Round Seven 2013

7^th and 8^th September at the Sandringham Show

Arena Boarding

What an amazing weekend full of twists and turns and I’m not just talking about the course. We went into the Sandringham Show with three teams all having the possibility to take top spot on the championships board. But, as they always do, things change.

With Kauldren, who were leading this year’s competition by five points, pulling out of the event, it meant that both Dead Pigeon and Do or Die could take the advantage and gain maximum points which would enable either team to take the top spot.

But it looked as though Dead Pigeon were taking full advantage of the situation by deciding to enter another team, Mad ‘Atters. Clearly these guys were playing the tactics of competition to perfection, because if both horses (Nabu and Lord Atterbury) performed as we all know they can, Dead Pigeon would be fighting for both first and second place. This of course would mean that Do or Die lay out of reach of the championships.

Do or Die themselves were clearly feeling the pressure of competition by their announcement that Amba would not be running in the event due to an old injury flaring up. This was obviously a major sting for them as Amba had run very well all season which was a testament to Mellissa Kaye, her rider and trainer. Amba’s amazing turns and consistent fast runs kept Do or Die at the business end of the leader board for most of the season. Luckily, with a last minute change to their line-up, Do or Die managed to secure Apache, Ihorse’s pony, to ride with them.

All this drama, plus the excitement of the up-and-coming team Norfolk ‘n’ Good - who were running the best progressive season in our history - and the new pairing of Daniel Fowler-Prime and Rachael Simington as Bucks Fizz, it was fair to say that there could be a major upset in the rankings. Add into the mix two new teams Halter Ego and Three’s a Crowd, who were having their first taste of competing in an arena, and we had a recipe for a great weekend of horseboarding!

A good sized arena was always going to push teams to their limits and test the endurance of horses, riders and boarders alike. With the rain that came on Friday night, it was a nervy night to see if the skies would clear and keep the ground in good condition for racing. 

Day One came and all teams were eager to go out and put down a good time to show the others that they meant business. The first round of course ‘A’ found Dead Pigeon nailing a 49.84s run which put them at the top of the leader board. The new formation of Dan and Rachael as Bucks Fizz ran close by in second position with a blistering 50.53s run that blatantly shocked everyone, including Bucks Fizz itself. Mad ’Atters (Dead Pigeon’s second team) came in third with 50.74s, only 200th of a second behind Bucks Fizz. This meant that all three teams only had one second between them and everything left to fight for.

Another great run from Norfolk ‘n’ Good with a 51.20s lap kept them in the running for a possible podium position. Surprisingly, Do or Die, who rarely had a time over 50 seconds in the lead-up to the competition, only managed to run a fastest time of 57.08s, leaving them in fifth position which was a major blow to their team standings. Both the new teams completed three out of three successful runs with Halter Ego’s fastest time being 60.33s and Three’s a Crowd running a very respectable 68.33s. Every team went into the break on a high.

The second heat of Arena Boarding provided the teams with a chance to better their own times around course ‘A’. The teams seemed to have given it their all in the first heat as everyone apart from Halter Ego and Three’s a Crowd (the two new teams) recorded a time one second slower than their first run. Dead Pigeon were still leading the pack with a best run time of 50.75s. Mad ’Atters knocked Bucks Fizz back to third with a great run of 51.08s, however Bucks Fizz were the victims of their own circumstance when they ran an amazing 48.79s time but clipped two posts on the way and received a four second time penalty. Even the crowd gasped in desperation as the penalties were announced. Do or Die had a slightly slower run with a time of 58.10s and were being chased closely by Halter Ego with a better time of 58.35s. Three’s a Crowd upped their game shaving three seconds off time with a run of 65.62s. Norfolk ‘n’ Good had a disastrous heat and didn’t register a time at all with three spills from boarder Allan who was finding it hard to keep grip on the ground. Unfortunately the conditions of the arena got progressively worse with the wear and tear from other shows held in the same place and the baking heat of the sun leaving the track with ruts and loose surface dirt. The day finished with a mixed bag of emotions.

On Day Two of the competition, the teams were running course ‘B’ (the reverse of Saturday’s course ‘A’). All teams knew there was still everything to play for so out they came, thundering into the arena with a glint in their eye.

Not surprisingly, Dead Pigeon upped their game by registering an amazing 49.80s run to take them to the top of the leader board with only the afternoon session to go. Their second team, Mad ‘Atters, secured second place with another consistently good performance and a best time of 50.32s. Bucks Fizz kept strong in third position with a 51.07s run but seemed not to be running at full capacity as they weren’t on the same level as the flying Dead Pigeon. Do or Die registered a better time of 55.62s with Millie seeming to have found a better form on the borrowed Apache. Norfolk ‘n’ Good was still having issues with Allan’s balance and could only register a time of 56.85s and Halter Ego running close behind at 58.60s. Three’s a Crowd gained their first taste of dirt when boarder Dan hit the deck twice in a row, leaving them with a best time of only 69.23s - welcome to horseboarding Dan, welcome! 

By the final heat, the arena was scrubbed out by the previous 60+ races, with boarders reporting that “it was like riding on ball bearings”. Clouds of dust kicked up as they raced across causing prolonged power slides from the boards. This heat is where it all mattered for Dead Pigeon; if they registered a good, solid time they were certain of victory. But in true Dead Pigeon style they gave a nerve-racking end where Ross Towner hit the dirt in an epic fashion and developed a demon-like anger with the tunnel gates and the 90 degree left hand turn, failing with both Dead Pigeon and Mad ’Atters three times in a row. One of these falls saw him grounded for a worrying length of time where he could not get back on his feet. The fall had clearly shaken him. But then all of a sudden he broke the curse to an eruption of noise from the crowd as he not only finished a run but did so in 49.80s. Smooth as you like, Ross exited the arena doing what can only be described as a ‘funky robot pigeon’ dance to an onslaught of applause from the spectators. The dance may not have been attractive, but Dead Pigeon were sitting pretty on the top branch of not only the the event, but of the championship as well.

Mad ’Atters ran a quickest time of 50.32s, giving them an overall time of 50.53s, landing them with the second place spot on the podium. Bucks Fizz finished the competition with a time of 51.77s, securing third place, very impressive for a brand new pairing. Fourth place was given to a very deserving Norfolk ‘n’ Good who gave a solid performance and a best time of 52.51s. This team have been slowly creeping up the leader board consistently throughout this season and will clearly be a real contender for 2014. A surprising fifth place position was given to Do or Die who had a fair run with Apache but never really looked a danger to the top four. With a best time of 55.62s they have probably ended their hopes of the championship title. Halter Ego gave a very convincing run with a best time of 58.50s and awarded them their first championship point. And lastly, Three’s a Crowd ended proceedings with a run of 68.03s and finished their first competitive weekend with a wave to the crowd. 

The results from this weekend have left the championship hanging in the balance with two teams equally as likely to gain the top spot: Kauldren and Dead Pigeon. The Pigeons need to win at the final to take the championship with a two point lead. If, however, they take second and Kauldren win, then both teams will draw on points which will be a first for the National Horseboarding Championship. The winner will then be decided by the highest number of wins throughout the season.

So, the stage is set for the most exciting final ever with all the pressure on the Pigeons if they want to keep the championship title and take on the same legendary status as Ihorse, the only other team to win the championship twice in row. What will happen next?

Round Six 2013

24^th, 25^th and 26^th August at the Cheshire Game Fair

Arena Boarding

This was the second of a three day event for the season and yet another main Arena Boarding event to the disappointment of some of the teams who miss the Drag Race. Unfortunately it has fallen victim to the success of the Arena Boarding and is only set to return when four heats of racing can be held in one day. 

It was a good turnout with seven teams attending and only Designated Drinkers missing from the line-up. Their absence could only be accredited to the trials of a long season performing with the Extreme Demo and Joust team of the Independent Horse. So Laura White and horse Fern stayed at home for a well-deserved break while Chris Kirk, boarder for the Drinkers, stepped in as a referee. He replaced Laura Adair who broke her leg in the mid-season interim when practising with Dead Pigeon. Laura instead was keeping a watchful eye on the proceedings from the sound box, in the role of a fourth official. 

For the most part, this was a weekend dictated by the arena conditions which changed quite dramatically over the course of the three days and made for some very exciting boarding. 

Day One found the arena with long lush grass which was also wet from the previous night’s rain. Most competitors feared that the Bank Holiday would bring showers so they hit the course at great speed, expecting the conditions only to get worse.

The layout of the arena caused the corner before the diagonal straight to be closer to a hair pin turn than a tightening bend and this, along with the slippery ground conditions, caught several teams out on their first run. The first three teams crashed out before Ihorse managed to be the first to complete the circuit.

The team which really stood out on Day One, however, who seemingly came from nowhere, was Norfolk ‘n’ Good (well yes, okay, they came from Norfolk…). This time around, they were not only fast but they also recorded a very respectable speed when rider Christy Webb and horse Alfie found that all important fifth gear. Their boarder, Allan Hare, was riding with a confidence to rival Tom Kilroy’s pure commitment to the board around the corners of the course. When asked what had changed in the team, they put all their success down to their training, but the missing link seemed to be Alan’s new Trampa board which was custom built to his weight and height. 

On the morning of Day Two, the arena was probably at its best for grip, however some of the other acts who were also using the arena were starting to dig ruts in the already tricky corner before the diagonal of course ‘A’. 

In the afternoon, the course was switched to course ‘B’ and seeing as the arena was completely dried out and somewhat scrubbed from the previous 63 races, all of a sudden there was no grip in the arena at all. Board riders struggled to understand why the arena had changed so dramatically in just a couple of hours and this lead to the highest number of crashes from a single heat of racing that we had ever seen and certainly went down in our history.

Allan Hare, who had boarded so well the day before, was also racing with Bucks Fizz, as well as Norfolk ‘n’ Good, and crashed on every race. Allan racked up total of six wipe-out style crashes. He was noticeably shaken, slightly injured and was struggling to adapt to the new course conditions. Ross Towner, not to be left out, also had a massive fall with team Ambush. By the end of the second round of races, less than half of the teams had completed the course. Whilst you might think the ever-expectant crowd which lined the arena would be getting restless with the lack of teams finishing the course, in fact the opposite was true. The high number of crashes only fuelled the blood-thirsty crowd into a frenzy as the board riders took on the notoriety of being gladiator-like. The crowd’s general opinion started to turn into “if they make it great, if they fall, well that’s great viewing too.”

Day Three and the grip in the arena was only going to get worse, with 84 races already run on it and another 42 to go. The track had now become visibly tricky as the right hand turn of ‘hog-roast corner’ had been so abused by the Izuzu D-max, making it muddy, slippery and rutted. This, coupled with the competitive edge of teams trying to shave seconds off their time, was the cause of at least four big crashes; one from Tom Kilroy , two from Allan Hare and massive one from Ross Towner who took out a speaker and its stand on his way into the crash barriers. 

At this point, Daniel Fowler-Prime replaced Allan from Bucks Fizz and even though it was an unlikely pairing, they worked very well together and all of a sudden the team were scoring times in the mid-forties with the fastest teams of the weekend. This is a combination that could clearly do very well in the future. 

When all was said and done, after 126 races, there was little surprise left in store which was that Kauldren, the combination of the little superstar pony, Jack, and board rider Tom Kilroy had once again won with a 1.27 second lead on Dead Pigeon and Do or Die were only 1.33 seconds behind them. 

This result, however, raised a question about the rules, in particular when racing for two teams you can only record points for your designated team. But given that Tom Kilroy had spent the majority of the year racing with both Do or Die and Kauldren, he had consistently knocked himself down the score board and could very well beat himself out of the championship win, which he was likely to lose to Ross Towner.

So, what of Norfolk ‘n’ Good? Well, after this weekend especially, you have to take this team seriously as they came fourth behind Do or Die by only 0.01 of a second. If this team carry on the way they have this weekend, they will be very competitive for next year and would really open the field up to the championship.

Just behind them was Bucks Fizz with only 0.95 seconds difference. However, it is worth noting that Bucks Fizz’s time on course ‘A’ was 4 seconds slower than course ‘B’ with Daniel Fowler-Prime as their boarder. It will be interesting to see this pairing race together for a full weekend.

Then just 3.5 seconds behind Bucks Fizz was Ambush with Kirsty Kirby and the mighty horse Batman romping in to 6th position. Then over a second behind them was Ihorse, taking the wooden spoon in 7th place. Ihorse, who really have had a terrible season, will be looking to take the rest of the events to continue to train their new horse Apache and give him experience in the competing arena.

It will always be the case that a new horse will have an effect on the team’s performance, but the team itself has been inconsistent anyway, considering they have had four separate horse riders, including Laura White who was absent this weekend, in only six rounds of competition. The failure to gel is hardly surprising especially with Apache being the stubborn kind of horse to put more effort into not doing something rather than actually doing it. 

What of the Championship? Well if there will be a fight, it can only be between the top three. We have Do or Die on 29 points, only one point behind Dead Pigeon who are on 30. However, out in front, the season leaders since day one, the mighty Kauldren, who have only dropped 1 point over all of the competitions they have entered. This amazing team have had superb year so far, kicking ass and taking care of business.

So here we are, the penultimate event of what has been the most successful Horseboarding Championships to date. Team Kauldren, who have donned the top of the leader board all season and have a 5 point cushion, will not be attending the next event in Sandringham, which will leave the door wide open for a major upset in the rankings.

Dead Pigeon, who are currently sitting in 2nd position, are keen to take the lead. Rumour has it, they will be entering two teams to maximise their chances.

Do or Die who are currently sharing 2nd place, have also pulled out of this event which will add to the drama for the final positions going into the final round at Wiltshire. Norfolk ‘n’ Good, who have come on tremendously over the last few events, will be looking to show the other teams that experience does not always win over skill. Lastly, Bucks Fizz still have the chance to get a decent time recorded after a turbulent season.

All that, alongside two new teams joining the pits, it looks as though the season and the Championships will come down to the last race in the last heat on the last day. Stay tuned people, this is going to be an epic display of determination, endurance and commitment from all teams.

Round Two 2013

Saturday 27^th April at the Norfolk Game and Country Fair

Arena Boarding 

This was the first time that Arena Boarding had been performed in a show and it was situated in the main ring of the show ground, overlooked by what can only be described as a three story sound box, which could probably be used to land planes, opposite the mobile grand stand. The ground was good with loads of grip to be had in the long corners in the 80 meter by 80 meter arena. 

All eight teams felt pretty confident on the Saturday due to the size of the arena and good ground conditions. This was clear from the first three runners of course A. Starting with Ihorse who came into the arena like it was their last chance to do the course and not their first. The normal tactic of getting a steady time down on the first run and improving on it in during the second and third runs was seemingly thrown out like last night’s stable bedding. However, Ihorse got lost on the first run yet again by missing a gate and having to withdraw.

After that came Kauldren, flying in like they were trying to out run time itself! Down the straight like it was the drag strip and into the first bend like some sort of Nass car, before Tom Kilroy uncharacteristically got thrown over the front of his board as he tried to make the tighter turn into the diagonal straight. 

“Here come the Dead Pigeons!” the commentator screamed next, as the Pigeons barrelled in but followed in Kauldren’s hoof-prints and fell in exactly the same place. 

So was that it then? The three big names, the crowd pleasers, each containing members of current or previous championship winning teams, failed to complete even half the course! But luckily for us, there was still more action to come.

The first team to complete a run, to great applause from the spectators and relief to the officials, was Designated Drinkers. The Drinkers taking the tactic normally employed by all teams - get a time in first and then improve on it - clearly chose the right path.

 
The Saturday heat continued in much the same vein, with Tom Kilroy, who was racing with both Do or Die and Kauldren, repeatedly crashing out. One of these crashes occurred before he had even crossed the start line and particularly dramatic to say the least. There was apparently a misunderstanding in the pits to begin with, meaning that Bre launched off aiming for the start line, but in doing so, unbalanced Tom who rocked on his board from edge to edge changing through three two-wheel combinations before losing control altogether and was fired into the arena fencing at what must have been about 20MPH. He bounced along it before eventually getting half his torso jammed underneath it and needing the assistance of other boarders, officials and members of the public to get him out. I would say he has most likely won the best crash of the season after that performance and we are only at the second event. 

Reasonably unharmed, Tom continued to race before finally admitting that maybe the brand-new top-of-the-range board that Trampa had sponsored him with, needed a bit of working in. It rode completely different to his old one and he had not had time to practise on it. After four failed runs, he changed to his old board and won the heat with Kauldren having only recorded one time with that team. 

On day two, Norfolk ‘N’ Good pulled out leaving seven teams still in. During the day, Allen Hare also retired after a couple of falls and Daniel Fowler-Prime filled in as boarder with Bucks Fizz to give the rider-horse combination of Rachael Simington on Candy the much needed experience. The team showed an interesting bit of speed which surprised us all, including Dan who nearly got pulled off the front of the board when Rachael opened the throttle far more than was expected. Despite this, Daniel had the worst day’s boarding ever witnessed from the two-time champion, entering the ring five times with two teams but failing to finish a single run.

When asked what happened, Dan said “People don’t realise how important the team work element is to the sport. If you have no cohesion with the team, it just will not work.” The loss of Laura White from Ihorse clearly had an effect on any chances Ihorse might have had of success this year. Horseboader Magazine can reveal that talks between Ihorse and Laura have been taking place since the event in a bid to get her to ride for both teams in the Arena Boarding.

Meanwhile, Laura’s team Designated Drinkers were steadily increasing the pace. Do or die and Kauldren improved massively after Tom spent the night modifying his board. His crash on day one had bent part of the trucks – this being in no way an aspersion on Trampa but a statement on the severity of the crash. 

Dead Pigeons set a good time in their first two runs but were still trailing Kauldren in the heat and over-all time average. When it came to their third run, Nabo refused to race and only got as far as the start gate before refusing to go any further. So after the allotted time ran out he returned to the pits where the team went into emergency discussions with Nabo’s manager over the division of prize money.

Four teams had to run after Dead Pigeons before the heat would be closed and their chance to run the course for the third time would be lost. But just in the nick of time, as the commentator was wrapping the weekend up with all the results in the computer, Dead Pigeons resolved the issues with Nabo. Functioning as a single power house again, they flew into the arena and devastated the track and all previous times of the weekend by 3 seconds in a display of complete awesomeness. This was enough for them to win the heat but unfortunately not the competition as a whole which went to Kauldren, who had once again showed their prowess in the sport. 

So after an amazing weekend of racing, the current Heritage series Horseboarding Championship positions are:

1^st - Kauldren with 17 points 
2^nd - Dead Pigeon with 12 points
3^rd - Designated Drinkers with 11 points 
4^th - Do or Die with 9 points 
5^th – Ihorse with 7 points 
6^th - Ambush with 4 points 
7^th - Dead Pigeons (2) with 2 points 
8^th - Norfolk ‘N’Good with 0 points 
8^th - Bucks Fizz with 0 points

Round Two 2013

Saturday 27^th April at the Norfolk Game and Country Fair

Dead Pigeon comes back to life!

For Round Two of the National Horseboarding Championship we headed off to the Royal Norfolk show ground for the East Anglian Game and Country Fair. It was the second largest event on the horseboarding calendar, boasting a spectatorship of a whopping 40,000!

The weekend was split into six heats, consisting of four Drag Race events and two Arena Boarding events. This article covers the exciting news from the Drag Race.

Saturday morning began with a qualifying round which gave the new teams a chance to prove they could pass the test that had now become pretty rigorous, including a sub 15 second run down the drag strip. All seven teams qualified but only five chose to enter the competition, using the qualifying round as an experience gainer for both the horses and board riders. 

So, the five teams to go through to the heat phase of the Drag Race were: Ihorse, Desinated Drinkers, Kauldren, Ambush and Dead Pigeon. But let’s take a closer look at who was racing. Ihorse, made up of boarder Daniel Fowler-Prime with new rider Leila Graves who took over from Laura White, and horse Apache. Laura chose to race her own horse, Fern, who did so well in the first round of the championship by coming third in her debut competition. Together with new boarder Chris Kirk, the trio made up the Designated Drinkers. Kauldren, with the combination of Bre Buss riding Jack, plus the current National Board Riding Champion, Tom Kilroy, were always going to be a formidable team in this competition, carrying the confidence that last year, even in such terrible weather, managed to secure them a first on this ground. The new team Ambush starred the Extreme Demo Team’s horse Batman, with rider Kirsty and Allen Hare on the board. Allen, who originally arrived with Bucks Fizz and Norfolk ‘n’ Good, had been press-ganged into Ambush when his other two teams chose not to run their horses in the Drag Race competition and decided instead to save them for the Arena Boarding. Of course the big news of the day was that the current National Team Champion, Dead Pigeon, was back and, despite being seen practising with a mystery horse a couple of weeks earlier, their team line-up included last year’s champion horse Nabo.

With a specially prepared drag strip, good ground conditions and good weather conditions the scene was set for some epic racing. Throughout the heat phases of both days there was pedigree-like behaviour shown by the Kauldren and Dead Pigeon with both teams getting near perfect starts and extremely fast times. In short, they dominated the round.

Ihorse struggled as Apache, Dan and Leila tried to find a happy medium in the start box. There was marked improvement from last year’s drag racing as they were able to bite at the heels of the more experienced teams and beat new comers like the Designated Drinkers. The Drinkers themselves showed reasonable consistency out of the start box, despite the fact that team boarder Chris Kirk had only been riding for about a month.

New team Ambush with horse Batman at the core set a steady consistent performance. Boarder Allan Hare, who had been personally trained by two-time National Champion Daniel Fowler-Prime, struggled with the rigors of Horseboarding at this level. As a team, the start box needed work but this can only come through experience because of the race being such a highly pressurised environment. That being said, Allen put in a resilient effort taking a lot of hits on the start line and a few heavy falls on the strip itself. Unfortunately, on the second day, a lower leg strain caused by the crashes on day one saw Allen under the first aiders and out of the drag strip just before the knock-out phase began. 

So after the heats, Dead Pigeon drew with Designated Drinkers in the semi-finals and Ihorse drew with Kauldren. The consistency and speed of Dead Pigeon and Kauldren made them the favourites for the final but as we know, in the ‘Three Race Knock Out’, anything can happen. As it was, the semi-finals went as predicted with Kauldren and Dead Pigeon making it easily through to the final. Charlie from Dead Pigeon was obviously holding Nabo back, to save him for the final race – clearly they took the threat that Kauldren posed seriously. 

Ihorse who had changed their horse rider yet again, had trouble in the start box and at one point got confused as to where the race lane was that they tried racing down the return shoot. This was a clear sign that Apache and the team were not 100% together and after completing the semi-final they bowed out of the competition, taking fourth place and giving third to Designated Drinkers, which was another good result for the new team.

 So, as it was twelve months earlier, Dead Pigeon faced Kauldren in the final. You could feel the anticipation grow as this rematch came to its conclusion. There was nothing between them in first race, with a visual and time draw to one tenth of a second. The decision had to go to the fourth official who called Kauldren as the winners. At this point Dead Pigeon must have thought it was going to be a repeat of 2012. In the second race, however, it was a close but clear win from the Dead Pigeon and talk of sudden death started to creep across the show ground as both teams were now on three points each. Flashbacks of the 2012 Cheshire competition, where Dead Pigeon raced against Irn-Raptor which went to a ‘Five Race Sudden Death’ stand off before Irn-Raptor eventually won, were recounted as Kauldren and Dead Pigeon took to the start box one last time in the final race.

The crowd fell silent as all focused on the start line and judge, Laura Adair, gave the go. With an outstanding start from Dead Pigeon and a little stall from Kaudren, the race was over about ten yards from the start line. All Ross Towner had to do was hold on tight and not fall off as his team left Kauldren behind and romped home to seal the deal. Dead Pigeon truly made their mark on the championship in a bid to defend their title as the Horseboarding National Champions and gained 6 points to add to their current 1 from the previous competition.

Kauldren's Rider Bre Buss had this to say:  “We just had a small judgement error in the start box. They got out quicker than we did and it was all over.” Unfortunately for Kaudren, at this level in the final of the drag race, the margin for error is so slight. A team must work in unison for 9 seconds or less without mistake to stand a chance of winning.

Dead Pigeon must have felt that they really put some demons to bed with their win because even though we did see the team win last year, it was not as a whole. This was due to board rider Ross Towner’s knee injury keeping him out for most of the season. And then of course this year, there have been all those rumours about discord within the team because of pictures of them training with a mystery horse, and then there was Nabo’s failed appearance at Round One, leaving the team in sixth place.

All this, however, fell entirely away as they celebrated their much-needed win. But the cherry on top of this cream-filled cake of horseboarding goodness, was that during the heat phase, Dead Pigeon broke their own speed record of 37.1mph set in 2011, and set a new National Championship record of 37.7mph over the 100 meters, making a clear statement that they were back and were going to fight for the championship as the fastest team in the country.

Looking Back on the 2013 Season

Round One of the 2014 National Horseboarding Championship begins on Saturday 5^th April at Fonmon Castle.

With the new season approaching ever closer, we here at Horseboarder Magazine felt that now would be a good time for a little reminiscing. The following five blog posts will be articles from the amazing 2013 season that has just gone.

We’ll be looking at the highs and lows of the previous season, as well as seeing who came out on top as the National Horseboarding Championship Team. Stay tuned!