On Friday 03 November a Pony Club Centre in Brecon, Powys, welcomed HRH The Princess Royal who watched teams of young Members take part in a Horse and Pony Care competition before presenting the winners with their prizes.
Pony Club Members at Cantref Adventure Farm and Riding Centre were keen to show their skills and knowledge to their guest, who was impressed with their understanding and abilities in naming items of horse equipment, plaiting ponies’ manes and tails and preparing horses for travel to a show.
Her Royal Highness was then told about the history of the Riding Centre before being introduced to members of staff. The visit closed with the announcement of the competition results and the presentation of rosettes and awards to the teams.
The winning team were ‘surprised’ and said they were very proud of themselves as they expected to finish last. They said: “The Princess was so lovely and friendly. She said ‘well done’ and asked us all about the ponies!”
Katherine Taylor, Riding Centre Manager at Cantref, was ‘really proud’ of the Members. She said: “They all worked really hard, and came to sessions for six weeks to build on what they learnt in rallies and at camp especially for today, as well as researching and practicing at home.”
Cantref Adventure Farm and Riding Centre are no strangers to Royal guests, having previously hosted HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Earl of Wessex.
Family run and established for over 45 years, Cantref Riding Centre is set in the beautiful surroundings of the Brecon Beacons National Park. As well as being a Pony Club Centre, offering all the benefits of Pony Club membership to non-horse owning children, they offer riding lessons, pony trekking, have an adventure farm housing several different species of animal and camping and overnight stay facilities.
Suzanne Ashton, Founder of Everything Horse (Est, 2012), has a BA Hons in Marketing Management and a Diploma in Equine Science. Suzanne has ridden and owned horses all her life and has twelve years of experience in marketing, writing, design, SEO, and website creation.