NEWS REPORT

The year so far .............................

The Equestrian SA Awards Dinner was held late in January and once again a group of us organised a table to help celebrate all the award winners. This was an extra special occasion this time with Anne Day accepting her award as owner of the Leading 2010 Novice Showjumping Horse of the Year, Lolita. This was well-deserved and we congratulate Anne & Lolita.

After getting home late from the Awards Night we got up early the next morning and headed off to Metro with seven horses. To get some 'miles under his belt' Silvo will being ridden by Clive for part of the season before Alice's study commitments allow her more time to train with him. Silvo performed well at his first outing in Australia with a win and a 3rd place. Tra La La and Lolita performed consistently during the weekend over big, testing Wilsher tracks placing 2nd & 4th respectively the Nancy Matthews Tribute event and the 5th & 4th respectively in Marshal Soper Memorial class on the Sunday.

Next on the calendar was Angaston Agricultural Show where our stable enjoyed some success. The highlight for us was Tra La La winning the first Novice Circuit Class of 2011 with Stephen Devine riding CP Genesis for a place in the same class. We wish Stephen all the best as he heads overseas for a training placement in an international showjumping yard in Canada.

As Conor had lost interest in his pony, we reluctantly offered him for sale. It was a sad time for all of us the day Nelson left as he had been part of the family for more than five years.

Thankfully a knowledgeable family nearby now have him. The young girl riders in the family also attend the same school as Conor which gives us a great opportunity to keep in touch.

We hope they have as much fun as we did with him.
Photo of new owners, Holly on Nelson & sister Lauren on the grey pony at their first competition with him.

The following big competition for the Reed Stable was Mundulla Agricultural Show. Silvo was great with a 3rd place in the A&B Circuit Class and 4th place in the Senior Grand Prix over an enormous Wilsher track. Tra La La, ever so consistent, again produced the winning round in the Novice Circuit Class. After selling Nelson only a short time ago because Conor had lost interest, he was quick to take up the offer of a ride at the show with his friends. (Conor pictured with Harry & Reily). 

We said goodbye to Jason as he left for Singapore to take up the position of Stable Manager at the Singapore Polo Club. After working with us for many years, it was sad to see him go but wish him every success for his new adventure overseas. Not sure if this will work out short or long term but we are sure they will appreciated his dedication, loyalty and hard work, as we have done. On the up side, we talked Nadege into coming out of retirement to replace Jason to manage the arenas and other areas and welcomed a new staff member Kathy on board to look after the weekend feed and clean.

The SA State Championships came around quickly BUT had mixed emotions for all of us. The exciting Lux Z mare Lilly who we part-owned with Mark and Belinda died suddenly from an aneurism on the Sunday after having jumped a clear round. Although Clive elected not to jump the other horses in their last classes after the incident, he did start Silvo in the Championship, finishing a credible 8th place. It was a very upsetting time for all of us there. Thank you to everyone for their support and assistance at the show and the following days. It was very much appreciated.

Singapore visitors Clare and husband (IT genius) Tim visited us early in April. Clare was here doing some training and helping us out at the same time. Tim was fantastic setting us up with skype and showing us how to use youtube to load video footage of the horses. As we are not so savvy with the technology side of things, his help and expertise was invaluable. We hope they enjoyed their time here, as much as we enjoyed having them here.

We welcome back Vanessa Day and Nick Rodgers as Owners. Together with us they are now the proud owners of the exciting youngster Brandenburg who we purchased from John Phillips. This horse is the son of Tra La La and by Budweiser. He is going to be a very exciting project and we think he has a very bright future.

Next was the Northern Districts Showjumping Club show, held at Mallala. The Cooney’s Silvo performed extremely well winning the prestigious "Guley Cup". After jumping two clear rounds against tough opposition he made it to the jump-off with Kym Mosey on the newly crowned SA Showjumping Champion, Google. Clive was declared winner after jumping another clear round in a quick time. Google had a rail down and Kym retired, finishing second.

We then headed off to the Kulpara Showjumping Spectacular. With smaller numbers due to the new unknown venue, our stable was on fire with Traktion winning the Bronze Cup, Tra La La winning the Silver Cup and Silvo runner-up in the Gold Cup. Tra La La also won her other two classes including the Futurity. Taku (full brother to Tra La La) started his jumping career well for a credible 4th Place in the D Grade Championship. Thanks must go to the Kulpara Showjumping Club for putting on such a great event in every respect including the fantastic prize money. We certainly look forward to the next one.

With the school vacation period immediately following Kulpara Show it was nice to have Jess Noble and Annabel Fairweather stay for a few days to help out in the Reed Stable, as well as get in some extra training on their own horses. Special thanks to Jess who not only takes her riding very seriously, is also a talent in the kitchen. Must get those genes from her mum Sarah!

Mt Gambier Easter Show followed with the team of horses we took all performing well. Silvo, Tra La La, Lolita & Taku all performed exceptionally well and each of them finished in the money. Tra La La was unlucky to be beaten in the Futurity feature class after leading the event in the jump-off
by posting the fastest clear round with one horse to go. She jumped a super second round where the fences got up to around 150cm.

Thanks to Jess for travelling to Mt Gambier with us to help out. It is really great to have an extra pair of hands, particularly at that show where the arena and warm-up ring is quite some distance from where we were parked.
Photo of Clive on Silvo courtesy of Holly.

Our last main show before the winter break was in May at Strathalbyn for the President's Cup Show. Lolita jumped really well all weekend, just missing out on the placings. Taku continued his great form placing in all of his classes. Tra La La placed all weekend, including the main class. Silvo again was again the star of the show, with two 2nd placings on the Saturday and winning the President's Cup on the Sunday, against a tough field.

Alice stayed with us for some extra training early in June in between her university studies and riding her other horse Belcam Alida in Victoria. We welcomed her dedication to travel back to Melbourne for an exam during her stay. Unfortunately things didn't go exactly to plan when flights were grounded due to volcanic ash clouds and she had to take the train back to Melbourne at very short notice. She got the opportunity to jump Silvo at Metro Show on one weekend and although numbers were low, she performed well to finished with a first and second place.

Meanwhile, our good friends Mark & Belinda were spending time in Canada. Mark specifically went there to compete at a couple of shows on his two horses, Jokerman and Six Pack. As well as enjoying the experience of riding at Spruce Meadows, he also went well having some success, including winning a class! Mark really enjoyed the 'full-on' training schedule with Olympic rider Jonathan Asselin as well as mixing it with some of the best riders in the world. 
Photo of Mark & Jokerman at Spruce Meadows

At the end of June we welcomed work experience student, Stacie. She was a very dedicated worker and fitted in well with the team here in our yard. We wish her every success with her studies and look forward to the possibility of working with her in the future.

The winter break was upon us before we realised and it is always a good time to relax a little not having to get up for Shows on the weekends in the early hours of the morning. Gill will be especially grateful as she has an extra 20 minutes drive to get to our place before we even start to get horses ready to travel to the competitions.

We have enjoyed having Greer from Singapore here for six weeks intensive training. It was also nice to have her mum Rhonda and dad Mark stay for a few nights respectively. Greer was great to work with and very keen to learn all that she could and then put it into practice. The experience of riding such a diverse range of performance horses here in our yard has certainly made her a better rider in every respect. See the home page of this website to view a photo of Greer on her new horse that she recently purchased in Australia.

Elke's daughter Michele (from Germany) is also here in Adelaide to spend time with her mum during the school summer break. It has also been nice to have her around each day helping out in the yard and riding some of the horses. We think her favourites might be Traktion and CP Genesis!!

Thanks to the Noble family for inviting us to an Adelaide Football Club game. We are all avid CROWS fans and although they lost the night game to Essendon we had a fantastic time. Greer got to come with us too and watch her first ever AFL game. Jess was keen to convert Greer to Aussie Rules and we think it may have worked as she was lucky enough to get an autograph from Crows player Chris Knights. At least she has good taste - have a look at her screen saver on her lap-top! Thanks to David, the Reed Boys - Clive & Conor - got a sneak peak of some of the facilities after the game that were 'out of bounds' to us girls. The highlight of the night for Conor was having his photo taken with his football hero "Rory Sloane". This photo (on the right) is now pinned up in his bedroom with pride.

How time flies - the winter break has come and gone and the 'sleep-ins' have once more eluded us. Conor having early school football games on Saturday mornings has not helped the cause at all.
 
The end of July came around quickly and the show season is now back in full swing. Mallala Show was the first one up for us and the team of horses that we took to the show all performed well after their break. Silvo, Lolita, Tra La La and Taku had either a win or place in their respective classes against some of the best horses in SA. It was also great to have Greer and Michele come with us to compete in some Junior Classes.

In closing, thanks to the great support team in our yard - Elke, Claire, Jason, Nadege, Peter & Kathy. Thanks also to Sam for her help at some of the shows. It goes without saying, the special thank you must go to our good friend Gill for all her hard-work and effort at the competitions which has contributed to our overall success so far in 2011.

Until next time ..... happy riding.

Morya & Clive 16/08/11