All children must wear an approved safety helmet in the ring

Presentation Day Round-up.

By Jan Baldock

After what seemed like weeks of rain, Sunday the 29th of August dawned dry and overcast..but thankfully no rain.

This was the day the Central Goldfields Miniature Pony Promotional Group had their "Presentation Day" in Harcourt.
"Presentation for the Show Ring"
Heather Cofield and Adrienne Johnston were our presenters.
This Mother and daughter team have been breeding and showing miniature ponies very successfully for a long time.

We started out by watching Heather and Adrienne prepare a pony for showing including how and when to clip the pony and how to rug and care for the pony after he has been clipped and then how to turn the pony out for the show ring which included the application of makeup.

We were shown several types of head stall and bridle suitable for showing the pony in and then listened as Heather and Adrienne went through the Dos and Don'ts as far as suitable clothing to wear for the show ring, etiquette and also the need to include hat and whip.

After returning from a cup of tea, Heather and Adrienne in full Show mode presented for the Show ring.
Adrienne was the Real Deal but Heather acted in the role of a flustered, ill prepared competitor.
Brian Cofield acted as Judge and Glen Drust as Steward.

Adrienne entered the ring in a very composed manner when called by the Steward however Heather came racing to the ring in a rushed and flustered manner, unable to find her entry ticket, dressed in a manner more suited to a day out with the girls and certainly far from composed.

After parading and being asked to line up, Adrienne did a perfect workout and then got back into line. Whilst Adrienne was working out, Heather continually kept at her pony in a very busy manner. It was now her turn to work out and despite being told specifically what to do, she did not follow these instructions. Of course Adrienne was awarded first prize. On receiving her second prize ribbon, Heather raced out of the ring ahead of Adrienne and once reaching the sidelines gave vent very loudly and theatrically to her feelings and the injustice that had been done in her eyes.

We were then asked for our interpretation and feedback on this skit which was discussed at length.

Max and John cooked a lovely sausage sizzle for lunch.
This was followed by drawing the lucky gate prize which was won by Donna and several smaller raffle prizes were drawn and presented.

On our return from lunch Adrienne had harnessed up her pony and proceeded to give a demonstration workout which also included the safety aspects for Drivers of ponies in harness.
Glen then went on to name the different parts of the equipment and described the necessary clothing to be worn when Showing in harness.

Over the day we had lots of opportunities to ask questions and it was great to hear of the experiences of Heather and Adrienne in the Show ring , however it was now time to finish off our day.

Thanks and a small presentation was made to Heather and Adrienne and thanks extended to Brian prior to bidding them all farewell. It was agreed by all present that this had been a very successful and enjoyable day.

We would also like to take the opportunity to thank our sponsors for this Presentation Day:
Kate and Gezza Nester of Thunderbox Toilets Longlea.
Don KRC for their donation of sausages.
PFD Foods Bendigo for their donation of produce and finally
Tip Top Bakeries for providing food for the day at cost price.

An ideal Pony Float