RYDE PONY CLUB NEWSLETTER
MARCH 2007
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President & Zone Representative
Kelly King
9736 2181
kelly.king@sunrisemedical.com.au or kelly210@optusnet.com.au
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Secretary & Mentor
Janelle Miles
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Treasurer
Bob Sadler
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Instructor & Zone Representative
Lisa Umlauff
Congratulations to everyone who attended Zone Sporting last weekend, despite the slippery conditions which made fast times very difficult, it was wonderful to see such a great turnout and to see all riders participate in all the events and all acquitting themselves so well.
Unfortunately the full results have not yet been posted on the Zone Website.
Julie showed her past experience with places in many events.
Maverick came away with placings too.
Tyson managed to win Reserve Champion
Giselle, Kate, Michelle & Adelaide all rode exceptionally well too.
As you are now all aware it is Zone Equitation is happening on the 25th of March, so this rally day we will be focusing on skills and presentation.
PLEASE NOTE : CHANGE OF RALLY DAY LOCATION FOR THE 4TH MARCH
9am at Megan’s on Epping Road.
Please try and bring the following items with you to rally day
Please note NO HOOF BLACK is allowed at Pony Club as it not very good for your horses hooves, only hoof oils such as Effol, Farriers Choice etc
I have attached some diagrams for making your own browbands and will also bring along some info on plaiting tails and manes.
A HUGE THANK YOU TO FRAN (GISELLE’S MUM) WHO HAS UPDATED OUR CONTACT DETAILS ON THE RYDE WEB SITE AND WILL BE PUTTING UP PICTURES AND UPDATED INFO IN THE NEAR FUTURE
Making your own ribbon browbands is heaps of fun and they are popular in the
show ring (except for turnout classes when a plain leather browband should be
used).
When deciding on colour combinations, you need to take in account your horse's
colour as well as the colour of your own riding outfit. Bright colours such as
reds and yellows should be avoided if your horse's coat is a bright colour (eg
chestnut) so stick to darker colours such as greens or blues. Greys, bays and
blacks look good in practically any colour combination...if you can decide on
one! Be prepared to spend hours ribbon-hunting and comparing different colour
combinations.
If you want a more exotic look, use metallic gold, silver or even velvet ribbon.
The sparkle of these looks especially good during indoor competitions. If your
horse has a wide blaze, avoid using white in your browbands however if your
horse has little or no white face markings, then using white can really give his
appearance a lift.
You can colour co-ordinate browbands to match your jacket, tie, buttonhole and
if you are a junior rider, the ribbons in your hair. You can make browbands in
your Pony Club colours and with the popularity of school competitions, your
school colours as well. The beauty of DIY ribbon browbands is that they are
cheap to make. A metre of ribbon costs around 70 cents to $1 and you only need
two metres of each colour for each browband.
The smaller the ribbon, the smaller your finished pattern will be. For a
two-colour sharks-tooth pattern, 7mm wide ribbon works well but you can also use
5mm and the narrower patterns tend to look better on smaller horses and ponies.
Nylon ribbon is more serviceable than satin. Buy some inexpensive browbands...we
found some for around $8 at Horseland stores.
Making them is very fiddly, two hands don't seem enough! But with practice you
will be whipping them up in no time, maybe even make some for your friends. Care
for your browband by using it only on a clean, dry horse and remove it when not
in use. You can sponge any dust or dirt off but it becomes too grubby, then you
can easily re-do it with new ribbon. The sharks-tooth pattern is the easiest to
start with.
These instructions are very basic but gives you somewhere to start...you will
need to practice, practice, practice to get the knack of it!.
STEP 1
Take around 2 metres of each ribbon colour and knot flat together, leaving
approximately 5cm of tail. Use 7mm wide ribbon or if you want a finer pattern
(for a pony) use 5mm wide ribbon. Anything wider than 10mm is too wide. Insert
the browband into the "V" at the knotted end of the ribbon. You will be
finishing your browband with a a matching knot and tails at the end but if you
want a plain finish, use a hot glue gun to glue the ribbons together, then glue
to the underside of the browband and start off that way. Alternatively you can
turn the knots to the back of the browband and sew in place, cutting the ribbon
tails off.
STEP 2
Bring the 'behind' ribbon forward and down over the leather and under the front
ribbon. Angle the ribbons so that they cross over on front of the browband.
STEP 3
Bring the behind ribbon over the browband to cross over...and that's about all
there is to it. You just keep bringing the back ribbon to cross over the front
one. Try to keep everything on an even tension (this is hard to do!) as too
loose will look slack while too tight will stretch and distort the ribbon. If
you have to stop mid-browband, use a peg to hold everything temporarily in
place.
STEP 4
More of the same, crossing the ribbons at the front of the browband, creating
the sharks-tooth pattern. Try to keep the ribbon edges parallel to each other
and not leave any gaps. Keep going to the end of the browband and and finish
with another knot OR glue in place.
If you have left the ribbon in tails in place, corner cut the end of each ribbon
and you are all finished!
Making great looking brow band rosettes is easy when you know how...you are only
limited by your imagination!
Having decided on a colour combination for your ribbon brow band
(click here for instructions), you also need to select centre buttons for
your rosettes. You need a shank button which is one with a loop at the back for
cotton and here are lots to choose from at stores like Spotlight or Lindcraft.
A fancy gold or silver button with embossing gives an elegant finishing touch.
We've illustrated a basic star rosette here, but you can also make frilled
rosettes by gathering ribbon using a simple basting stitch in matching cotton
thread and gluing onto a cardboard circle in layers. You can even combine the
two...alternating layers of stars and frills looks very effective.
MATERIALS
Hot glue gun and glue sticks
Thin cardboard (manila folder thickness)
Ribbon (4mm to 5mm wide)
Sharp scissors
STEP 1
Cut the cardboard into a circle. How big you want your finished rosette to be is
up to you, but keep in mind that the bottom layer of petals is going to be
larger that the circle cardboard backing.
STEP 2
Cut your ribbon into 4cm (1.5 inch) lengths. Having selected a colour for the
bottom layer, make a petal by bending the ribbon as illustrated, then gently
pull on the ends to form a point. Flatten and secure using a dot of glue.
STEP 3
Put a dot of glue on the back of the petal, then press firmly onto the outside
edge of the cardboard circle. Evenly space the six bottom layer of petals around
the circle edge, leaving a small gap between each.
STEP 4
Take your second colour made into six petals and glue to the circle, this time
positioning them lower on the circle and between the petals on the first row.
Repeat for the third row.
OPTIONAL...you can make four smaller petals for a fourth layer. These
look good in metallic ribbon which helps accentuate the button.
STEP 5
Take your button and fill the hollow back with glue, then press firmly in the
centre of the rosette, holding in place until the glue has set. To make the drop
ribbon, you need a wider ribbon that matches your rosette and glue layers of
matching, narrower ribbons over the top. Glue to the back of the rosette and cut
the bottom edge either diagonally or in a V as showin in the two rosette
diagrams next to the heading at the top of the page.
Finally, glue the finished rosettes to the browband. Hot glue ocasionally goes
brittle over time, so as insurance against the rosettes falling off at a show
(or the times your horse has a nice head rub and knocks the rosettes off), add
tube of glue to your grooming kit. Something like 'Tarzan's Grip' will hold
things in place temporarily.
