of our lovely horses.

 The evening was kindly started by our two VIP guests, Stephen Hammond MP and Corinne Bracken Chef d’Équipe of GB Young Horses & Riders.    Stephen represents our local Wimbledon constituency and supports many of our WVS social and fundraising activities. He has recently been appointed as a minister in the Ministry of Transport with special responsibility for bicycles etc so we were able to ensure that he also keeps horses and riders in the forefront of his mind too!    Corinne had been a games maker at Greenwich during the Olympics and was able to regale us with amusing tales of the bureaucracy, trials and tribulations that that involved.  Not least the almost incredible situation when Nick Skelton, in full riding kit and still wearing the gold medal he had just been presented with, was refused permission to enter the stable area as he did not have the right pass on him!   We are very grateful to both of them for joining us.

Our awards were made to huge cheers and support for all of the entrants and our brilliant MC, Claire, read out many of the comments.  Clearly voting for the Horse and Pony of the year and the Best Horse Friend had appealed to many of our riders who all had their own very special reason for their choice.   There can, of course, only be one winner in each category and that is:-

Horse of the year – Calypso Pony of the year – Dumpling Best Horse Friend – Chester

As well as our riders, the staff were also given the opportunity to vote and the result of their deliberations was:-

Rider of the year – Nuph Most improved rider – Cathy Most improved at jumping – Donna & Polly Endeavour – Katie

Moment of the Year was another voted for by our riders and, having been kept a secret from them until the evening, was awarded to Kate and Genna, who had gamely dressed up as the Queen and Prince Phillip for our much enjoyed Jubilee Ride.  Very appropriate too, as anyone who saw the traffic stop and the drivers and passengers overwhelmed looks will enjoy telling you!

Carol and Caroline took the opportunity to make a Special award to thank Sara, Susan and Lynda for their support over the last year.   Also a very popular award for Unsung Hero’s went to Manor Farm, collected by Amy and Dee who were there with us to enjoy the evening.    Without a shadow of doubt this award would have been voted for by every single horse on the yard.   All of them thoroughly enjoy their rest and recreation time at Manor Farm, grazing the fabulous fields, kicking up their heels and possibly enjoying the stunning views too!    Not only that, of course, the reason why it is our favourite place too is the devoted care they get whilst they are there from Sandra, Amy, Dee and all the staff at Manor Farm.

Finally a big thank you to the staff at Hemingways who produced delicious nibbles and worked very hard throughout the evening to keep us all plied with drinks – very  much appreciated by one and all!

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WE HAVE DONE IT AGAIN!

Thanks to our wonderful team and loyal support from riders, not to mention the fantastic horses, we have again won a prestigious business award in the Merton Business scheme. We were delighted to have been invited to attend the Award Ceremony at the All England Tennis Club and thrilled that for the second year running we were winners in the Hospitality and Leisure section. It is so rewarding to have our efforts recognised by the judges, especially against the other very impressive businesses that had entered. We cannot thank you, our riders and mainstay of our business, enough.

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WVS Members’ Show 2012

Our Annual Members Show, held on Tuesday 28th August was a resounding success with everyone having a thoroughly enjoyable day and bringing home their fair share of rosettes. The day was very well supported by competitors and spectators alike who were all treated to a (rare!) day of glorious sunshine.

A big thank you to our judges, Katie and Pat who had the unenviable task of deciding on the winners, but gave very useful feedback leaving all the competitors looking forward to the next show! The instructors were delighted to see such a high standard of riding throughout the day and everybody’s hard work throughout the year and in the lead up to the show paying off.

The results were as follows: Riding Horse 1st – Calypso ridden by Donna 2nd – Alice ridden by Sandra 3rd – Honey ridden by Mandy 4th – Blaze ridden by Marian 5th – Hazy ridden by Hannah & Mario ridden by Tansy 6th – Hattie ridden by Olivia & Lilly ridden by Polly

Working Hunter 1st – Cookie ridden by Polly 2nd – Honey ridden by Katie 3rd – Calypso ridden by Donna 4th – Blaze ridden by Marian 5th – Hattie ridden by Olivia & Mario ridden by Tansy 6th – Alice ridden by Sandra & Hazy ridden by Hannah

Best Rider 1st – Mario ridden by Tansy 2nd – Hattie ridden by Olivia 3rd – Blaze ridden by Marian 4th – Alice ridden by Sandra 5th – Honey ridden by Katie 6th – Hazy ridden by Hannah

We also had the next generation taking part, with Emi, 8, Claire, 8 and Holly, 12 and Alice, 8. They all had a great day on Cookie, Dumpling, Louis, and Lilly. They took part in the Best Rider Junior, Pony Club Pony and Handy Pony classes which allowed them to show off their skills with activities such as bending through cones, round the world and even a few little jumps! Who knows they might be the Olympic riders of the future!

The jumping in the afternoon was also a great success and a lot of fun. The recent rain had meant that the ground conditions were perfect for the horses. Again, it was a pleasure to see such a high standard of riding with everybody having a highly successful afternoon.

The results for the jumping are listed below:

Novice Jumping1st – Hattie ridden by Olivia 2nd – Louis ridden by Tansy 3rd – Hazy ridden by Sandra 4th – Calypso ridden by Donna 5th – Lilly ridden by Lucy 6th – Blaze ridden by Marian

Pairs Jumping 1st – Blaze ridden by Marian & Hattie ridden by Olivia 2nd – Lilly ridden by Lucy & Honey ridden by Katie 3rd – Hazy ridden by Sandra & Louis ridden by Tansy 4th – Calypso ridden by Donna & Cookie ridden by Polly

The most exciting moment of the day is always the announcement for the Champion of the Day. It was extremely close this year, with only one point separating the Champion and the Reserve Champion. This years Champion was Olivia Page riding her horse Hattie, a well deserved victory which is a testament to the hard work she has put into her horse over the last couple of years. The Reserve Champion was Tansy Brosnahan who had great results throughout the day in the showing on Mario and in the jumping on the lovely Louis.

Finally, we must say a big thank you to all of our helpers on the day, it really would not be possible to run the day without your help!

See Peter Cox’s website for all the photos, which will be up soon.

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South London Business Awards 2012

A huge and sincere thank you to all of our liveries and members who make WVS the business it is and that we all love.  We know that you will be as delighted as we are to learn that last night, we won the award for Best Business for Hospitality & Leisure in South London ahead of 9 finalists in the category, from many South London Boroughs.

Without our absolutely wonderful staff we could not possibly have achieved such a prestigious award and we acknowledge their unfailing hard work and thank them for the help and support they provide on a day to day basis. The lovely trophy is on display in the office.   Thank you all again for your support and we hope that you will appreciate and enjoy this success with us.   Carol and Caroline

On the night we were lucky enough to meet fellow finalists. Ardella and Jo, whose excellent creative writing business, Chalk the Sun was up for the Best New Business Award.  Click here to read their very amusing account of the Awards.

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Wimbledon Village Stables – Summer Show 2012

Have a look at our Facebook page for more fantastic photos of a very memorable day!

Preparation for the WVS show begins well ahead of the actual day – as well as all the organisation which has to be done the horses are all clipped and bathed so that they will look their best and their tack given an extra special clean.    On the day itself, grooming starts at the crack of dawn and the excitement in the yard is palpable.    However it is all well worth while to see the WVS horses looking so magnificent and such a credit to owners and staff who have worked so hard  – check out facebook for photos. 

None of it would come to pass however if it were not for our generous sponsors Robert Holmes, GM Development and Techniquest to all of whom we are very grateful.   A big thank you too to everyone who helped on the day – those who come every year and know the routines thoroughly, like our judges and assistants, Chris, Penny, Pat, Jane, Linda, Pat and Georgina and those on the organisation side Penny, Marilyn, Sue and Angela and Susan in the commentary box.  Also all the WVS members who made an excellent contribution this year as stewards and course builders some for the first time like our secretary extraordinaire Cathy.    We hope you all enjoyed yourselves too and will be as ready and willing to help again next year.   You will be delighted to know that we raised over £1,000 for the Wimbledon Guild, an excellent local charity.

We were so lucky with the weather, which always helps of course and ensured that those doing their first show with their new partners – Imogen on Cookie who collected lots of rosettes together and came 2nd in Coloured Pony class; Caroline on Calypso, who jumped a lovely clear round;  Katie on Honey who came 2nd in condition & turnout and Marian on Blaze who competed in both jumping and showing classes all had a lovely day to remember.

Click on image to see more photos

Our WVS junior riders excelled themselves when Alex won Best Junior Rider on Lilly and Holly was second on Louis.  Louis came first in Fancy Dress, ridden by Alice dressed, appropriately in Jubilee year, as The Queen.  Alice had a magnificent day and was judged best Family Horse, ridden by Sarah, Emi and Sophie, and coping well with open umbrellas, balloons etc. then won Coloured Horse with an impressive ride by Katie.    Rolo won Pony Club Pony ridden by Olivia and Kerry also did well in the showing classes ridden by Sandra.

In the jumping classes, Grace and Hazy jumped a brilliant double clear in the Novice Jumping, also jumping in other classes were Liz and Molly who had a clear round as did Nuph on Bamboo.   Treleigh ridden by Tash, Casper by Genna and Jazz by Tracey all competed well in the jumping classes too. Sasha and Jen came 2nd in the pairs jumping on Hazy and Honey – take a look at their lap of honour photo on the right.

 The Musical Ride was, once again, the highlight of the show, attracting huge crowds to watch the WVS team perform a difficult but wonderfully executed routine to the music from Grease, with Deborah giving her usual excellent commentary on the mike and our sponsor Robert Holmes gave out the rosettes.    The Pink Ladies  were Sasha on Chloe, Jen on Calypso, Fernanda on Kerry and Kirsty on Molly whilst the T Birds were Genna on Rolo, Kate on Louis, Natasha on Jazz and Claire on Rocky.   If, sadly, you missed it or if you just want to see and enjoy it again, you can now find it on you tube!

After the show everyone returned to the yard and, having fed and watered the wonderful horses - enjoyed the barbeque.   Justin provided and cooked the delicious food and Mallory Tor sang to a packed yard and a good time was had by all.   After having the plaiting taken out of their manes the horses all looked as if they had spent the morning having a bad perm – however the damp evening air soon restored them to their usual smart looks.   Horses, riders, organisers and stewards alike had had a wonderful day and thoroughly deserved the evening celebrations and time to reflect on a good job, well done with the bonus that an excellent local charity will benefit too.

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Jubilee Fun

Have a look at our Facebook page for more fantastic photos of a very memorable day!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that into every UK Bank Holiday some rain must fall and furthermore that the British people will be stoic and carry on regardless so, over the last four days, together with our friends from the Commonwealth and worldwide that is exactly what we have done! Overall the weather has not spoilt the fun and, most important for us, our Jubilee Ride and the barbecue afterwards took place before the rain set in.

You may be aware that we sent from WVS loyal greetings to Her Majesty on the occasion of the celebration of her 60th anniversary, thanking her and Prince Philip for the inspiration they have both been to horse lovers throughout her reign and telling her that we were holding a Jubilee Ride. We received a reply thanking us for our loyal greetings and wishing us all well for the Jubilee Ride.

To celebrate the event our riders dressed in red, white and blue and some of the horses even had a touch of Jubilee celebration colour too. Over in Richmond Park we split up into small rides to explore and enjoy the off track riding available to us and, from time to time, received lovely, complimentary comments from families, dog walkers and other park users! However it was when coming back into Wimbledon Village, having all met up together again, that we were led by two mounted members of staff dressed up as our very own “Queen and Prince Phillip” that we received the very best of cheering and welcomes possible from everyone on Wimbledon High Street, outside the cafés and even those driving cars! It was great fun but also very heartwarming too.

We came back into the stable yard – the horses to their well deserved lunches and the riders and friends to a magnificent BBQ provided by the lovely Justin, from Catered by Justin. It was wonderful to unwind, chat and enjoy the delicious food. All in all a very fitting end to a wonderful Jubilee week-end celebrating the magnificent achievement of a monarch we are all so proud of and in the special way that only seems possible here in the UK!

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So proud to report that WVS sailed through the BHS Inspection by Sue Payne FBHS. “It was a pleasure to do the Where to Train Inspection for WImbledon Village Stables. What a good team of people”. Sue was highly complimentary of our horses, our riders and of course our wonderful Chief Instructress, Caroline. We have also been upgraded to train up to BHSII level. In the photo are Jen on Chester, Sasha on Pod, Hugh on Molly with Caroline and Sue Payne.

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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.

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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