Strong equestrian scene driven by an enthusiastic community of riders

The Orkney Isles, with a population of just 20,000, punch well above their weight when it comes to competing in equestrian events.

From the Pony Club games team taking part in the Prince Philip cup to older Riding Club members competing at national championships and individuals excelling at different disciplines, it is clear that there is a strong equestrian scene in the area.

It is driven by a number of committed and enthusiastic people with the support of the entire equestrian community. Katie Coward has been involved with horses in Orkney since she moved there, with husband Nick in 1982, although she was a visiting Pony Club instructor for 10 years before that. She is currently the British Horse Society representative in the area.

Riders on the islands are lucky to have a multi-purpose facility in the Orkney Riding Centre, which has a large 57m by 35m indoor school and small outdoor warm-up and is used by all the clubs and organisations, including Riding for the Disabled, for training and competitions.

The highlight of the competitive year in September is the Peedie HOYS show, for which riders must have qualified at other Orkney shows throughout the summer.

It is run by a combination of the Riding and Pony Club to raise funds for the Riding Centre and generally makes between £3,000 and £4,000. The top three riders from each class during the day go forward to an evening performance – just like HOYS, with all the glitz and glamour involved.

Helen Foulis is secretary of the Orkney Riding Club, which has about 80 members, including some from Shetland.

She explained that just to get to the mainland with a horse costs more than £200 and the club is very grateful for any sponsorship it gets from the ferry companies. However after that there are fuel costs, accommodation, stabling and general expenses to take into account, so it is not cheap to compete on the mainland.

Lesley Gordon is district commissioner of the Orkney Branch of the Pony Club, which has about 60 members. She pointed out that riders and teams need to feel they are going to be competitive to make it worthwhile paying so much to travel to compete.

She said however, that many of the clubs on the mainland have made the Orkney children very welcome and Moray and Nairn Branch even include them in their summer camp. She said: “A big part of being a member of the Pony Club is the social aspect, so it is great that our children have the opportunity to meet up and spend time with other pony club children from the mainland.”

Training is a big part of the equestrian programme in Orkney.

Katie, a UKCC level 2 coach herself, said: “My main job is to bring BHS accredited coaches up here and we were very lucky recently to host a lecture/ demo by former BHS Scotland chairman and vet, Dr Derek Knottenbelt. We have also recently had a clinic with BE accredited coach Sue Hendry.”

She also organised a working hunter show at Littlequoy, Burray, last year, which raised nearly £3,000 for Macmillan Cancer Support.

The physical and financial challenges of competing from a base in Orkney do not hold these riders back, indeed they are often better prepared to compete than those on the mainland, who have all the events on their doorstep.