Access to the facilities of Wylye, and other venues, played a large part in the early careers of past club members who have gone on to great success in eventing and dressage at national, international and Olympic level. Instruction is now centred around Half Moon, Equisense, Leigh Equestrian Centre, and Kingston Maurward in the winter months, while in the summer, a number of venues are used including Yetminster and Shaftesbury.
Teams and individual members have always been successful at Area Championships and at national level, winning or being placed in the National Riding Club Championships. The new millennium saw further successes at this level and also internationally: SWDG won the Dressage to Music Championship, the Senior Show Jumping Championship, and went to Olympia with its Quadrille, and to Ireland where the Senior show jumping team beat riding club teams from the home countries and abroad. In 2006 further successes have followed at national level with a Junior Team winning and being well placed at the BRC Championships at Lincoln, including a member becoming Junior Rider of the Year, and Senior members qualifying as teams and individuals at all the National Championships where again they either won or were well placed.
Today the club continues to attract new members, mainly through the excellence of its instruction, the variety of programmed events, and the numerous riding and non-riding activities aimed at all levels of rider and horse. Leisure riders and weekend riders are as welcome as those pursuing a career with horses, and the club also welcomes spectators at its clinics and events. Members participate as helpers as well as competitors and the club has an interesting programme of equestrian workshops. Instruction and competitions are offered on both weekdays and at weekends, and in the evenings during the summer months. High point of the year is the ODE at Aldon Park when competitors travel from all over the West Country to participate.
A newsletter and a programme are published twice a year in April and in October. Clinics and competitions and hacks are organized and run by club members.
The club is lucky to have a group of highly experienced and talented instructors, many of whom are competing themselves and this is one of the reasons why the club is so successful. (for more detailed info and bios see the Instructors page of the website).
During the year we run competitions within the club where points can be scored towards the annual awards that the club makes to successful horses and riders. These trophies are presented at the AGM.
This is a friendly club offering members the opportunity to enjoy and educate their horse and to improve their riding. Members have the chance to meet nice people in lovely surroundings!
