Papakura's Report - click here |
Click HERE for Full Results |
On 5th and 6th of January 20 teams (the most for many years) met at Taupo Equestrian centre for this year's NITE, hosted by Franklin Adult Riders Group. FARG organised everything to the last detail so that everything ran smoothly and to time - quite a feat with so many teams competing. There were around 107 horses and riders, and their supporters and helpers. RIDING CLUB MOUNT First up on the Saturday was an Obstacle Course. This year FARG had given a theme to the course: The Wizard of Oz. Hazards to be negotiated included going through the storm (an archway covered in netting and bags to look like dark clouds), finding the wicked witch squashed by the house, with red shoes to be picked up and deposited in a bucket, then on to the yellow brick road, and more obstacles and jumps. Around the course were the scarecrow, the tin man, the lion and the wicked witch, which horses were supposed to pass without spooking! THE QUADRILLES In the afternoon it was time for the Quadrilles. Many of the entrants had put in a lot of work with their costumes and looked pretty spectacular before they even went in the arena. The themes were very varied - some were polished displays (like Tauranga Two 2's and Franklin Musketeers), some told a story (like Ma Baker and Men in Black) some were topical (like Tuakau's Shrek) some humourous (like H.O.R.S.E. Hayseeds) and some just good fun (like Franklin's Scarlet Harlets, Masterton's Yahoos, and Otorohanga's Pooh Party). Unfortunately the weather played favourites with the teams that afternoon, dealing out bright sunshine for some and wind and rain for others. But it really had it in for the H.O.R.S.E. (Hamilton Older Riders Social Equitation) Hayseeds team - they had barely started their quadrille when we heard a clap of thunder and next moment rain lashed down and vicious blasts of wind hurled arena letters in all directions. The drenched and frozen riders battled bravely to turn their horses into the wind and sort out where they were in their test, despite their music having been turned off because of rain on the electrical equipment. To everyone's relief, they were reprieved by the judges who told them to abandon the attempt until the squall had passed. TEAMS CROSSCOUNTRY Crosscountry was the first thing up on Sunday. As a fair proportion of the overall points is for "sportsmanship" communication is encouraged (and can get quite noisy!) and the team needs to keep together and help each other if necessary. The main jumps were up to 85cms, but for the faint-hearted every jump had a smaller option, which was around 60cms. This course was really inviting and no-one had any serious problems with it. The only thing that caused a few stops and some fairly hairy jumps was the combination jump early in the course, which had a tricky third element to negotiate. The course was opened to everyone after the event, and many riders (including the St Johns Ambulance man!) took the opportunity to enjoy a ride around a super confidence-building course. Those of us who were horseless spectators were seriously envious! SHOWJUMPING The final event, after lunch on Sunday, was the Gambler's Stakes showjumping. Each team member had to jump 6 of the 12 jumps, but 6 jumps were less than 65cms, allowing even the greenest horse to have a go while hopefully their team mates jumped the higher jumps for the higher points. The small jumps were kind and easy, while the bigger ones were more challenging but still straightforward. The Joker was a single pole flanked by two straw men from the Obstacle course - though by that stage of the weekend the horses had seen so many strange sights that a couple of straw men were not an issue! A few of the teams managed to score maximum points, i.e. the six highest jumps plus the "Joker" for all four riders - not as easy as it sounds. Prizes and ribbons went to four places for each separate event, and then to six places for the overall results. The overall winners were one of FARG's 3 teams, the Franklin Musketeers. This was a popular and well-deserved win for them after all the organisation and sheer hard work that the FARGies had put in to really make this a NITE to remember. |
N.I.T.E. 2002 - TAUPO |
Overall winners: Franklin Musketeers |
St Johns Ambulance Mounted Team came prepared for emergencies ----> |
Teams assembling for the Obstacle Course |
The Yellow Brick Road caused some consternation |
Negotiating the Gate in good style |
Papakura Daffodills |
Franklin Musketeers |
A nice inviting jump |
The Log Drop |
<----The National Committee team over the last jump together |
A clear round over the smaller jumps for this little horse |
Clearing jump number 10 to score another ten points |
And here is the National Committee team (dressed for "A Right Royal To Do") From left to right - Anne Faithfull (secretary/treasurer) John Flintoff (committee) Val Tester (president) Bev Birkett (NI vice president) |
Click HERE for Full Results |
Papakura's Report - click here |
PAPAKURA'S NITE EXPERIENCE |
