Recalling happy days in the saddle

LISTEN very carefully and it’s almost possible to hear hundreds of photograph albums being dusted down and flicked through. There are oohs and aahs of recognition, as well as giggles about bygone fashions.

Many of those taking centre stage in the images have awfully long faces and are rather hairy… Before anybody takes offence, we’re talking about the equine members of a North Yorkshire pony club which is getting under starter’s orders for its 80th anniversary.

The Middleton Hunt branch is holding a celebration ball to mark the milestone and is urging former members to get in touch with their memories and those all-important photographs.

District Commissioner Trish Russell’s picture albums go back to the days when joddies winged-out at the sides in the style adopted by Norman Thelwell in his famous sketches.

Trish, of Claxton, near York, met her husband Colin when they were both members of the Middleton. Their children, Vicky and Richard, both joined and it’s their cousins Becky and Laura Mason (their parents were members too) who have provided the venue for the big April event.

The family is letting the Pony Club use the marquee they’re having for the twins’ 21st birthday. “We would have marked the occasion,” says Trish. “But having somewhere so wonderful to hold it has given real impetus to locating former members and making sure it’s a night to remember.” With an annual sub of one guinea, the first meeting was held on February 1st 1932 when 15 recruits were enrolled. Among them was Master James Hudson, who went on to own the well-known Norton Grove Stud. The first District Commissioner – or “DC” as each club’s leader is known – was a Mrs Diana Wilson, of Musley Bank, Malton, where top trainer Richard Fahey is now based.

Those that followed in her footsteps are like a Who’s Who of the British army, with colonels, brigadiers and a good smattering of the landed gentry. One of the incumbents in the 1960s was Pam Swannell, who lived at the Gate House at Castle Howard and did much to encourage the late Hon Henry Howard with his riding. It was during her time that events were held in the estate’s grounds.

Trish’s great friend Lady Susan Watson, of Bossall Hall, became DC for the first time in 1975. The pair then took on the role jointly in 1984, with “Lady Sue”, as she is known to all, becoming assistant DC in 2002. The two of them have received the Pony Club’s long-service Cubitt award, named after the organisation’s former chairman Hon Guy Cubitt.

When asked about the length of service – she joined the committee as a 17 year-old – Trish looks lost for words. This is hard to believe if you have dared to get on your pony without a hat, dropped straw on a newly-swept yard or been guilty of some other misdemeanor in her presence. She simply says: “It’s the children that make it worthwhile.”

Some former members are instantly recognisable from their old photos, such as National Hunt jockey Andrew Tinkler. He has ridden for the Queen and Sir Alex Ferguson and is one on a long list who has gone from the Middleton onto a professional riding career.

Northern trainers Tim Easterby (whose children William and Emily have followed in his footsteps as members), Tim Fitzgerald, David Easterby, Paul Midgley, Cherry Coward (nee Easterby) all honed their skills with the club. Champion trainer Paul Nicholls’s wife Georgie (nee Browne) was also a member. Event rider Jolyse Clancey came up through the Middleton’s ranks as did Team GB Le Trec competitor Kathryn Bean. Robert Swannell, chairman of Marks and Spencer, heads a list of those who have gone onto the top of non-equestrian related careers.

The highlight of any child’s time in Pony Club is the annual summer camp. In the days of the colonels and brigadiers it was all under canvas. Nowadays there are a few more luxuries, but still an army of mothers in the kitchen.

Some of their offspring go on to represent the Pony Club in team events, something the Middleton has a fearsome reputation for winning, especially horse trials and tetrathlons (shooting, swimming, riding and running).

The club’s secretary, Sarah Lear, refers to the youngest of her three (all Middleton members) children as “our Molly”, blowing away the just-for-posh-kids preconception.

“The great thing about the Pony Club is that it’s always been possible for the child on a borrowed pony wearing hand-me-down riding gear to join in,” she says.

“It can be a bit daunting when everybody seems to know what they’re doing but as long as you’re willing to muck in, or rather out, you’ll never look back. We’ve all been touched by the great fondness with which so many people have been looking back on their days with the Middleton.”

Keeping up with the Pony Club

The party is on April 6 at Kirby Grindalythe and ticket enquiries, old photographs and memories should be sent to Sarah Lear on 01653 658406 or via [email protected]

The Pony Club is a charity founded in England in 1929, the year the first Yorkshire branch was founded.

It is now represented in 18 countries.

It has a membership exceeding 110,477 and is the largest association of riders in the world. The annual subscription is £58.

Top event riders William Fox-Pitt, Mary King and Zara Phillips are former Pony Club members. www.pcuk.org