Dallas Burston Polo Club celebrates all things equine with annual Equestrian Day
Posted on Wednesday, July 11, 2018 by Sasha Melia
Equestrian Day is a yearly event at the Stoneythorpe estate that features many of the various equine disciplines supported and hosted by Dallas Burston Polo Club. The annual celebration also features a farmer’s market and this year, for the first time, expanded to showcase the venue’s wider capabilities with an exclusive wedding fayre.
Over 600 members of the public attended this year’s event, featuring exhibitors such as Hounds & Harmony, MYO, Kelly’s Scoops and Shakes, Ben’s Blends, Alan and Paige’s Horse Feeds, Lister Wilder, Sheep to Chic, The Lost Farm, Cakes for All, The English Spirit Distillery, The Feed Shed and Whitehall Trailers.
Displays on the day included the Mounted Games Association and Horseback Falconry performances narrated by Bob Edwards. New Leaf Triangle displayed their outdoor sports programme (which helps children and adults with learning difficulties), Rearsby Lodge Riding Club provided a Quadrille Display (led by Troy Shaw, former leader of the Household Cavalry) and Ginny Oakley Pope of the Ladies of Area 5 (representing the Side Saddle Association) showed guests the traditions behind side-saddle riding, explaining the history and heritage of the discipline.
Visitors witnessed a variety of fun activities on the day including Archery, Tug of War and jumping bag contests. There were even some camels on hand to greet visitors to the site, introduced by the team at ‘Joseph’s Amazing Camels’ (who will also be present at the upcoming Polo in the Park event).
Two polo games were also played on the day in front of The Millstone Hare Pub, with commentary provided by Huw Beavan, DBPC’s Polo Manager.
At the simultaneous wedding fayre, couples were greeted with complimentary champagne and canapés, had the opportunity to meet a wide selection of hand-picked wedding suppliers, discuss their vision for their respective special days and take tours of the breath-taking wedding venues the estate has to offer; including the Colonial Clubhouse, the Golden Jubilee building and the IXL Events Centre.
Major Richard Carney MBE says everybody at Dallas Burston Polo Club enjoys the uniqueness of Equestrian Day, “This event is unlike any other and truly showcases the depth of entertainment our club has to offer” he said, “It is incredibly rare to see so many unique equine disciplines all feature in one day and we are delighted that the public turned out in great numbers to experience it all with us.”
At Dallas Burston Polo Club, membership is offered but not essential; everyone is welcome and lots of events taking place over the course of the season are offered free for the public to attend. Equestrian Day is just one of the unique events taking place over the course of the polo season, with attractions in recent times including camel polo, fun-fairs and university polo tournaments.
Picnicking around the pitches can be as affordable or luxurious as a visitor desires, with many attendees visiting the grounds simply to enjoy the 600 acres of scenery and first-class facilities on offer.
The multiple award-winning Dallas Burston Polo Club, Pride of Stratford Business of the Year 2018, features Europe’s largest all-weather SuperArena® for equestrian events, six polo grounds, a colonial Clubhouse, wedding venues, the IXL Events Centre and The Millstone Hare – a £2.4m Olde English styled pub with state-of-the-art facilities and incredible views over the grounds.
To keep informed of the latest events coming up at Dallas Burston Polo Club, visit www.dbpoloclub.com
Go Bright Charity Ride, from Great Linford Milton Keynes 28/5/2018
Posted on Tuesday, July 10, 2018 by Sasha Melia
As we sat listening to the thunder and heavy rain on Sunday evening we wondered whether the ride would even take place on the following day. We had been out all weekend route marking and despite our best efforts we were worried that the route markings might be entirely washed away and the venue be too waterlogged to safely park lorries and trailers.
Sure enough, very early on Bank Holiday Monday morning we began to get enquiries from worried competitors asking if the ride was going to be cancelled due to flooding. We reassured them as best we could and whilst I set off for the venue, Jim very bravely set off on what can only be termed an extreme route re-marking adventure. Parts of the course were VERY waterlogged but by wading through them Jim established that the footing was still secure and was able to use electric fence posts to mark out the edge of the river so that riders were kept safely on the path.
To make life even more exciting the steward at checkpoint 1 reported that the Traveller encampment which we had spotted whilst route marking had expanded overnight and was now spread all across the Bradwell Abbey area, meaning that riders in the 29km class would have no choice but to ride right through the middle of it!
In the event all ran very smoothly; whilst some of the printed signs had suffered in the rain, the rest of the route marking was still clearly visible. Most riders earned their water wings successfully and we only had 3 riders whose horses refused to go through the water – even the smallest Pony Club pony managed fine (possibly they had packed a snorkel). The Travellers were all reported as being very polite and friendly and although we gave all riders in this class the option to downgrade to the 12km class which avoided this area, in the end only one pair chose to do so. However, what with all this, the course was somewhat more intrepid than usual and as a result rode far slower than normal with the fastest speed of the day being only 9.6kmph.
More importantly however, this was a charity ride, and I’m delighted to say that we managed to raise £552 for Potential Plus UK due to the generosity of our riders and their sponsors.I would also like to thank the stewards and helpers who gave so willingly of their time – we couldn’t do it without you!
Prize Winners:
EquineK9Branding very kindly sponsored awards for the best Go Bright themed turnout and the highest amount of sponsorship raised.
Go Bright Turnout
1st Kim Newton and Gypsy
2nd Emily Skinner and Cassie
Most Sponsorship Raised
1st Sasha Snell and Dee Dee (£120)
2nd Lara Williams and Sasha (£67)
Pony Club Grassroots Qualifiers
Olivia Rosin and Ziggy – Whaddon Chase (also won the award for best WCPC member)
Katrina Rosin and Molly – Whaddon Chase
Emma Harris and Dolly – Oakley Hunt West (also won the award for Best Pony Club turnout)
Sasha Snell and Dee Dee – Whaddon Chase
Lara Williams and Sasha – Whaddon Chase
Handy Pony
Many thanks to Wendy Compton who donated prizes for the Handy Pony
1st Hannah Maskell and Echo
2nd Lara Williams and Sasha
