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Iveagh Pony Club Summer Camp kicked off last week with a few celebrity coaches. It was such a treat for riders to be coached by Paul Tapner, an Australian Event Rider who won Badminton Horse Trials in 2006 with his horse 'Inonothing', along with five other experienced coaches, three of whom had ridden at five star and championship level: Jayne Doherty; Becky Cullen, Former High Performance Director for EI; Sally Corscaden; Heather Graham and Mickey McCann.
There were specialist talks for the Iveagh riders, which focused on rider mindset for training, attitude for competition and athlete fitness, while sport psychology was a theme throughout the coaching sessions.
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84 members of Iveagh Pony Club attended.
The camp was opened by Vanne Campbell, who has dedicated a large part of her life to Iveagh Pony Club.
Organisers, Jayne Doherty and Sandra Morton, said:
“We were delighted to deliver this camp to our members. It was incredibly special and it was our dream that some of the learning would be life-changing for the kids. So many life lessons are learnt in sport and introducing kids to how to handle their mindset and attitude is as relevant in life as it is in horse riding.“
A huge part of the learning experience was staying over and keeping the kids' ponies stabled at the Meadows. Experienced stable management coaches, Lisa Tumilty, Grainne Flavin and Stuart Murphy, spent three days coaching on horse welfare and care and encouraged the kids to look after their ponies independently.
Evening activities included team games and a rodeo bull, which gave plenty of entertainment!
There were plenty of smiles from participants throughout the camp, so organisers took that as a sign of their enjoyment. Everyone is looking forward to the next Iveagh activity!