Sport
15 August, 2025
Bealiba Pony Club’s clinic and rally a success
The Bealiba Pony Club recently hosted an Eventing Clinic and Rally Event at the Dunolly Horse Riding Club, exposing local riders to the tutelage of some nationally accredited coaches.
With the clinic held on Saturday, August 1, and the rally happening on Sunday, August 2, riders of all different levels participated in lessons targeted at improving various skills.
On Saturday, Pony Club Australia accredited coaches Simon Tainsh and Ben Tyson held dressage, show jumping and cross country jumping lessons, with riders going through ditches and water jumps.
Due to a lack of cross country facilities at their club, Bealiba Pony Club’s Faye Barnett said the clinic is a great way to give participants confidence in what can be some daunting tasks.
“We try to bring these top instructors into the area, which allows the local riders to have access to their coaching,” she said.
“At Bealiba, we don’t have a cross country course, that’s why we used Dunolly because they have a really good variety of jumps that we can use.
“A lot of people have trouble with the water jumps — that’s very frustrating for young riders who don’t know how to approach it, and jumping over a ditch can be daunting.
“If you ride a horse into a jump, and you are scared, the odds are the horse won’t do it because they can feel the tension down the reins and into their body.
“You need to be able to school all of these different jumps, and these coaches can tell you how to get your horse used to it.”
Tainsh returned for Sunday’s rally for three show jumping lessons, while Steph Horton and Julie Gould instructed dressage and ready to ride lessons respectively.
Also hosting lessons at the rally was Tim Ling, who has coached the Australian Mounted Games Team to victory. Ling taught riders some of the mounted games, a fun, challenging new experience for all riders.
“It’s all about bringing top instructors to the area to offer instruction at a reasonable price,” Barnett said.
“There is a lack of top-class instructors in the area, and it costs a lot of money to travel to these top instructors.
“At the end of the day, after their lesson, you can see the smiles on their faces of the satisfaction of having learnt and achieved something.”