Our Anglesey competition is confirmed to include Levels 1, 2 and 2A for both individuals and pairs. The route has been planned and checked and the Traceur reports that the POR route goes through a beautiful area with fabulous views!

The schedule and entry form are now available on the Calendar page, and there is also a link to the online entry system. If entering online you will need to pay separately, full details are given on the form. Any queries or suggestions should be sent to entries@trecgroup.co.uk.

Riders and volunteers alike basked in the sunshine at the National Forest TREC competition on 19-20th May, and all enjoyed a well-organised competition in beautiful surroundings. Thanks go to Jackie and Lynne for their tireless efforts in setting a great POR and challenging MA and PTV courses, not to mention keeping competitors and judges very well fed! The Young Riders judged willingly all weekend and there were all manner of interesting fund raising activities for the International teams – Liane ran an excellent quiz alongside the Saturday night social and there was an honesty tombola and Guess the Weight of the Cake competition.

The results of the TREC competition are available on the Results page, well done to all the winners and those who picked up qualification cards for the GB Championships later in the summer.

As previously published, we have an enormous number of entries for Park Farm this year. Because of this we have had to dramatically change our timetable, which is below.
We are putting on an extra dinner, on Saturday, for those competitors who wish to partake. The cost will be £10, please let me know numbers by emailing entries@trecgroup.co.uk.
Also we have not had much uptake for the Sunday night dinner, and Claire is a bit worried that, as we are using on line entries for the first time, some may have been missed. Please let us know if you have booked or would like to book, we don’t want anyone to go hungry. 

Central TREC Group are holding an Equine Specific First Aid course on Sunday 29th April in Wellesbourne near Warwick. The course covers all aspects of emergency first aid and leads to a nationally recognised FAA Level 3 qualification. Places are available to all CTG members, please email helen.martin@trecgroup.co.uk for full details and to book a space.

We are also hoping to hold a Judges’ training course on 9th or 10th June, watch this space for venue and timings. This course leads to qualification as a TREC GB probationary judge and is free to all CTG members (riding and supporter members).

The results in the Central TREC Group Winter League 2017-18 have now been worked out, well done to all our members who have competed over the winter.

The league is based on placings gained by CTG members our arena TREC events, with 1st gaining 10 points, 2nd 9 points and so on down to 10th place gaining 1 point. The best 3 results count for each rider/ pair in each league. Any ties are split as follows:

• One higher placing beats 2 lower placings
• If the points were gained from the same number of classes, the total score for each counting class is totalled and the highest total wins.
• If the riders/pairs are still tied, the number of riders beaten is worked out and the rider/pair who beat the largest number of other riders wins.

The Frank Trophy is awarded to the CTG member gaining the highest PTV score in a TREC GB league class at any CTG arena TREC.

Riders and pairs who are 1st to 3rd in each league will receive engraved glasses and the Frank trophy is a silver salver, kindly presented last year by Bella Craven. The prizes will be presented at Park Farm so we hope to see lots of you there!

We have had a bumper crop of entries for the Park Farm competition which opens our 2018 summer season – nearly 100 riders are heading to Stanford on Avon for the Bank Holiday weekend! Thank you to all those who have offered to judge or are bringing judges so that the event can take place. Claire is busy figuring out the logistics and timings to get everything in (and finish before 8pm on the Sunday!) so please watch this space and your email inbox for any amendments to the plan.

This competition includes a night-time POR, so there are increased requirements for visibility for this section. Riders competing at night will need to have high-viz on their torso, which MUST include reflective strips/ material. Riders are strongly encouraged to wear light(s), this could be a head torch or torch on the body for example.

Horses must have high-viz equipment too, which must include reflectives visible from the front (such as a neck strap) and a light visible from the back (eg a flashing tail guard or similar).

To help riders with meeting these requirements, and as part of TREC GB’s sponsorship from V-Bandz this year, we have been offered a 15% discount by V-Bandz on their flashing products. This is available via their website, www.v-bandz.co.uk, until Monday 30th April. To take advantage of this discount, select your item(s) from the V-Bandz website and use the voucher code central. Please also put your CTG / TREC GB membership number(s) into the Customer Comments box during the checkout process. [Products can be purchased from other categories, but the discount will only be applied to the flashing items.]

Entries for this competition are closed, but riders (and volunteers) are welcome to request meal tickets for the Sunday night or corralling if they have not already done so. Please email entries@trecgroup.co.uk to request these extras. Details of how to pay via BACS transfer or PayPal may be found on the schedule.

In contrast to wintry Willicote, the sun shone on our final Arena TREC of the 2017-18 winter season at Gracelands Equestrian Centre! The results are now available on the Results page and the placings in the 2017-18 Central TREC Group Winter League will be published shortly. Thanks go, as ever, to our valiant judges and helpers for making the day possible.

We hope to see you all at our Winter League presentation of awards, at Park Farm on Saturday 4th May.

The schedule for our summer TREC competition at Park Farm on 6th May is now available on our Calendar page. We are running this as a combined-phase event, so all the PTV obstacles and the MA will be out on the POR (and therefore the competition for Levels 1-2A will be a one-day event). This means that LOTS of helpers will be needed, so if we are full or close to being full then priority will be given to those competitors who can provide a helper on the day. This is because the event cannot run if we don’t get enough helpers.

Despite this event being predominantly 1-day, there will be a social and meal at the venue on Saturday 5th May. Tickets are £10 for competitors and free for judges. We hope to be able to present our Arena TREC League prizes and trophies for the 2017-18 winter season at this social, so we hope that lots of our members and friends will join us.

There will also be a night-time orienteering section included in this event, which will form part of the Level 3 and 4 POR phases and also be available as a stand-along class for pairs riding at a lower level (or not competing in the other parts of the competition). The night-time orienteering will be done on Saturday 5th May.

Central TREC Group is also keen to keep up with technology, so riders will be able to enter this competition via Equo Events if they wish to enter online instead of via a paper form. Please visit Equo Events and search for ‘CTG Park Farm TREC competition’. There is a flat rate of £1.50 for using the Equo system, regardless of how much your payment is.

Two more dates have been added to our calendar of training events for this spring, enabling you to develop your skills in all three phases of TREC.

• Saturday 7th April – Mounted POR training, Dimlicote Farm, Great Bowden (unmounted exercise also available)
• Sunday 15th April – Mounted MA and PTV training, Long Drove Dressage Centre, Somersham, Huntingdon

Full details and entry forms are available on the Calendar page.

The 2017 AGM and Awards presentation on 3rd December at the Blue Lias, Southam, was enjoyed by the 12 members who attended. Anna and Trish gave the grey matter a good workout with an unmounted orienteering exercise in Long Itchington to hone bearings and grids skills which was well received by all. We then enjoyed a lovely lunch before moving on the business end of the day – the AGM. Members will receive the minutes of the meeting and the annual accounts via email in due course.

The Awards presentation followed the AGM, congratulations to the winners of all our lovely awards.

CTG summer league: Level 1 winner Sarah Wynn, Level 2 winner Bella Craven, Level 2A winner Alex Sales, Level 3 & 4 winner Sue Lee

Phantom Flyer Award (presented to the CTG member achieving the slowest scoring MA canter at a CTG summer event) Janet Jones

Katy Memorial Trophy (awarded to the most deserving horse owned by a CTG member, as voted by the CTG membership) Tia, owned by Jo McCormac

Chairman’s Award (presented by the Chair to the most deserving committee member) Neill Elliott

Well done to all the winners and here’s to a great 2018!