We had Denise and Mark who renewed their marriage vows here last weekend. You can check out the video link below and see for yourself their views on the Bel-Air experience. http://www.thehoneymoontesters.com/2010/08/bel-air-riding.html

Would you like to know a bit (or a lot) more about the anatomy of the horse? There is an online learning course that is free of charge until 2011 (from 1 Jan it will cost 150 USD). You pay a 20 dollar admin fee, but then you get access to all study materials, discussion groups, the exam itself, etc. As far as I understand, you only have to register within 2010 to get the free course. You can then do the exam any time you like. Please check this out for yourself, though. For more details, see the Equinology website at www.equinology.com. AS A TASTER, CHECK OUT THEIR STUDY HELP VIDEOS on youtube. In the videos, students from more advanced equine bodywork courses show where to find different bones on the horse. They use a standing horse, hold up various bones next to her, chalk the outline of the bone onto the horse, and show with their hands how to find it. Well worth viewing even if you never want to do any exams. For the videos, go to www.youtube.com and type Equinology in the search box. Enjoy!

We had a Summer Show for our Riding Club Members. It was a wonderful morning and everyone did really well. Congratulations to all who participated. The results of the morning are now available under results.

Our Summer Show was a great success. The results of the day are available to view under the results section of the website.

There will be an information meeting in the Hotel on Wednesday the 7th of July at 8.30pm. RURAL IRELAND SAYS ENOUGH. Anyone with an interest in rural issues from field sports to farming should attend. There will be guest speakers from several concerned organisations airing their views on the green agenda. Please attend if you can. Everyone is welcome.

We are going to have two Summer Shows for our members only on Tuesday the 6th of July at 10.00am and Saturday the 10th of July 2010 at 1.00pm - to include Working Hunter, Show Jumping and Clear Round Jumping. To enter put your name in the book or text Noni. Looking forward to seeing you all there.

The timetable for our Summer Show to be held on Sunday the 4th of July is now available under the Events section of this website.

Some of Nuala"s photos from the inter-club one day event on 3 May are now up under Photos.

For all the details for this fantastic fun day out go to the events section. Here you will find the picnic information together with the schedule of groups and times, plus directions where to go.

The Association of Irish Riding Establishments have just launched their new website. Check it out and see what you think. www.aire.ie

This is on 27th - 30 May and Bel-Air will have a stand there this year. If a great event to go to. Cross country is on Saturday and you'll have plenty of shopping opportunities too!! Call in to our stand when you're there

We are heading off again to The Munny Trail this June Bank Holiday Monday. This will need to be paid for in full by 27th May to secure your place. There will also be a registration form to fill in which can be downloaded.This is open to anyone associated with Bel-Air - not just RC members. Those not riding are very welcome to come along and join us for lunch. We will have someone to coordinate the food for lunch. if you would like to do this let Noni know. watch this space for more info.

Thank you to everyone who supported this event. We raised over €5000 for the school and had a great night!The following Bel-Air people won prizes in the raffle - Monique Vervoort, Sean McKone,Aidan Coleman, Maeve O'Reilly and Margaret Condon. Well done to all.

If you missed the seminar with Dr. Andrew McLean in April and are interested in his research and the resulting approach to training horses, there is quite a bit of info published on his website. www.aebc.com.au/home

Sunday, February 14th was the final of our Kizzy Cup dressage league. Congratulations to Helga who got the top score again, and now have to polish the trophy for another year! And congratulations to ALL riders. We had many good scores. You find all the details under Results. This day, we also organised a cake sale to raise money for a wider range of TV channels at Newcastle Hospital. With just a few days' notice, our cakes raised €600, including some extra contributions. A big thanks to everybody!

We at Bel-Air Equestrian Centre wish you all a very Happy New Year. The Riding Club membership subscriptions are now due. Please allow 10 days for your new card to return from headquarters. To download the membership form see our "Time to Renew Membership" in our news section below. Our calendar page has been updated with details of up-coming events for the new year. Bearing in mind the freezing weather conditions for early January these events are weather permitting. If in doubt, text Noni a couple of days before each event. The Order of Malta fund-raiser we held in the Bel-Air Hotel in November 2009 raised a total of €5,710. Thanks to everyone for your support and generosity. Everyone enjoyed themselves on the night and the Order of Malta are delighted with the new ambulance. Our riding club table quiz night which we usually hold in the Bel-Air Hotel in January will be held later on in the year.

It's time to renew your membership. This is extra urgent if you want to participate in any riding club events in January. You will need your membership card for 2010. The membership form is uploaded to the Events page on this site. Go Events > Internal events > Membership form, and click the "information" link.

We have received some important information from AIRC. ABOUT ALL NATIONAL AIRC SHOWS: A. All HORSES PARTICIPATING AT NATIONAL EVENTS HAVE TO BE REGISTERED WITH AIRC. There is no fee for this, but it is mandatory. If you want to do the national show juming championships 19th July, you need to get your horse registered ASAP. (Postal entries close Fri 3rd July. Online entries close Fri 10th July.) It seems the horse has to be registered BEFORE you can make your entry. B. ONLINE ENTRIES - Starting with the Show Jumping Championships in July, entries to national events can be made online on the AIRC website. It is also possible to enter through the club secretary on a special form, available from the AIRC website. ALL RIDING CLUB SHOWS: A reminder that all riders must make their own entry at the show, and present their ridingclub card on the day. It is not ok for one person to bring several riders' cards and enter everybody.

There is a simple way to protect your Ifor Williams horse-box, and make life a bit more difficult for people who steal horse-boxes to sell them on. Ifor Williams keep a register of their boxes; who owns them and whether they are reported stolen. To keep this register up-to-date, you need to do the following: BEFORE YOU BUY A SECOND-HAND BOX – Take the serial number of the box. Phone Ifor Williams to check that it is not reported stolen. AFTER YOU BUY A NEW OR SECOND-HAND BOX – Register it in your own name. Keep the number safe, so you know it even if the box isn't there. IF YOUR BOX IS STOLEN – Report it stolen to Ifor Williams. PHONE NUMBER: Call Ifor Williams on 00441490412626. Ask for Customer Care.