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West Pennine TREC
Results
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A bumper number of entries
were received for the
first full outdoor TREC of the White Horse TREC Group calendar, the West Pennines competition near Oldham. Entries closed promptly
with 64 names
down on the list, well up to capacity for the compact venue leaving our
newest
competition organiser Liane Robinson with a challenge on her hands but
ably
supported by TD extraordinaire Mark Kendrick.
Who'd have thought that an
event so close to Manchester and the month of April would
be blessed
with wall to wall sunshine?! Certainly not Mark and Liane when they
were
checking the routes in the snow.
 The POR route on Saturday was set across the western side
of the Pennines close to the "old" border of
Yorkshire and Lancashire and only one word can be
used to describe the
scenery – stunning.
Speeds set a sensible pace as
the undulations
provided a sufficient fitness challenge so early in the season which
enabled
competitors to take maximum appreciation of the setting. Early season
rusty POR
skills came into play as competitors fell into the age-old "open
gate" trick and checkpoint judges observing riders going in all sorts
of
wrong directions, particularly on Crompton Moor!
 Around the Level 4 route Dave Cromarty was arguably
blessed
with the best judging role with a glorious view overlooking four
reservoirs and
a relaxing gate manning duty which hopefully made up for his lengthy
trek from
his drop point.
Level 3 and 4 competitors
tackled a lengthy but well
set bearings section around a permanent orienteering course and many
will
hopefully learn the vital lesson of reading their instructions
thoroughly.
Later in the day a grid references section checked their concentration
levels
were not dwindling, particularly for the Level 4s who made use of cross
referencing map bearings to reveal parts of their route.
Saturday evening's meal was
in the barn which made
for a cosy venue with only a few competitors having to resort to
braving the
chilly April evening outside. Scores were released amongst the usual
frenzy of
excitement. Level 2 scores were well spread with Kirsty Wilde topping
the
Individual class and Helen Jones and Steph Bolshaw leading the pairs
class
closely followed by Lesley Benyon and Ann Weaver obviously recovered
from their
long journey from Wales. Level 3 and 4 scores
reflected the
additional technical element of the levels with no scores breaking the
200
point barrier; Amanda Renshaw was enjoying her freedom as she led the
Level 3
individual class and the familiar Rogerson duo sat at the top of the
pairs
class. The top of the Level 4 leaderboard was extremely tight with GB
team
member Daniel Nolan in the lead with Lynn Davies, Level 4 newcomer,
close
behind and Anna Weston and Caroline Brammer breathing down their necks.
Sunday morning dawned chilly
but bright and looked
like the good conditions would hold for the day. Level 4 competitors
were the
first to tackle the Control of Paces and PTV courses which made use of
every
single natural feature that the venue had to offer. The warm up area
was the
steepest in TREC history but at least it prepared the horses for what
was to
come!
The Control of Paces track
ran straight down the
contours with an arc at the end which ran steeply back up the contours
just to
check riders were still in control. As expected, Level 3s and 4s were
required
to canter "slowly" downhill followed by walking quickly uphill.
Scores reflect the challenge that this posed with Sue Lee, Level 3
newcomer,
clocking up the best score of the day, a very credible 42 points.
Level 2s were spared this
challenge as their corridor
was shortened to omit the arc and completed in the opposite direction.
This did
not remove all of the challenge though as many struggled to stay the
correct
side of the fine line between quickly walking downhill and momentum
taking them
into a jog. Lynda Eastwood maintained her paces well to score an
impressive 55
points.
So onto the PTV. This course
also used the natural
features; the Level 4 ride up was so steep that only gallop seemed a
possible
gait to attempt it at and all levels tackled a challenging Path
Crossing with
jumps on either side of a sizeable dip. The course was also short which
tested
the horse's concentration with no long gallops for horse and rider to
gather
their thoughts.
Whilst the majority of
competitors struggled to break
the 100 point barrier the top scorers in their levels were Jackie
Bennett with
121 points on the challenging Level 4 course which included the canter
corridor
no more than a stride away from the fence line; Sheila Rogerson with
118 points
at Level 3; and Rachel Wilmot who scored an amazing 143 points at Level
2.
Final scores were produced
swiftly and the prize
giving got underway. Kirsty Wilde had held onto her overnight lead to
win the
Level 2 Individual class with Sam Cook putting in a good second day
performance
to pull her from fourth place overnight up to second. Penny Wadey and
Lynda
Eastwood also rose up the leaderboard on the second day to win the
Level 2
Pairs class.
Amanda Renshaw's dominance
across all three phases kept
her at the top of the Level 3 Individual class with the well known
partnership
of Dave and Sheila Rogerson being equally dominant to earn a convincing
win of
the Level 3 Pairs.
The Level 4 class was the
closest of the competition
with a total leaderboard shuffle from overnight scores. It was a close
battle
with the top six riders within 40 points of the overall winner Anna
Weston.
Overall the competition was a
great success with
everything running to time, particularly the map room under Paula
Bean's
experienced hand. Well done and huge thanks to Liane for taking on such
a
challenge and thanks to Liane's mother, Jean, for allowing us to take
over her
land for the weekend. Thanks also to Liane's sister Charmian and
daughter Alex
for their help and support, particularly Alex who didn't receive a
birthday
present from Liane due to the competition!
Thanks go to Mark for being
an excellent TD as ever
and to Jackie Bennett who was Liane's mentor ensuring nothing had been
forgotten. The army of judges over the weekend are appreciated too,
without you
these events could not happen.
Liane
would also like to finish with a word to all
the competitors, "I'd like to thank the competitors both for entering
and
also their appreciation of the event. I've had some wonderful replies".
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White
Horse
TREC
Group
News
and
Results
2010
