We are delighted to have received a grant of £1,500 from the Tandridge Community Foundation towards the cost of a new pony. We sadly lost one of our ponies last year, and are fundraising to buy another larger pony to carry our bigger riders. Tandridge Community Foundation runs the Tandridge Together Lottery, which holds a weekly draw on a Saturday. 60% of each ticket goes to good causes and tickets can be purchased by clicking HERE.
The Foundation arranged for BBC South East to film one of our riding sessions and the short film went out on Friday 30th January on the South East News, at lunchtime and in the evening. Following this we were delighted to receive many donations via our website, totalling an additional £2,254, all of which will go to the pony fund.
We are very grateful to the Tandridge Community Foundation for their support.
We are delighted to have been chosen by the Dormansland Horse and Dog Show to be one of their charities for 2025. Their show takes place at East Bysshe Showground, Eastbourne Rd, Newchapel, Lingfield RH7 6LF, on Sunday 31st August, 2025. For further details: Home | Dormansland Horse & Dog Show.
The Hill Brush Company, who are Royal Warrant Holders, have kindly donated some brooms, brushes and a shovel to us to help us keep our yard spick and span for our riders. Hillbrush have a fantastic range of cleaning equipment from traditional brooms to more eco-friendly alternatives, and they supply these worldwide. We are very grateful to them for the donation which will certainly be put to good use.
Over the years we have had a lot of support from Royal Warrant Holders, both through their association and also individually. We are lucky to have connections – Katie Giddings, one of our instructors for many years, is married to Kevin, whose company, Milborrow Chimney Sweeps are also Royal Warrant Holders.
For some time we have been searching for a new, larger, pony or horse to carry our older riders, whilst fundraising for the money to buy one. Our ponies need to have a very special temperament and good RDA ponies are very hard to find. Three organisations were kind enough to make grants totalling £10,100 to purchase a pony: The Royal Warrant Holders Association; the East Grinstead Common Good Trust and the Gatwick Airport Community Trust. They have all been very patient while we have been tracking down the right one.
We are delighted to announce that we have finally found our pony. He is a 12 year old 14.2 hand Welsh cross piebald gelding, with lovely manners, known as Alfie. His full name is Pentregwyn Ashley and he came from Luke Tomlinson in Rochdale. We have had him on trial for a week and he has settled in well, ready for the new term which starts in September. We are enormously grateful to all three sponsors who enabled us to purchase him.
Each year we take some of our riders to the Regional Qualifiers to give them a chance to compete against other RDA riders. This year we took five riders to the Regionals and two of them qualified for the National Championships in July at Hartpury in Gloucestershire. Our team of instructors and volunteers drove up there with Fred and Star and were delighted when the children came 2nd and 5th in their classes. Parents and school staff attended and raised funds for the trip. Well done to all concerned.
