After a very mixed week we were extremely pleased when Saturday dawned bright and clear. We had an unusually high level of entries for this event and had managed to field no less than 3 Whaddon Chase teams. Unfortunately the numbers meant that we ended doing a fair amount of last minute ringing round for stewards as we realized that we were unlikely to be able to cope with those we had. Our heartfelt thanks to those of you who responded to a late night call and fitted in helping at this event around all your other commitments.

This time, in order to judge the team placings, our hardy “vet” stewards were using our brand new heart rate monitor. This was an interesting experience and, as one steward remarked, it showed up some horse’s level of fitness in a rather unexpected way as finding a pulse on over weight animals is very tricky! However, despite a sometimes long queue forming, everyone was successfully vetted through at both the start and the end of the ride and we only had one pony fail the vet due to a high heart rate.

We did, however, have an unusually high number of riders failing to pass the ride due to speed. It was obvious that some of the first time riders had not measured their maps beforehand in order to plan the ride and pace themselves. At any endurance ride it is essential to measure the distance on your map between checkpoints and/or obvious landmarks and work out how long it should take you to get there at both the maximum and minimum speed allowed for your class. You can use a piece of string for this and the formula Time=Distance/Speed. Times should be noted down and carried with you for reference. At our rides we do try to have the correct times and distances posted at the secretaries tent but this is not at all common and should not be relied upon! Your aim should be to arrive at the finish about half way between the minimum and maximum times allowed which usually means a steady trot for most of the route. Setting your watch to 12.00 as you start is a good tip to help make it easier to compare times as you go round.

Fortunately the Whaddon Chase teams were mostly well prepared and the opposition were no match for us as we pulled off a hat trick of 1st, 2^nd and 3rd place!

WCPC Members Results:

Osprey (20 mile) final – Rebecca Parsler

15 mile completion – Sophie Van Leeuwen and Zoe Davis

Kestrel (10 mile) final – Bryony Parsler, Hannah Maskell and Rosie Dickson (making Hannah the youngest WCPC rider at 8yrs old to so far achieve this)

Kestrel Qualifier – Helena Bench

10 mile completion – Natasha Parsler

Merlin (5mile) Final – Kathryn Naysmith

Highest placed WCPC member – Rebecca Parsler

Team results:

Team 1^st – WCPC Babes – Bryony Parsler, Sophie Van Leeuwen and Zoe Davis

Team 2^nd – WCPC Angels – Natasha Parsler, Hannah Maskell and Rosie Dickson

Team 3^rd – WCPC Raiders – Kathryn Naysmith, Helena Bench and Rebecca Parsler

Team 4th – Oakley Hunt West – Jesse Godleman, Kim Ziya and Lizzie Barnes

Team 5th – Linford – Chloe and Jessica Bolam and Helena Lily