President's Report - January 2024
This report was presented at the Annual General Meeting for 2024. (View Draft Minutes of this meeting.)
Welcome everyone!
I’m not sure that I knew what I was getting into when I was first voted President in 2019. It has been challenging at times, but overall, very rewarding to be a part of this lovely community that is Albany Natural Trailriders. So, after 5 years in the role, I will be handing over the reins to a new driver, with fresh ideas and lots of enthusiasm.
2023 has been a great riding year, with lots of fabulous riders and great places to ride. One aspect which followed over from the previous year was the continuation of some very good training sessions. We can never underestimate the importance of preparing your horse (and yourself) for going on the trail. Trailriding brings up all sorts of challenges in the environment, so it is so good to help your horse navigate them in a safe and comfortable way, both emotionally and physically.
I mentioned at the last AGM, that one of the 2023 goals was to continue to be involved in trail advocacy in our region. This was certainly achieved by our support of the Stidwell Bridle Trail project. The working party diligently worked on several components of trail improvement – one huge success was reducing the speed limit to 60km/hr on many of the roads in the Robinson area which run adjacent to the Stidwell. Another major win was gaining City of Albany approval to prevent all motorised vehicles (except Emergency and maintenance vehicles) from going near the Stidwell. It was great to see the Southcoast equestrians at the Council meetings – ANTs members, pony clubbers, dressage queens, harness drivers, etc. - supporting and cheering the speakers and the Councillors. I would encourage everyone to join the Friends of the Stidwell on Facebook, even if you rarely ride on it. It is a means of reporting any maintenance issues or any unpleasant interactions with users who shouldn’t be there.
Everyone plays an important role in our club, in keeping us safe, creating a friendly atmosphere and ensuring that we all enjoy time spent with our horses. However, our club would cease to exist without our Trailbosses….so a special thankyou to all our Trailbosses and Ride Organisers who have worked so hard to make the calendar events run so smoothly. From the list of new members so far, we have 10 Trailbosses, with a possible further 4 if they rejoin this year.
This year, the Denmark Equestrian Club ran a Trailboss Accreditation Weekend, which resulted in three new Trailbosses for our club – Rana Everett, Jane Bushby and Jenny Scahill. Congratulations ladies. We look forward to heaps of rides with you soon.
We also need to thank those in the background who have helped with moving horse floats when needed, or our quad bike rider Jim for helping desensitise our horses. Thankyou also to those who have provided any support role to the club, such as attending committee meetings, helping set-up or take-down equipment at training events or just providing encouragement to others when our horses don’t always behave as we’d like them to !
There were no major incidents or accidents last year. Keep up the great work ! We take pride in having such a good track record.
To summarise 2023:
We ran:
6 trail rides
6 training days
3 weekenders
5 committee meetings, and
1 Christmas lunch
Training days were:
Training ride at Quaranup with Melanie
AEC – trail riding skills with Jane Bushby & Bec Dell
AEC – confidence skills with Jane Bushby & Lisa Russell
AEC – confidence skills, Part 2 with Jane Bushby
Treasure hunt on horseback with Marie Bennett & Jane Bushby
AEC free-for-all in the indoor, with Julie Robins
Trail rides were:
Denmark Heritage ride to The Dam restaurant with Marie Bennett
Muttonbird with Melanie Price
Perkins Beach to Cosy Corner Café with Melanie Price
Torbay to Elleker Store with Marie Bennett
Cheryl’s ride at Kendenup with Julie Robins
Denmark Lakehouse with Melanie Price
Weekenders:
Jacup Weekender, with Melanie Price
Crooked Creek at Brenda’s, with Melanie Price & Glenda Andrew
Partnered with Denmark Equestrian Club for the Trailboss Training Accreditation, organised by Gillian Murray
OTHER THINGS THAT DIDN'T HAPPEN:
Gull Rock cancelled – shortage of Trailboss and respondents.
Plantagenet training day – postponed due to bad weather, then cancelled due to low respondents.
Redmond Forrest trail ride – Trailboss was unavailable.
Styx River – cancelled due to lack of respondents.
Shannon Forrest Weekender – was postponed to later in the year, then we ran out of space on the calendar for it.
ATHRA have continued to be so supportive with any of our queries. They also provided the beautiful halter that was available for those who renewed their membership before the end of 2023. The winner was Sharon Jenkins.
Gameday is also continuing to help with simplifying the administration of the club, especially with membership payments.
goals FOR THIS YEAR:
Continue to be involved with trail advocacy in the Southcoast region.
Continue to develop our website.
Continue to encourage First Aid accreditation by providing a rebate.
Encourage members to do Trail Boss training.
Consider educational program for bicycle and motor bike riders
Continue to explore new areas to ride.
A huge thankyou to our fabulous committee members – Marie (treasurer), Melanie (secretary), Jane (vice president), Jill (AEC representative) and Jenne & Lisa (general committee members). They are always supportive, enthusiastic, and putting forward great ideas. Thank you for being a great bunch of ladies.
This continues to be a great club, and we have an amazing team who continue to make it fabulous.
I’d like to thank everyone for entrusting me to the presidential role for the past 5 years, and I look forward to supporting the incoming President and the 2024 committee.
The future looks great for another fabulous year of being on the trail with you all.
Julie Robins - 2023 President