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Adrienne
May 12, 05 - 1:30 PM |
S.A Polocrosse
Firstly, I would like to thank the Australian Stock Horse Society and in particular the two branch's in South Australia, the South East and Central, for supporting polocrosse in South Australia. Our player numbers are currently on the rise but overall we have experienced significant decline in the last 10 years. South Australia has just three clubs at the moment and anything that raises the profile of the sport is greatly appreciated by the people involved. My husband (David) and I are very new to the ASH but what a year we have had! It probably started for us just over 12 months ago when after a year off from polocrosse I decided that if I was going to play again that it would have to be on a good, younger horse. I had been playing for around 6 years and was graded B Grade at the time. I had been very lucky to be able to ride and play experienced horses, but with experience often comes age and soundness problems so it seemed as if we were looking to buy horses every few years. David is an A graded player who represented SA at the nationals in Albury last year, but again on an older horse (16 years) that he felt deserved an easier life. Initially we were led to the J Star horses by Kimberley Hood and her family, also members of the Naracoorte Polocrosse Club. They were the first in our area to buy horses from Joy Poole, an Australian representative level polocrosse player and coach. J Star Spellbound is Kimberley's mare and she has achieved outstanding success with her in just two years of playing together. One of the main things that I liked about Kimberley's mare was the ease with which she learnt the game (or at least Kimberley made it look that way)! In January 2004 I found myself at Joy Poole's property 'Old Mirannie', just out of Singleton in the Hunter Valley, NSW. There I bought a 4 year old, J Star Edison. He was by the same stallion as Spellbound (J Star Challenge) but out of the mare J Star Static. Edison arrived home about a fortnight later on horse transport, whereupon David decided that he was so nice that he would like one too, please! So, there I was on the phone trying to find out if Joy still had a 3 year old for sale that I had seen briefly and would she mind (?) holding on to him until after the Nationals in May when we might have the time (and room) for yet another horse. Luckily Joy was very accommodating and agreed to sell us J Star Oaklands (J Star Challenge/J Star Snow Star Girl), to be duly delivered in May. By this stage we had discovered that Edison was going to be 'too much horse' for me so David and I 'swapped'. At this point I would like to thank (if I may) Andrew Cameron of ABC Equine Services for the time he spent with myself and the two horses getting us going. Without him I don't think the horses would have advanced as quickly as they did. The horse's first tournaments were in January this year with two tournaments in Naracoorte on either side of the Portland tournament. They both coped very well considering that they had not had a lot of practices before hand. Edison took out the South East branch sponsored Best Rookie ASH - ridden by a male player, at the second Naracoorte tournament (this award was restricted to Naracoorte members). Oaklands was in the winning section for D Grade. We then took a break from polocrosse and went to the ASH Show at Lucindale, where the horses didn't place but behaved well in the new environment. The same couldn't be said for David who spent the entire day asking why we were there instead of at polocrosse, he didn't enjoy the showing much but at least I'll have a groom next time! It was then back to the polocrosse with a few more tournaments prior to the SA State Polocrosse Champs held at Lobethal. J Star Oaklands, ridden by myself, took out the Central Branch sponsored Best Performed ASH. Looking to the future, I will be attempting a bit of showing and dressage with Oaklands, and perhaps Edison. In November we will start again with the polocrosse (I hate writing that when we have only just finished)! Next year is a nationals year (they are held every two years), to be held in Sydney. Realistically our horses are probably too young to be thinking that far ahead at the moment. ASH numbers are definitely on the rise in the Naracoorte Club. We currently have approximately 35 members and last time I counted we had over 20 ASH in the club. We encourage all members to keep their ASH memberships and horse registrations current. On a final note there are now nine J Star horses in the club! |
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Paula
May 12th, 2005 - 2:36 PM |
Re: S.A Polocrosse
Hi Adrienne Thank you for your letter it's always nice to know that our awards a appreciated. On the matter of not placing at the futurity you actually place 5th. 
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Peter
 May 19th, 2005 - 7:45 PM |
Re: S.A Polocrosse
Thanks Adrienne for taking the time to tell us about some of the things you have been doing in Polocrosse. Congratulations on the ASH award at the Polocrosse Champs. Sorry I didn't make a note of your win. Although I was there I was busy doing something else during the awards. If there happens to be a photo of you in action amongst my coverage of the Polocrosse Champs I would be happy to pass a copy onto Rachael or Paula for inclusion on this site. |
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