2013 has well and truly passed us by and what a year it was. I hope everyone enjoyed their festive season as much as we did and that your thoughts are now fully focused on enjoying the year ahead.

For the WEC team the greatest pleasure in looking back was the enjoyment that riders, owners, parents and friends felt from seeing their horse and rider combinations improve. Test riding is the ultimate measure of how the rider and horse are developing at their various levels. Many of our WEC participant’s have enjoyed success at competitions over the last twelve months but competing is not everyone’s aim. The simple pleasure of strengthening the relationship between their horse and themselves through training is achievement enough, not to mention a fun social event at the same time.

Congratulations must go to all WEC participants for achieving most or all of their goals for 2013 and thank you for the fun times we have had and continue to have this year. The good thing (or the problem) with dressage is that you never stop learning. There is always another level to achieve or another horse to train and they are all different. Goal setting is important what ever you are doing. There would appear to be a real buzz about at the moment with everyone keen to improve.

2014 is shaping up as an exciting year. The state championships in March was a wonderful event. Congratulations to all the organisers as I think it really put the sport back on the map. The TEC venue has developed into a great facility. Bert competed at medium level at the champs and was thrilled with her horse Raf in his first year at medium, scoring first and second in her two tests. Phillipa Cassidy and her young horse Voltaire did very well achieving the same thing in the elementary. Prue Calvert won the four year old young horse. Maddie Evans competed in five tests winning the freestyle and showed improvement in all areas. Montana Broomhall came second in the young rider section. Anna Humphries came second in the 21 to 30 year old riding class at the Grand Nationals in Sydney. Abbey O’Brien has been enjoying some great results with Fleur on the main land.

In the state pony club trials and dressage Championships, congratulations go to all for a job well done. Special mentions go to Isabel Gibson, Isobel Preece, Ashley Reader, Ella Johnson, Chelsea Davis, Maddie Evans, Liv Whatley, Hayley Atkins and Ellie Gillow on exceptional performances.

There have been some exciting new additions to the WEC horse scene. Montana Broomhall is now the proud owner of Furst Pik, a wonderful 2yo Bloomfield Farm gelding. Pik is a FurstLove prodigee and like his father he has amazing elasticity and great movement. The temperament is exceptional and he is an exciting prospect. Just have to cool our heals a bit longer before he can get under way.

Montana has been successfully competing her horse Shine in the mean time and has also been working Bert’s FEI school master Amarcus and hopes to have him out competing soon.

Lilly Stephenson has purchased Ruth Walker’s 4yo gelding “Carlos”. Again Carlos is a terrific horse. Three lovely paces, lovely temperament. He is by Shiraz Black and impresses everyone. Lilly is new to the sport but her drive and endeavour will see her develop very quickly.

Jane Henley has wandered North and has been training with her old horse Ned. Jane has upped the anti for herself and purchased Whisky, another wonderful 4yo Shiraz Black gelding. Like Carlos he has real presence and super movement. The future looks promising for all these lucky riders.

Bert continues to ride up to four horses a day and is very busy teaching for the remainder. Nothing stays the same as new riders and horses keep adding to a fun mosaic of horses.

State coach Peter Fischer continues to come on a regular basis. Peter has been invaluable to Tassie with his wealth of knowledge and top credentials. He has an amazing eye for detail and a wonderful way of quietly developing horse and rider. He is no good with pea cocks though but you will have to ask him about that.

We have been able to pin down the illusive and talented Roger Fitzhardinge for some more sessions. Again Roger’s wealth of experience and knowledge we regard as invaluable. All clinics have been well sought after and enjoyed by all.

WEC is starting to look more like a zoo every day. When Christoph Hess was here and we were plagued by rabbits and wallabies he said that Berlin had a good zoo but here was better. As if we do not already have enough animals, Bernadette has now added eight guinea fowl and wait for it a parrot. Jane Henley needs to cop a lot of the blame for a parrot arriving. The parrot is impressive and colourful and had to be called Roger. The girls have called the indoor vacuum cleaner Pierre after me. Not sure what that says about me.

On a happy note our son and his wife Hannah were married in Feb. We had a follow up gathering at the indoor the day after and it was a lot of fun. They made a very handsome couple. Their wedding made it two in one year for us. Hectic but wonderful.

Thank you everyone and we will keep in touch!

The centre continues to hum with day riders, agistees, lessons, clinics and of course WEC’s own dressage horses.

Life just gets faster and more fun.

Since our last update, the WEC dressage world has been on a high with wonderful clinics conducted under the expert eyes of Peter Fischer and Roger Fitzhardinge. Both bring a lot to the table and participants go away with a more rounded understanding of what needs to be achieved and how to go about it.

Peter Fischer has been excellent in his new role of State Dressage coach and has all riders from young to old (say oldish) inspired and excited about what they are doing. Peter is a German master international coach and his wealth of knowledge and caring approach is right on the mark.

WEC has Peter Fischer and former state coach/A level judge Roger Fitzhardinge coming on a regular basis and with Bert in the mix, WEC offers participants a consistent and rounded approach to training.

Bert has been very busy with her own coaching at WEC and seeing all her clients improving rapidly and competing successfully is very satisfying. She has also been judging interstate on a regular basis as an A level judge and this topped with riding up to 5 horses a day means she sleeps well.

Susan Elekessey has also held a number of successful clinics of recent months under the coordination wing of Simone James.

Dressage Tas young rider clinics held around the state including at WEC with Peter Fischer, Bert and Jill Schwartz have been well received and it is good to see the improvement and development within this group.

On the horsemanship front the masters of it all Double Dann and Ian Leighton have held more successful clinics since the last update. They are true masters of their profession and are a must for anyone starting out with a young horse or needing to understand how to handle and ride horses. 

Renowned horse herbalist, Victoria Ferguson, will be adding some variety to the WEC horse world with an upcoming clinic in October. This will be a must for anyone wanting to understand their horses’s health better and ways to keep them healthy. Interested parties should refer to her flyer on our upcoming events page.

Congratulations must go to the organisers for having the drive and foresight to go out of their comfort zone and bring some of these people to Tassie. When they do, it keeps us astride with the other states and helps lift Tassie’s profile, so well done to all those concerned.

The WEC team are delighted to continue to hear comments from our coaches, clients and visitors  praising the facility in glowing terms. Comments such as the venue being “world class and unique” from Christoph Hess are very much appreciated.

On a personal note the biggest thrill of all the events held so far at WEC was our daughter Rebecca’s  wedding and reception. We are now delighted to have Adam Purdey as our son inlaw. With the marquee inside the indoor, facing the river and the weather holding off just long enough for a service amongst the proteas, the evening was a wonderful success. Needless to say we are very proud parents. Just to top it off our son Anthony then announced his engagement to Hannah Vuraic. All very exciting.

In the last week we have had some more exciting news with the arrival of our new baby ——— HORSE that is!….. MacArthur Furst of All.

Not long weaned and just of the truck from NSW he has settled in as n old hand and is delightful to handle. Obviously a credit to his breeder Paula McCrae of MacArthur Warmbloods. Slightly tongue in cheek but we are hoping he will be better than his sire Furstenball. You never know!

Congratulations must go to long term WEC clients, Monique Thornley and Philippa Cassidy. Monique’s beautiful Friesian stallion Kia that is trained and ridden by Bert won the state Elementary Dressage championship and elementary horse of the year. Philippa and her horse Hugo won the novice horse of the year and are on the national development squad. Both horses are on the state development squad and are going places.

Congratulations to Abbey O’Brien who has had success in her first outing competing in Victoria with her quality new young horse Fluer. Fluer spent some time in training at WEC before moving recently to Victoria.

With plenty more in the pipeline we are looking forward to a fun and busy remainder of 2013.

Thanks to all that have been a part of WEC

WEC was the venue of choice this weekend just gone (27th & 28th July) for the very first collaborative clinic between horseman Ian Leighton from Tasmania and Equestrian Success and Mindset coach Tanja Mitton from Queensland.

To bring together both working on the horse from ground skills up into the saddle as well as the rider from mind to seat and position was a real asset to the 11 Tasmanian riders to participate with huge improvements seen in each and every horse and rider over the weekend.

Another successful clinic was held on the 23rd and 24th July at WEC with former State Dressage Squad Coach and A Level judge, Roger Fitzhardinge.

Roger always provides an informative, energetic and enthusiastic clinic.  Roger has made a huge contribution to improving Dressage within the State over a number of years and continues to do so.

It is with great thanks to Danielle Skerman of Baroque Horse Magazine that Tasmania has had the privilege of Gonçalo Carvalho coming all the way to Tasmania on his maiden coaching trip to Australia. Danielle, India Woods, and Equine Events Australia would like to thank all of the private lesson riders and spectators of the masterclass for supporting a new international coach so openly into Tassie. It’s not every day we get these opportunities like some other states do, so it’s fantastic to have the support and participation from the local equestrian community.

It was in April 2012 that Gonçalo reached the pinnacle of his sporting and competitive career when he rode at the London Olympics. Here he made history and benefits that marked the turn of the Lusitano horse in the modern world of competitive dressage.
Many of Tasmania’s top competition riders and coach riders thoroughly enjoyed their lessons during which each had the opportunity to see their horse being ridden by Gonçalo primarily in the first session. This appeared a little unorthodox at first but it soon became very apparent that the lessons were to be so individually tailored to suit the needs and issues with each horse and rider, resulting in many happy faces by the end of the two days.

We are so looking forward to having Gonçalo back in Tassie later in the year and hopefully up to twice a year thereafter.

His clinic and master class was organised by the Dressage Association of Tasmania. Christoph offered something for everyone from judges to riders to spectators and all enjoyed.  He offered the riders some different insights into training exercises and delivered them in an entertaining and informative way. Again this was another very successful clinic and well attended.

Congratulations must go  to the organisers for having the drive and foresight to go out of the comfort zone and bring these people to Tassie. When they do, it keeps us astride with the other states  and helps lift Tassie’s profile, so well done to all those concerned.

On a personal note, The WEC team were thrilled  to hear comments from all the above clinicians praising the facility in glowing terms. Comments such as from Christoph Hess saying that the venue was “world class and unique” were very much appreciated.

With plenty more in the pipeline we are looking forward to a fun and busy remainder of 2013.

Pictured here with masterclass rider Alice Hirst

The Double Dans held a clinic at WEC in May. The DDs are masters in horsemanship and gave a wonderful informative and entertaining workshop. The event was well attended and enjoyed by all.

The Double Dans clinic was organised by Freyr Colvin and another clinic is to be held in August.

It has been a busy six months since WEC was opened in September 2012.

The centre has been very busy with day riders, agistees, lessons and clinics.

Who would have thought that the centre in such a short period of time would have hosted clinics by Goncalo Carvalho Conchinhas, an Olympic rider from Portugal, the Double Dans, Christoph Hess, Roger Fitzhardinge, Peter Fischer and more.

All have been very successful events.