The Braeburn Gymkhana!

A gymkhana is a fun show for horses, where riders (mainly children and young teens) compete in a variety of games to win ribbons and prizes. Our young riders from Years 3 to 7 are making a lot of progress, so we decided to include 22 of them in a Mini Gymkhana Tournament, which was held at the New Muthaiga Stables on Saturday 29th April.

Rather than racing against each other, our games were about working together in pairs, which the riders performed magnificently. They made short work of leading the horse up the track and tacking up the saddle, riding back to get the bean bag and aiming it into the tyre, as well as riding whilst balancing with an egg and spoon. Whilst half the team competed in these games (cheered on by their families), the other half completed independent jumping rounds. For some children this was a fairly new experience, whilst others got into the spirit and pushed themselves to jump higher while cantering. We are very proud of our pupils’ ongoing achievements, enthusiasm and love for challenges, as well as their horses!

A massive thank you to Mrs Bailey and Mrs Mihajlovic for organising the event, plus Nurse Rehema, who thankfully was not put to work at all. We are grateful to Arnest, Francis and the team at New Muthaiga for hosting the Mini Gymkhana, instructing the children and providing us with lovely, cooperative horses. Thank you to Miss Susan and Miss Madowo for assisting with supervision. We would also like to thank all of the parents for taking time out of their busy schedules to turn up and support our riders.