META Horse riding centre

META AUTUMN-WINTER RESUMÉ

2011-12-29T09:31:00.000-08:00

At last we’ve managed to give you, our Blog followers, the run-down of META Autumn/Winter Events 2011 with first and foremost the Halloween Show.

Our Halloween Show always seems to be the best of the year and this Show was no exception.

Veronica organised a Pre-Halloween Camp to get things ready and so that our young riders could make their Halloween Fancy Dresses.

First on the programme as always, was our Halloween Fancy Dress Parade. For once I managed to wear an elegant outfit – White Witch Dress which was a presie from Leah who went as Tinkerbell – a very interesting Fancy Dress!

Emma, Becky, Leah, Ellie and Rafa rode their horses in an exciting Jump Off.

The younger pupils had great fun with their Gymkhana Team games.

The META BBQ went down a treat. A great day was had by all!

Warm up to Christmas 2011 was Amazing, an influx of new pupils, others moving on from canter to Jumping and some preparing their Gallop Exams and Competition Debuts for January 2012.

Early in the morning of Thursday, 8th December, still dark in fact, the most spectacular Horse Transport truck drove up the lane lights blazing, looking more like a spaceship coming through the blackness of the lemon groves, to drop off 2 horses sent over from England, Equitack Libby and her companion, Blue.

Two drivers were in charge of the truck, one of whom is in actual fact one of the 5 drivers who transport the Queen’s horses. It was all very exciting.

Libby and Blue will be with us for 2 months until their owners have completed their removal and have settled in to the new house they have bought not far from META Riding Centre.

That very same morning we were due to hold our Christmas Fayre so we were dashing around putting up decorations and setting up stalls whilst trying to feed horses, muck out and make Libby and Blue feel at home – talk about STRESS!

We had a great turnout though, a lovely variety of stalls with, of course, Piccadilly Coffee Company and Ruben mixing delish coffees and hot chocolate to keep our stallholders warm inside and out during the cold hours before the sun came around to shine down bringing the people who came along to shop for stocking fillers. And what about those yummy muffins!

Many thanks to all the stall holders who helped to make the day such a success – more or less in alphabetical order –
ANNIE’S COSMETICS
BEZZY AND JOHN
DAN AND LESLEY
GLITZY BITS
HUMANIST PLANTS (who gave all their takings to AMTE Riding for the disabled)
MAL (with her beautiful ceramics)
PAMELA’S CRAFTS
PAWSON’S ICE CREAM VAN
THE OLIVE TREE
SUSIE AND BECKY (The Bead Bar, Fiesta Faces, Pinkies Nail Technician)
Mr WOOD (General Electric- plugs and appliances)
AND MARCO (Objets d’arts and antiques)
THE META STAND
AMTE (Asociación Murciana de Terapias Ecuestres) RIDING FOR THE DISABLED

First of all many thanks for coming and making the day so special and secondly for donating such lovely prizes for our Christmas Raffle.

We had a few Pony Rides, our famous META BBQ (people come to our events just for a META Sausage Sandwich!!)

Father Christmas didn’t arrive until all the small children had already gone home but he did collect the letters that were left for him.

Next year’s Fayre will be even bigger and better. Some stallholders will be coming to our mid-year events too. We look forward to seeing you all at our next Event. Watch out for our Calendar of Events 2012!

Sunday 11th December was our annual Christmas Show. The morning started off with rain and it was a bit cold and miserable but not enough to dampen spirits. It soon cleared up and the sun came out. That was good for the Ice Cream Van as they actually managed to sell some ice cream.

Rafa, riding Tango, and Ellie, riding Golfo, did a tremendous show jumping display. Our younger, newer pupils battled it out in team games that proved to be great fun.

Mollie and Magic gave pony rides as usual and just before everyone went home Magic helped Father Christmas to bring surprises for the children

HALLOWEEN SHOW 2011

2011-10-09T11:29:00.000-07:00

Join us on SATURDAY 29th.

Get ready for our scariest show of the year. Put on your fancy dress and come and spend a great family day out.
Fun, games, pony rides and BBQ for everyone!
Our pupils will take part in a competition where there will be lots of show- jumping, dressage, gymkhana, horse in hand, and a great fancy dress parade.

Starting at 10 : 30 there will be lost of prizes. Entrance fee only 1€ and you get a raffle ticket. You can win free riding lessons and lots of discounts!

Don’t miss out on the best show of the YEAR !!

GOLFO’S FIRST SHOW OUT WITH THE GIRLS:

2011-10-08T09:41:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday our pony Golfo took part in his first show-jumping competition out of META with Emma and Bekki, our most experienced pupils.
They both took Golfo out in 50 cm and they did fantastically well! Golfo wasn’t very happy loading in the trailer but we have never taken him out so he must of thought that we were going to send him away or even sell him!
When we got to the Carrascoy club where the competition was taking place he was much calmer.

Bekki was the first to go out. She warmed him up really well and showed him around so he was nice and calm. Their total score was 4 points so to be the first time for both of them together it was great!

Emma was next, and once Golfo new the course they did really well with a clear round!
Now it’s time to continue working him so we can get ready for the next show at META with our famous Halloween Show.

Well done Golfo! Congratulations girls! Well done META team, thank you very much!!

SUMMER 2011

2011-09-05T10:22:00.000-07:00

September’s here already, summer hols are over, it’s back to school for some, Uni or College for others and META is running the last of its Summer Camps.

We had a fantastic time with Vicky from Granada and Veronica from Barcelona, who spent the first 2 weeks of August with us. They made great friends with our META helpers. New helper, Nick, joined the crowd and Nathan and Asher, who were here almost all the time, became META residents.

After 4 years of patiently going through walk and trot with an occasional mad gallop on Magic, Nathan has finally grown enough for his legs to reach below the saddle flaps and he finished the summer cantering nicely on Mollie.

During the second week of August Nuria, Nieves, Rebeca and Patricia stayed over – the crowd just got bigger and bigger.

Our younger nephew, Moises, moved up from Magic to Lily and was doing some good control in walk and a balanced rising trot before he went home. Samuel, his older brother and our Nº 1 helper, was here the whole month of August mucking out, feeding and generally organising the stable work. He is now cantering, back in Barcelona with his studies to be an Architect, and hopefully with us again next summer to lend a hand and to progress with his riding.

There were several visits to Murcia for a Capriccino at the Piccadilly Coffee Company. And to celebrate the end of the August camp, Veronica and Ruben took helpers and campers to Aqualandia for the day out.

Next we had Ana, a Spanish girl, who hit it off really well with Beth and Grace and was struck by META Horse Riding fever.

Language learning was brilliant. Great friendships were born and everybody turned completely META Horse Mad.

We can’t fotget about our Pony Club mornings, this summer they were amazing,with old friends who have been coming to us since we opened in 2007, for example Asher and Nathan and Alex and Zara.

Then we had other friends like Abigail and Amy who always come to ride with us whilst they are on holiday.

Newer Pony Club regulars are our Norwegian sisters, María and Frida and our Scottish Pony Club members, Kristin and Caitlin.

And this year we are happy to say that we have had a good number of Spanish children at Pony Club – a whole new experience for them. The great thing about Pony Club is that we all get together, make friends and language isn’t a problem.

Our Champagne hacks were great fun. Everybody enjoyed them.

Also great success this year with the excursion groups from the German Cruise boats that dock in Cartagena.

This summer has just been the best!

Keep posted for our newest activities: 2 mega important projects. Veronica will be posting info’ about a new Club. Kids, you’ve got to get the gen about that! It’s going to be THE horse and pony club of the moment and you’ll want to be in on it! Don’t miss out!

Julie, on the other hand, will be sending out info’ and subscription forms for the META Colts ‘n Fillies Social Club for our more mature horse-minded, horse-mad META fans.

As per usual keep your eyes on the Blog for news and up-dates .
(Fotos will be posted in a couple of days)

2011-08-12T12:20:00.000-07:00

Sorry blog followers, we really haven’t had time to update with all the META happenings. There’s been a really stream of riders since May bank holiday and spring has turned into summer with the Camps and Pony Clubs galore.

Must say hi! To Clementine from Paris, she was with us for a 2 week camp improving riding, English and Spanish. We all had a great time. Whilst she was here we had visits from Kristin and Caitlin from Scotland. Then we had Alba, Celia and her sister Angela brushing up on their riding and Spanish. Alba and Celia succeeded in going from Trot to Canter on Tango and Angela, champion in synchronized swimming, had her first Mollie class which we all know is Vaulting.

The champagne hacks have gone down very well and there have been Pony Club mornings with some of our regulars, Abigail, Rachel and Amy.

Nick is back with helping out this summer (he has become our newest helper) and the girls are doing a great job. Well done Kim, Emma, Becki, Georgia and Ellie! Keep up the good work.

2011-06-07T00:50:00.000-07:00

Ha sucedido tanto, tanto, durante estos dos meses que es difícil saber por donde empezar así empezamos por el principio y seguimos:

Abril vio el lanzamiento de la actividad de la Asociación Murciana de Terapias Ecuestres. LOGO

Del 7 al 12 de abril

con la colaboración del Centro Ecuestre META y la Federación Hípica de la Región de Murcia, la AMTE puso un Stand de Expositor en Equimur, la Feria del Caballo de Pura Raza de Torre Pacheco.

11 abril Conferencia de la AMTE en Equimur ‘La Equitación Sin Barreras’

La firma de Convenios de Colaboración con el Presidente de la FHM, D. Julio Cambronero y con el Presidente de ASMUJER, la Asociación Murciana de Adictos al Juego de Azar en Rehabilitación, D. Francisco Pizcueta
-
16 abril Día de Puertas Abiertas en el Centro Ecuestre META, un día de bienvenida organizado por la AMTE para familias y amigos de D’ Genes, Totana – Asociación de personas que padecen enfermedades raras. Ese mismo día la Presidenta de la AMTE (Elizabeth Knowles Hampson) firmó un Convenio de Colaboración con Dña Naca Eulalia Pérez de Tudela, la Presidenta de D’ Genes y con D. Juan Carrión, Delegado de FEDER en la Región de Murcia (la Federación Española de Enfermedades Raras)
Unos días después alumn@s de META Escuela de Equitación disfrutaron de la Acampada Pre Semana Santa

El sábado siguiente celebramos la Semana Santa a lo grande con un maravilloso día social lleno de Demostraciones de Equitación – Salto de Obstáculos, Gymkhana y juegos para todos los niños, sus mamás y sus papás.

Durante las vacaciones de Semana Santa que se alargaron por la Boda Real Británica, y el Puente del 1 de mayo, META se convirtió en un centro cosmopolitano de verdad. Mirad que fotos!

De Semana Santa llegamos directamente a mayo:

- Champagne Hacks – Paseos al Campo seguidos de una botella de Cava en la terraza.
- Pony Clubs
- Sesiones de estudio para nuestros exámenes de Galopes
- 21de mayo nuestros Primeros Galopes de 1 a 3. Tanto Alumnos como caballos nos llenaron de orgullo. Todos aprobaron y fueron a casa felices.

APRIL / MAY

2011-06-02T10:55:00.000-07:00

So much has happened these past 2 months! It’s hard to know where to start. So first things first!

April saw the launching of the Riding for the Disabled Association of the Region of Murcia (AMTE)

7 – 12 April META collaborated with the RDA Association on their stand at EQUIMUR, the horse fair in Torre Pacheco

- 11 April Conference during EQUIMUR ‘Riding without Barriers’

Signing Agreements of Collaboration with Horse Riding Federation of the Region of Murcia

- And with ASMUJER, Association of Gaming Addicts in Rehabilitation of the Region of Murcia

- 16 April Open Day at META organised by the RDA of the Region of Murcia to welcome families with children suffering from rare and debilitating diseases from the Association D’ Genes in Totana.

That same day Agreements of Collaboration were signed with FEDER (Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases) and with D’ Genes
Then came our Pre Easter Camp full of activities in preparation for the Easter 2011 Show:- painting hard-boiled eggs, designing posters, organising Easter Bunny Hunt……..

The following weekend we celebrated Easter with a fantastic day of Gymkhana games, Show Jumping demonstrations and fun stuff for kids and mums and dads.

During the extended Easter hols META became a truly Cosmopolitan Riding Centre. Just look at the photos!..............

Easter ran into Bank Holiday and extra days off for the Royal Wedding which took us straight into May:
- Champagne Hacks
- Pony Clubs
- Studying for our first Gallop Exams!
- 21st May, Gallop Exams! Both pupils and horses did us proud. Gallops 1 – 3. Passes all round and everyone went home happy!

EASTER CELEBRATION SHOW

2011-04-20T01:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday 23rd April to celebrate Easter and enjoy a day in the sunshine surrounded by orange Blossom.
Fun show for kids and mums and dads.
10 am start
1 euro entrance which gives tickets for the Easter Raffle
BBQ

PROGRAMME

Pony Gymkhana and games
Relay races
Sack races
Apple Bobbing
Easter Egg Treasure Hunt
Show Jumping Exhibition

Inscription for games 10 euros

Prizes Chocolate Easter Eggs and Bunnies

SEMANA SANTA, Sábado 23 abril: jornada de juegos ecuestres

2011-04-20T01:41:00.000-07:00

Sábado 23 abril ven y celebra con nosotros un día especial en el que celebramos una Semana Santa diferente.
Hemos preparado multitud de juegos y sorpresas para toda la familia desde actividades con los ponis hasta la gran busqueda del tesoro de huevos de pascua.
Mucho chocolate y exhibiciones de caballos sin olvidarnos de nuestra estupenda barbacoa.

A partir de las 10 am
1€ la entrada con la que obtendrás un boleto para nuestra rifa: clases gratis de equitación, descuentos y otras sorpresas.

Programa:
-exhibición de salto de obstáculo de las alumnas de la escuela.
- paseos en pony
-juegos de patio: búsqueda del tesoro (huevos de chocolate) pony-gymkhana, relevos, carreras de sacos, carretillas, atrapa la manzana…(inscripción para los juegos 10 euros)

META ACTIVIDADES DE VERANO 2011

2011-04-12T11:57:00.000-07:00

Acampadas Desde estancia de 1 noche (24 horas en el centro ecuestre) a una semana o 2 semanas de acampada de verano. Clases de equitación, rutas a caballo, manejo de caballos, limpieza de cuadras y equipo, alimentación y cuidado de los animales, clases bilingües en convivencia , peli y palomitas, piscina, conoce amigos de otros países, juegos y talleres. Mañanas de Pony Club De 9.00 a 13.00 (traer almuerzo) Clase de equitación o paseo al campo, actividades en las cuadras, juegos, manualidades, piscina para refrescarnos. Pony Escuela de Verano Pasar el día en el Centro Ecuestre META de 9.00 a 16.00 Equitación, manejo de los ponis, juegos, piscina, practicar idiomas, conocer a amigos nuevos de otros países, comida incluida. Horas extras según demanda. Para más información acerca de nuestras actividades seguid leyendo el blog o contactad por e-mail (meta@meta.nom.es)

META SUMMER ACTIVITIES 2011

2011-04-12T10:22:00.000-07:00

Summer Camps From an overnight stay (24 hrs in the centre)to a whole week with us or even a 2 week-camp.

Activities:

-riding

-hacking

-stable management

-grooming and feeding

-language learning and practise

-swimming pool

-films and popcorn

-make new friends from other countries

-fun and games.

Pony Club mornings

From 9.00 to 13.00.

Stable management, riding class, other activities including time in the pool to cool off.

Bring your packed lunch.

Pony Summer School

Spend the whole day at the centre – lunch included.

From 9.00 to 16.00. Extra hours on request.

For all details about our summer activities watch the blog or e-mail us:

meta@meta.nom.es

veronica.cknowles@gmail.com

636 172 198

EQUIMUR, HORSE FAIR AND EXPOSITION OF PURE BRED ANDALUSIAN AND ARAB HORSES, TORRE PACHECO, MURCIA

2011-04-11T11:43:00.000-07:00

This weekend META took part in the Equimur Horse Fair at IFEPA in Torre Pacheco. From Thursday until yesterday, Sunday, the team from META Riding Centre in La Costera de Alhama were busy helping members of the Murcian Riding for the Disabled Association, A.M.T.E. which has recently started up work at the centre. The Direction of Equimur gave AMTE Riding for the Disabled the use of a stand and their impressive conference room where they organized a talk titled ‘Riding Without Obstacles’. Speakers other than A.M.T.E. professionals included – - Mr Julio Cambronero Sánchez (President of the Murcian Horse Riding Federation) - Mr Francisco Pizcueta Guiñón (President of Murcian Gaming Addicts in Rehabilitation – ASMUJER) - Mr Juan Carrión Tudela (Delegate of the Spanish Federation of Rare Diseases – FEDER, and Representative of D’Genes in Totana) - Ms Natalia Pérez Alonso (Director of Humanymal Consultors) - Ms Mª José Gónzalez Valero (Vocal of the Spanish Federation Riding for the Disabled – F.E.T.E) Both the talk and the collaboration at the Fair were a great success for A.M.T.E. riding for the disabled and an enormous satisfaction for META.

EQUIMUR, LA FERIA DEL CABALLO

2011-04-11T11:37:00.000-07:00

Este fin de semana el equipo del Centro Ecuestre META participó en la Feria del caballo, Equimur, en IFEPA de Torre Pacheco.

Desde el jueves hasta ayer, domingo, META se encargó de colaborar con la Asociación Murciana de Terapias Ecuestres (AMTE). Amte es una entidad sin ánimo de lucro que dispone de las instalaciones y de los caballos del Centro Ecuestre y de Equinoterapia META ubicado en La Costera de Alhama.

La organización de Equimur cedió a La Asociación AMTE un stand de expositor y el uso del Salón de Actos para su charla: ‘Equitación Sin Barreras’. Entre los ponentes, aparte de las terapeutas de AMTE, figuraron :

- D. Julio Cambronero Sánchez (Presidente de Federación Hípica Murciana)

- D. Francisco Pizcueta Guiñón (Presidente de la Asociación Murciana de Jugadores de Azar en Rehabilitación, ASMUJER)

- D. Juan Carrión Tudela (Delegado de FEDER en la Región de Murcia y Representante de D’Genes de Totana – ambas entidades velan por las personas que padecen enfermedades raras) - Dña Natalia Pérez Alonso (Directora de Humanymal Consultores)

- Dña Mª José González Valero (Representante de la F.E.T.E. La Federación Española de Terapias Ecuestres, órgano regulador de la calidad de la formación y el trabajo de sus profesionales).

Tanto la charla como la estancia en la Feria tuvieron gran aceptación lo cual se celebró como un éxito para el nuevo equipo de la A.M.T.E. y una satisfacción enorme para META.

META ST. VALENTINE'S / CARNIVAL SHOW

2011-03-11T12:49:00.000-08:00

At 10 am on the dot our Fancy Dress Parade participants filed down into the arena to show off some amazing costumes, so good in fact that the Judge had to resort to applause from the public in order to reach a decision. Proud fancy dress winner was José, a most convincing old lady, costume all home-made.

Pony rides started early too and we soon had a line of anxious youngsters awaiting their turn on Magic.

Second on the programme was Gymkhana. Taking part were four new riders, Francisco and his twin sister Isabel, Celia and Amparo (recently arrived from Germany) and our favourite Norwegian pupils, Maria and Frida, who visit their holiday home on Condado de Alhama whenever they can and always make a point of coming to ride with us. Everyone took home a well-diserved trophy.

Our novice jumpers; Noa, Ellie, Georgia, Kiki and Mimi, did very well over a course of cross poles trotting on Lily. Once again trophies all round for a great effort.

In the meantime Mollie took over the pony rides and we called the raffle winners, prizes being free classes and hacks, META T-shirts and cuddly toys.

Then the serious jumping began. Only three riders took part on this occasion but they did a fantastic job over a Chase-me-Charly and rounds at 50 cm, 80 cm and 1.10 cm.

Emma Barber de Martino rode Golfo at a slight disadvantage as he is such a small chap next to Midnight and Ecolo but she well and truly demonstrated that she is a very capable rider. She made Golfo fly over those obstacles and will soon have to move up to a bigger pony.

Becky Driffield showed us an extremely professional approach to riding Midnight, a complicated horse with plenty of potential. She calls him her ‘project’ and is happy to put in hours of training until the time is right. We are already seeing the results of her perseverance and patience.

Leah Twomey who, as for other shows came over from England to lend a hand with the horses pre-event, rode Ecolo and allowed an old veteran to show his colours. He didn’t knock down a pole or put a foot wrong. However Midnight is coming up close and could soon be the star of the stable.

The bigger jumping rounds accumulated points – there was tough competition between Ecolo and Midnight but Leah on Ecolo just won over Becky on Midnight and Emma came in a worthy 3rd on Golfo.

We were very proud of our big girls and are happy to say that we have some up-and-coming quality riders. We now have three young lads who could soon give the girls a hard time in competition.

As always the atmosphere was great, a lovely family day out. The weather was glorious and the META BBQ went down well. The Piccadilly Coffee Company sent over some of their special muffins, chocolate doughnuts and cookies for those with a sweet tooth, just the job with a cuppa or a coffee.

To sign off we would like to thank all our public and clients for continuing to support us. A special word of thanks to Teresa Hicks and the Costa Cálida Chronicle for taking us under their wing. Thanks to the girls, Kim, Anne and Julie for helping us with the organisation and to the lads, Moisés, Moshe and Alberto, our META BBQ specialists. And last but never the least, our wonderful META horses for their patience and willingness – they always come up trumps on the day!

Meta Riding Centre, Crrtra El Palmar/Mazarrón km 20.400, (Mu 603),
La Costera de Alhama, Murcia

636 172198

http://www.horseridingbymeta.com/

Blog:- http://www.horseridingbymeta.blogspot.com/

meta@meta.nom.es

St. Valentine's- Carnival Show

2011-02-05T11:30:00.000-08:00

These beautiful sunny days and the almond trees full of blossom bring us to forget Christmas and concentrate our thoughts on the coming Spring. And to celebrate Spring the next big event on the scene is our annual St. Valentine's-Carnival Show, Saturday 26th February starting at 10.00 am.

As usual, opening the event will be our Fancy Dress Parade followed by the Gymkhana for small riders and beginners, not to mention Pony Rides for our young visitors. There will be cross bars for those starting their initiation into Showjumping and then there will be the classes for more experiences riders:-
Chase Me Charlie
50 cm
80 cm
1.00 m
1.10 m

A 1 euro entrance fee will give all our visitors the chance to win free riding classes, hacks and gift vouchers for friends.

Delicious Piccadilly muffins to go with a cuppa or a coffee and of course our famous META BBQ.

META CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA 2010

2011-01-25T10:41:00.001-08:00

What a great day! What a fantastic turnout! Started off bitterly cold. The Go Mad gang were the first to arrive and set up house. Luckily hot chocolate served by Ruben at the Piccadilly Coffee Company warmed cold hands and tummies. His muffins also went down a treat.

Whilst early birds browsed around the Christmas Fayre in the patio, META Riding School pupils did some serious competing with their team gymkhana games. The kids had decorated their horses beautifully for the occasion and everyone was well into the Christmas theme.

Visiting kiddies queued up patiently for their pony rides and enjoyed every minute.

Meanwhile in the patio there was plenty of shopping going on whilst youngsters tried the Lucky Dip, bought Raffle tickets and guessed the name of our Xmas Bear-

From the Piccadilly to the META BBQ where sizzling meat was washed down with beer or a glass of good red wine, visitors made the most of a truly enjoyable venue.

Our grateful thanks to Kim (Mama Xmas) and Providencia for organising the gymkhana and making sure that the kids had fun, to Julie-Anne who spent the morning with Magic entertaining the little ones on non-stop pony rides, to Anne the go-between who coordinated events, the guys on the BBQ and all the META team and horses for their patience and their generosity.

And a special mention to the stall holders who made our Christmas Fayre such a success:
- Piccadilly Coffee Company
- Gardenía Plants and Decorations
- Nicky Driffield Home Made crafts, sweets and cakes
- Go Mad (Make a Difference) volunteers
- Hand made brooches from Totana
- Old toys and clothes from Totana
- META

Last but not least Father Christmas who once again brought his pony laden with hampers of gifts and Christmas magic for the children.

XMAS EXTRAVAGANZA 2010

2010-11-14T11:47:00.000-08:00

As we did last year, we’ll be setting up our Christmas Fayre in the Patio. Stall-holders and visitors will be lucky in that they have direct access to the Piccadilly Coffee Shop Corner where Ruben will be serving exiting new coffees and delicious hot chocolate topped with whipped cream. And he will have with him a wonderful selection of his latest muffins.

In the arena Sue and Lynn from the Ladies Keep Fit and First Aid Training, will be giving us a display and showing us how to recover from our 2010 splurge.

The youngsters will be demonstrating new fun Gymkhana games whilst our older riders show off their more advanced skills.

For our visiting kiddies and their mums and dads we’ll have pony rides and family games: sac races, 3-legged race, hook the horse shoe, ball games and much more.

Entrance is 1euro but everybody gets a strip of tickets for the raffle. There will be
“ guess the name of…” and “lucky dip”. Last but not least Father Christmas will make his annual visit with a sack full of presies.

KEEP YOUR EYES GLUED TO OUR BLOG AND THE COSTA CALIDA CHRONICLE for more info and updates.

WARMING UP FOR CHRISTMAS

2010-11-13T11:07:00.000-08:00

Well Christmas is just around the corner and here at M.E.T.A. we’re busy organising our 2010 Xmas Extravaganza.

STAYOVER:

First on the Calendar we have a Pre Extravaganza Stay Over
Date 6th-7th December.
Time from 6pm Monday to 6pm Tuesday.

Activities:
Riding class
Grooming
Preparing for Christmas Display.
Practising fun games

META HALLOWEEN SHOW 2010

2010-11-05T13:30:00.000-07:00

META Halloween Show 2010 saw an amazing turnout, a truly international crowd of 30 young participants – British, Spanish, French and German – and more than 100 spectators, all of whom got into the spirit of the occasion wearing monstrous costumes, wigs and make up.

In spite of the cool weather META terrace was crowded from 10 am until 4 pm when the last of the visitors finally left. The BBQ was a huge success made even more appetising by the delicious selection of muffins provided by the Piccadilly Coffee Company – a new coffee shop in the Plaza Santo Domingo, Murcia, well worth a visit.

Our BHS trained judge, Mrs Julie-Anne Jones, recently arrived in Murcia, had a very difficult job deciding the prizes to be given at the Fancy Dress Parade. She took a thoroughly professional approach to the prize-giving of our 2 Gymkhana sections, Beginners and Initiated riders, and our young competitors really had to show their paces. As with last year’s show META was proud to have one of its disabled riders amongst the 2010 winners.

Veronica Campillo took charge of the Show Jumping. Apart from our regular pupils, Leah Twomey spent her week’s half-term holidays here preparing for the show and getting Ecolo into shape. And Sophie-May Clarke brought Darcy, the horse she has just taken on loan from the nearby stable where he is in livery.

RESULTS:

Fancy Dress :
1st Elena Martínez Rubio
2nd Pilar Segovia Vera
3rd Alba Cárceles Pizcueta

Gymkhana 1 : ---------------------------Gymkhana 2:
1st Thomas Batley ----------------------1st Noa Díaz Velasco
2nd Erwan Rhaiem ----------------------2nd Ellie Yates
3rd Rocio Jerez --------------------------3rd Georgia Pearson

Show Jumping 50 cm:
1st Becky Driffield riding Golfo
2nd Emma Barber de Martino riding Tinker
3rd Hannah Daibell riding Tinker

Chase me Charly
1st Leah Twomey riding Ecolo
2nd Becky Driffield riding Lily
3rd Hannah Daibell riding Tango
And Sophie-May Clarke riding Darcy

80 cm: -----------------------------------------------100cm:
1st Leah Twomey riding Ecolo ----------------1st Leah Twomey riding Ecolo
2nd Sophie-May Clarke riding Darcy --------2nd Sophie-May Clarke riding Darcy
3rd Becky Driffield riding Lily

Last but not least META Riding Centre would like to thank The Piccadilly Coffee Company, Murcia, for kindly sponsoring the great trophies awarded to our Halloween winners. And, as always, a special vote of thanks to our magnificent horses, staff and helpers who all work so hard to make these events a wonderful family occasion.

FOR NEWS ABOUT CHRISTMAS PLEASE VISIT OUR BLOG

META HALLOWEEN SHOW

2010-10-24T12:06:00.000-07:00

Fabulous show now being organised for Halloween 2010!

SATURDAY, 30TH OCTOBER STARTING AT 10 AM.

The entry fee of 1 euro gives 5 tickets for the Halloween Raffle.

For those of you who missed last year’s META Halloween Show,
be prepared for a super scary , extra enjoyable, fun family day.

PROGRAMME:-

- 10:00 Fancy Dress Parade
- 10:45 Gymkhana (level 1 and level 2)
- 12: 45 Jumping (approx.)
- 50 cm
- Chase me Charlie
- 80 cm
- 14:00 Fun Games for all the family (approx.

Participants coming from near and far for the day!

Fun things for kids big and small – Fancy Dress, Horror Laboratory, Face Painting, Games, Competitions, META BBQ and Tea & Coffee with Muffins and more at the Picadilly Coffee Company Stand.

ON SALE – Christmas Gift Vouchers and META T-shirts.

KEEP EYES GLUED TO THE BLOG FOR WARMING UP EVENTS LEADING TO META CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA 2010

(hopefully the weather will be kind to us this year!!!!!!!!!!!)

2010 – WHAT A META MARVELLOUS SUMMER!

2010-09-29T12:53:00.000-07:00

July was busy, what with the start of the school hols which brought plenty of horse-mad holiday-makers from S. Ireland, Norway and of course Great Britain. Our horses, fat and lazy after an extremely slow winter, were given a rude awakening and were promptly put to work hacking out and giving classes.

If July was busy, August was just crazy. Pony Club started up with a vengeance. Amongst the new activities suggested by the kids was a visit to the neighbouring farm to feed the goats. So off we went with our bags of dried bread and had fun watching the antics as the goats chewed on their husks of bread.

We had one Summer Camp after the other after the next. Our first camp welcomed our old friends, the Spanish children from ASMUJER, the Gaming Addicts’ Association. The kids thoroughly enjoyed themselves and demonstrated once again that horses bring out the best in people. In spite of their problems the youngsters had fun, got on well together and were responsible and well behaved – a pleasure to have around.

Next came Veronica, a 14 year-old from Barcelona who stayed for 2 weeks. She loved every minute of her time with the horses, learnt to ride and decided to give her very best effort to improving her English. She now hopes to study to become a vet.

The second week in August brought us a very special visit, 35 physically and mentally handicapped people from a summer camp in Los Narejos who came to spend the morning with us. The youngest was 14 and the senior member of the group in his 50’s, a motley group made up of wheel chair users, Autistes, people with Down Syndrome, people affected by Cerebral Palsy and Schizophrenia. Some rode Mollie, some led Magic around, others stuck to art work and chatting but all of them had a dip in the pool and went back to Los Narejos tired and contented.

All in all the Horsey Holiday Summer camps were very successful, especially a certain weekend stay over just for mums and daughters.

Our GCSE Horse-riding people passed their exams with flying colours and will be off to college this month to start Equine Studies.

And Ellie, who did jumping classes with Veronica during her hols, went straight back home and into competition at her local riding school.

How’s that for a Summer Success Story?

Well done all, riders and META horses, staff and helpers!

THANK YOU FOR A TRULY WONDERFUL SUMMER!

Liz

META SUMMER CAMPS

2010-07-18T11:52:00.000-07:00

META SUMMER CAMPS 2010 - HORSE RIDING AND LANGUAGE LEARNING

Summer is finally here after a long, cold, wet winter and META Riding Centre didn’t hesitate to celebrate the arrival of holiday season with the first of their 2010 summer camps.

Once again META welcomed children from the Addicts to Gaming Association, ASMUJER (Asociación Murciana de Juegos de Azar en Rehabilitatión). Fifteen children, ages ranging from 6 years to 17 years, accompanied by their psychologist, Sonia Pizcueta, spent an amazing 24 hours caring for and enjoying their favourite animals, the META horses.

Problems, those being depression, violence, hyperactivity, eating disorders, failure at school, amongst others, were forgotten whilst the children had fun riding and working in the stables, swimming and playing in the pool (great for getting rid of sweat from such hard work!), eating home cooked meals around META’s enormous garden table and sleeping in their tents under the stars.

To wind down and relax some got into ping pong and table football, others preferred board games and cards and everyone experimented with their English.

A great time was had by all and parents took home very happy, tired kids.
To find our more about our Stay Overs and Summer Camps, not to mention Summer Pony Club mornings take a look at our blog http://www.horseridingbymeta.blogspot.com/ or our web site http://www.horseridingbymeta.com/ or call us on 636 17 21 98. Remember, book now to avoid disappointment!

SAN JUAN STAY OVER

2010-07-18T11:22:00.000-07:00

On June 24th our Riding School pupils celebrated St. John’s day with a special ‘San Juan’ stay over.

Veronica, recently back from her Equestrian Formation Course in England, organised fun gymkhana games. In pairs Spanish and English riders played games such as ‘Pig in the Middle’ and ‘Slow Coach’ (a whole new experience on horse back) and did relay races until they collapsed in a heap laughing and Francesca bit the dust after a flying fall from our tiny Shetland, Magic, the little pony with a ginormous ego.

For supper we all made our own pizzas and then it was bonfire time - first scary stories and toasted marshmallows followed by wishes thrown into the flames and jumping the embers for Good Luck in keeping with true Spanish tradition.

Film and popcorn before finally falling asleep exhausted!

Up early the next morning and a good breakfast, then teamwork to learn lots more new stuff. When riders and horses were just too hot to move, it was definitely time to shower horses and dive into the pool before lunch – delish Spaghetti Bolognaise!

Siesta relaxation meant board games (pick up sticks) and film to chill by before home time.

GREAT STAY OVER!

2010-04-15T05:18:00.000-07:00

META SUMMER CAMP 2010- SPANISH AND HORSE-RIDING

SUMMER CAMP ACTIVITIES INCLUDE:

LIVING IN THE SPANISH COUNTRY SIDE (BILINGUAL FAMILY)

HORSE-RINDING OR LEARNING TO RIDE AND STABLE MANAGEMENT

SWIMMING AND GAMES IN THE GARDEN

CONVERSATION AND LANGUAGE GAMES IN SPANISH

DESCRIPTION OF ACTIVITIES:

HANDLING AND TAKING CARE OF HORSES

1 HOUR RIDING CLASS DAILY

HORSE HYGIENE, GROOMING, MUCKING OUT, TACK CLEANING
POOL GAMES, SWIMMING, TABLE TENNIS, BOARD GAMMES, CARDS.

ACTIVITIES OUTSIDE THE CENTRE: BEACH, HIKING (PREVIOUS AGREEMENTS WITH PARENTS AND ACCEPTANCE OF RESPONSIBILITY.

JOBS:

MAKE BED, TIDY ROOM OR TENT
HELP AT MEAL TIMES, SET AND CLEAR THE TABLE, ECT.

GARDENING, WATERING, WEEDING, ECT.

ACCOMODATION:

ROOM WITH A/C, TV, DVD

BATHROOM WITH SHOWER

TENTS

WHAT TO BRING:

SUMMER CLOTHES, SHORTS, T-SHIRTS TRACKSUIT TROUSERS, TRAINERS, FLIP FLOPS, BATHING COSTUME

SLEEPING BAG,

TOWELS: BATH AND BEACH

SUN PROTECTION CREAM

LOTION TO PROTECT AGAINST INSECT BITES

PLASE NOTE:

AS OUR CENTRE IS IN THE COUNTRY SIDE WE WOULD ASK PARENTS TO ADVICE US IF A CHILD IS ALLERGIC TO INSECT BITES, CONTAC WITH CERTAIN PLANTS OR HAS AN INTOLERANCE TO FOOD STUFFS.

CALENDAR:

FROM SATURDAY ( 19HRS) TO SATURDAY ( 10 HRS)

WEEKS OF JULY AND AUGUST

PRICE:

480 EUROS PER PERSON/WEEK

META@META.NOM.ES

0034 636 172 198

2010-04-12T06:50:00.000-07:00

CAMPAMENTO DE VERANO 2010:

LAS ACTIVIDADES INCLUYEN:

CONVIVENCIA EN FAMILIA
APRENDER A MONTAR A CABALLO Y A CONOCER SU ENTORNO
DISFRUTE DE PISCINA Y JUEGOS
INTERCOMUNICACIÓN EN EL IDIOMA INGLÉS - CASTELLANO.

DESCRIPCION DE ACTIVIDADES:

MANEJO Y CUIDADO DE CABALLOS
CLASE DE EQUITACIÓN DIARIA
HIGIENE Y LIMPIEZA DE CABALLOS Y SU ENTORNO, MONTURA + EQUIPOS
PISCINA, TENIS DE MESA Y JUEGOS DE MESA
POSIBILIDAD DE HACER ACTIVIDADES FUERA DEL CENTRO - PLAYA
(PREVIO ACUERDO DE LOS PADRES Y EXENCION DE RESPONSABILIDADES.)

TAREAS:

HACER LA CAMA Y MANTENER LA HABITACIÓN ORDENARA O LAS TIENDAS DE CAMPAÑA

AYUDAR EN LAS COMIDAS, PONER Y QUITAR LA MESA, ETC.

JARDINERIA, REGAR, ETC.

ESTANCIAS

HABITACIÓN CON A/C
TV Y DVD
ASEO DUCHA
ESTANCIA EN TIENDAS DE CAMPAÑA

¿QUÉ TRAER?
ROPA DE VERANO, PANTALONES DE DEPORTE, CAMISETAS, BAÑADOR
SACO DE DORMIR
TOALLA ASEO Y DE PISCINA / PLAYA
PLAYERAS, ZAPATILLAS DE DEPORTE
CREMA PROTECTORA SOLAR
LOCION PROTECTORA CONTRA PICADURAS DE INSECTOS

OSERVACIONES:
DEBIDO A QUE NUESTRAS INSTALACIONES SE ENCUENTRAN EN EL MEDIO AMBIENTE
ROGAMOS SE NOS COMUNIQUE:

SI ALGUN CHICO/A ES ALERGICO/A A PICADURAS DE INSECTOS, PLANTAS, ETC.
INTOLERANCIA A CIERTOS ALIMENTOS.

CALENDARIO
SEMANAS DE JULIO Y AGOSTO
DE SABADO 19:00 hrs @ SABADO 10:00 hrs

PRECIO € 480 POR PERSONA/SEMANA

META@META.NOM.ES

0034 636172198

CURSO INTENSIVO DE EQUITACION - INTENSIVE RIDING COURSE

2010-03-21T03:33:00.000-07:00

CURSO INTENSIVO

DE EQUITACIÓN

4 CLASES - NIVEL 1

45 €

TURNOS DE MAÑANA O TARDE

DE LUNES A JUEVES

MARZO - ABRIL - MAYO

PLAZAS LIMITADAS

0034 636 172 198

meta@meta.nom.es

INTENSIVE RIDING COURSE

4 CLASSES - LEVEL 1

45 €

AM OR PM - MONDAY TO THURSDAY

MARCH - APRIL - MAY

BOOK NOW TO AVOID DISAPPOINTMENT

0034 636 172 198

meta@meta.nom.es

II DRESSAGE CLINIC - CLINIC DE DOMA CLÁSICA

2010-03-21T03:03:00.000-07:00

II DRESSAGE CLINIC

INTERMEDIATE & ADVANCED

29 & 30 MAY

DIRECTED BY

HARALD BONSACK

GERMAN INTERNATIONAL INSTRUCTOR

TO AVOID DISAPPOINMENT

BOOK NOW!

META RIDING CENTRE

0034 636 172 198

meta@meta.nom.es

II CLINIC DE DOMA CLASICA

INTERMEDIO y AVANZADO
29 y 30 MAYO
IMPARTIDO POR
HARALD BONSACK
INSTRUCTOR ALEMAN INTERNACIONAL
¡PLAZAS LIMITADAS!

CENTRO ECUESTRE META
0034 636 172 198
meta@meta.nom.es

META Medios ecuestres y terapias asistidas

2010-03-04T01:54:00.000-08:00

La verdad es que cuando se visita el centro ecuestre META lo primero que llama la atención es su ambiente. META es una empresa familiar en si misma, pero también es una empresa que ha conseguido dar ese toque acogedor y especial entre sus alumnos y clientes.

En realidad, todos ellos parecen una gran familia, personas de todas las edades y condiciones disfrutando de una afición común, dando como resultado una convivencia genuina y enriquecedora para todos. Como ellos mismos suelen decir, en META las personas forman una gran familia y los caballos una gran manada.
Para poder pasarlo bien con los caballos no necesitamos ninguna condición ni física ni mental en especial puesto que en META nos darán una atención personalizada y adaptada a cada uno de nuestros propios requisitos y sus instalaciones están así mismo acondicionadas para atender a personas con requerimientos especiales. Tampoco la edad es un impedimento para poder pasarlo bien en el ambiente ecuestre, aunque nos aconsejan empezara partir de los 3 años.

Entre las muchas actividades que META nos ofrece, una de las que más llama la atención es la de aprender y practicar inglés a la vez que montamos a caballo. El 50% de los alumnos de META habla inglés o inglés–español y eso nos permite relacionarnos en cualquiera de los dos idiomas. Gracias a esta iniciativa de META convertimos nuestro paso por el centro en una experiencia única de aprendizaje en un ambiente rodeado de caballos, niños y adultos bilingües. Imaginemos los avances en el aprendizaje del inglés que nuestros hijos podrían hacer mientras se relacionan de un modo tan directo con la naturaleza, en un ambiente sano y puro.

Y orientado para los más pequeños de la casa META ofrece acampadas en las cuales los niños conviven entre ellos, con la naturaleza y los caballos, hacen trabajos manuales y sobretodo se divierten. También pensados para ellos tenemos el pony club donde los niños y los ponys son los protagonistas. Además se preparan fiestas de cumpleaños donde el entretenimiento está asegurado, los niños celebrarán su día de una forma saludable y original.

Podemos pasear por el campo a caballo y recibir terapias asistidas.

Pero las iniciativas que META nos propone no
acaban ahí. En META podemos hacer clases grupales, clases individuales, de perfección en salto y doma (preparación para concursos) y también clases de iniciación.

META Horseriding Centre

We are open 7 days a week

Telephone: 0034 - 636 172 198

Email: meta@meta.nom.es

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-26T12:12:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR

A Happy New Year to all META Blog Spot visitors! And before we get into the January swing of normal stable and riding activities, just a quick comment about the META Christmas Extravaganza – a huge success in spite of all the impediments presented by the fluke weather conditions:- rain, wind, snow, the big freeze and so, so cold!

We had so much snow that anyone would think we were in Siberia. We woke up to snow the day before the Extravaganza was originally scheduled and, as you all know, we had to postpone much to the regret of many of you who missed the show due to other Christmas commitments. However, the snow didn’t stop our horses and riders from going out for a white hack.

On Sunday 27th December a glorious, sunny day saw the arrival of about 100 spectators who came to enjoy our Christmas Spectacle.

The Nativity pageant – Unto us a Child is born! was amazing. For want of an ass, Lily played her part beautifully carrying Mary (Sophie) and baby Jesus led by Joseph (Verónica) following our bilingual Angel (Jasmine).

The younger members of Meta Riding School formed the Father Christmas Team and presented a lovely vaulting performance – Mollie looked stunning.

Vero and Sophie put on a nice drill with Tinker and Mollie and then Kim and Liz had fun clowning around on their hobby horses, Tonker and Millie.

In the meantime Magic, Tinker and Mollie did a great job giving pony rides to queues of expectant children.

The patio was full of stands. Fiesta Faces and Partyland put on a fabulous party display. At the bar non-stop drinks, mince pies and sausage rolls galore so nobody went hungry. Then there were games, raffles and an auction in aid of our Riding for the Disabled, the grand finale of course being the arrival of Father Christmas bearing gifts for all.

CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA

2009-12-08T14:16:00.000-08:00

URGENT BECAUSE OF DREADFUL WEATHER CONDITIONS M.E.T.A HAVE DECIDED TO POSTPONE THEIR CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA FOR NEXT SUNDAY, 27TH DECEMBER, SAME TIME SAME PLACE.

SUNDAY 27th DECEMBER 2009

M.E.T.A. CHRISTMAS EXTRAVAGANZA:

HORSE DISPLAY AND EXHIBITIONS, BBQ, PONY RIDES, LUCKY DIP, RAFFLES, CHRISTMAS FAYRE AND FATHER CHRISTMAS.

ENTRANCE: 1€

PROGRAM:

10:30 - 11:00 VAULTING

11:00 - 11:30 PONY RIDES

11:30 - 12:00 DRILL

12:00 - 12:30 PONY RIDES

12:30 - 12:45 DRESSAGE

12:45 - 13:00 PONY RIDES

13:00-------------------------FATHER CHRISTMAS ARRIVES

13:30 RAFFLES

STANDS:

PARTY LAND
GLITZY BITS
CARDS AND CALENDARS
BRITISH BUSINESS PAGES
TUCAN VET
FACE PAINTING
SECOND HAND HORSE TACK SHOP
CANDLES
COSAS Y COSAS
MABS
META
LIZ’S CAFÉ – Christmas cakes, mince pies ……
HOT TUBS 4 HIRE.

CHRISTMAS EVENTS

2009-12-08T12:41:00.000-08:00

CHRISTMAS EVENTS DECEMBER AND JANUARY:

STAY OVER:

(minimum group of 5 children, maximum 8. Other dates can be arranged on demand)

11-12 DECEMBER FROM 18:00-18:00
Description: from Friday 6pm until Saturday 6 pm there will be two riding classes, mucking out and grooming horses, art craft Christmas decorations and horsey games. Friday night, film and pop corn!!

Friday 18:00 - Riding Class
- Feed horses
- Dinner
- Film (popcorn)
- Bed

Saturday 8:00 am – Breakfast
Mucking out
Grooming
Riding Class
Rehearsal for Christmas show
Feed horses
14:00 Lunch
15:00 Art work – Christmas decorations
Horsey games
18:00 Home time

PONY CLUB MORNINGS:

From 9:30 to 13:30

Pony club activities include a riding class, mucking out, grooming and stable management, pony games and quizzes. Children are asked to bring their own picnic lunch and old trainers for mucking out. Our activities can be adapted to all ages and horse-riding abilities (minimum age 3 yrs). Hard hats provided.

DECEMBER:

Tuesday 22nd
Thursday 24th
Tuesday 29th
Thursday 31st

JANUARY:

Monday 4th
Tuesday 5th
Thursday 7th

(other dates on demand)

ABOUT US

2009-11-21T15:53:00.000-08:00

META is a family-run riding centre that goes to great lengths in an effort to meet everyone’s special equestrian needs with an eye to detail and personalised attention.

Our adapted installations are at the disposal of all those, old and young, able bodied or not, who wish to enjoy themselves in the company of our horses and ponies–riding or even just indulging in a bit of grooming and a stroke.
META is a 5-star equestrian centre with an excellent selection of lovely, versatile horses and ponies.

Small enough to maintain a welcoming feeling of family which guarantees the personal touch of individual attention, META can also cater to the demands of the number of spectators who visit regularly to enjoy our shows and special events.

Tucked away in the foothills of Murcia’s Carrascoy mountain range and surrounded by orange groves, the centre is located on the Costa Cálida with easy acces to both Alicante and Murcias airports close to S.E Spain’s finest beaches and golf courses.

Depending on the skills of our clients, hacks out can take riders through the orange groves and the typical country villages or along the Guadalentin river valley.
Among our friendly staff members and helpers we have at hand trained specialists in show jumping, riding for the disabled, basic horse riding skills, training and stable management.
All our classes, activities and events take place in a totally bilingual atmosphere where language Spanish/English can be learnt and practised.

We offer:

- Group classes.
- Reserved individual classes.
- Initiation.
- Perfection for competition.
- Preparation for Galope exams (FHRE).
- Stable management training.
- Preparation for GCSE P.E. (horse-riding).
- Hacking out.- Pony club mornings (children).
- META club mornings (adults).
- Over night stays.- Camps.
- Birthday parties.
- Celebrations and events.

WOULD YOU LIKE TO WORK WITH US?

Any horse riders out there! Fancy living in Spain for a bit, free accommodation, maintenance, and Spanish lessons, with a small salary on top? Ask your friends and put them in touch.

If you have experience working with horses and giving riding classes, don’t hesitate to send us your curriculum vitae and a short letter explaining what could you offer to our riding centre at one of the following email addresses:

veronica.cknowles@gmail.com or meta@meta.nom.com

PONY CLUB - CAMP CHIT CHAT - POPPY DAY

2009-11-04T02:51:00.000-08:00

At Pony Club Kim told us about Remembrance Day and we painted Poppies.

Next week Veronica wants us to make some poppies to take home. META has donated some money to the British Legion and we are going to help with our poppies.

We did lots of riding and we made good friends. We were a bit naughty – we jumped on the beds. Veronica got cross but she still made us popcorn and let us watch a film before we went to sleep.

After lunch we mucked out Sheila’s stable, then we learned to tack up by ourselves and we played Volley ball in the arena until it was time to go home.

Mimi, Kiki, , Noa, Natasha, Jasmine, Blossom and Isabel.

PONY CLUB-CAMP CHIT CHAT – ECOLO’S STORY

2009-11-04T02:38:00.000-08:00

This is Ecolo.

He was born on 24th June 1992 at the stud farm of Monsieur Jacques Chevalier in Dinard, France. He was a French champion 3-day Eventer but he was shipped down to Spain as part of a job-lot, his days of winning competitions in France over.

He was only 11 years old, sick and out of condition, when Liz and David bought him. Quiet and easy to ride he seemed quite a gentleman. Liz’s vet put him on antibiotics followed by vitamins and soon he was a different horse – just dying to jump again. Within no time he was flying over 1.30 m hurdles winning big competitions all over S.E. Spain until, that is, travelling got too much for him and it became clear that he was in pain. He was diagnosed as having chronic arthritis and navicular disease.

So that was the end of competition and Ecolo became META Nº1 Schoolmaster.

In the 3 years we’ve been riding at META Ecolo has taught most of us to walk and trot, some of us to canter and jump. We look after him and he loves to jump when we have our shows. He doesn’t work so much these days. He’s now 17, still a winner though.

Georgia, Georgina, Chloe, Kayleigh and Sophie

META HALLOWEEN SHOW, 25th OCTOBER, 2009

2009-11-01T01:32:00.000-07:00

Hi,

My name’s Liz and I’m the mother of the M.E.T.A. Horse concept.
My husband, David, my son, Jonathan, and especially my daughter, Veronica, help to nurture this idea along its road to success.

And what a success we had on Sunday 25th October at the META Halloween Show!

I was down in the arena busy organizing pony rides. The Fancy Dress parade had got off to a late start and things were going slow but when I looked up at the terrace I was amazed! A huge crowd of spectators – must have been 300 or more – jostled to get a good view of the proceedings. We were about to begin the Gymkhana and suddenly the atmosphere was expectant.

Nine children, two of those Angel and Jorge, our special needs pupils were taking part in the Gymkhana. We were also pleased to welcome Fionn Storey, a young rider from a neighbouring equestrian centre run by Harald Bonsack and his wife, Regina. Here I must say a word of thanks to Regina for being as always, an excellent Judge of Proceedings.

All the children did wonderfully well and proudly took home their META Halloween trophies.

In the Novice Show Jumping class our youngsters demonstrated quite clearly that their riding is really coming on.

3rd place was taken by Natasha Turner Cascales on Molly

2nd place went to Blossom Storey, Fionn’s elder sister, on her beautiful pony, Beyoncé

1st place and winner was a very happy Georgia Pearson on Lily

Noa, Lauren , Jasmine and Chloe, separated by only a matter of seconds from the winners, all received Halloween Rosettes.

After yet another round of pony rides our more advanced riders were challenged by Blossom Storey on Beyoncé and by Blossom’s mum, Lisa on her horse Darcy, during a thrilling Chase Me Charly.

The overall results of the Intermediate Show Jumping class were:

3rd place Sophie-May Clarke (a disappointing result for a very talented rider after so much hard work but Midnight is an extremely difficult horse and I would defy any professional to do better)

2nd place Lisa Storey on Darcy

And our brilliant Halloween winner, Leah Twomey riding the veteran – Ecolo IV.
In the meantime tea, coffee and Liz’s Halloween cakes sent down a treat whilst the BBQ Bar kept the beer circulating to wash down hot dogs and sausage and bacon rolls.

The Face Painting corner was literally mobbed. Susie and Becky of Fiesta Faces were kept busy all morning. The kids loved it. They also had a great time painting ceramics.

Last but now least was the Terrorific expedition to the Horror Lab where Rubén (the
corpse) scared the life out of visitors as they plunged their hands into blood and gunge.

A great day was had by all. We were very happy to raise 80 euros in our raffle, money which is to be donated to MABS Mazarrón Cancer Support Group.

And now to start planning our Grand Christmas Spectacular!

META Horseriding Centre
We are open 7 days a week
Telephone: 0034 - 636 172 198
Email: meta@meta.nom.es

2009-10-14T03:47:00.000-07:00

Para poder pasarlo bien con los caballos no necesitamos ninguna condición ni física ni mental en especial puesto que en META nos darán una atención personalizada y adaptada a cada uno de nuestros propios requisitos y sus instalaciones están así mismo acondicionadas para atender a personas con requerimientos especiales. Tampoco la edad es un impedimento para poder pasarlo bien en el ambiente ecuestre, aunque nos aconsejan empezara partir de los 3 años.

Y orientado para los más pequeños de la casa META ofrece acampadas en las cuales los niños conviven entre ellos, con la naturaleza y los caballos, hacen trabajos manuales y sobretodo se divierten. También pensados para ellos tenemos el pony club donde los niños y los ponys son los protagonistas. Además se preparan fiestas de cumpleaños donde el entretenimiento está asegurado, los niños celebrarán su día de una forma saludable y original.

Podemos pasear por el campo a caballo y recibir terapias asistidas. También se dan clases de tai-chi combinadas bien con equitación o con relación con los caballos.

Pero las iniciativas que META nos propone no

acaban ahí. En META podemos hacer clases grupales, clases individuales, de perfección en salto y doma (preparación para concursos) y también clases de iniciación.

META Horseriding Centre
We are open 7 days a week
Telephone: 0034 - 636 172 198
Email: meta@meta.nom.es

Horseriding to Meet all Your Requirements

2009-10-09T07:51:00.000-07:00

Horseriding to
Meet all Your Requirements

META is a family run, English/Spanish horseriding centre on the beautiful Costera
de Alhama, Murcia situated in the mountains and orange groves with the backdrop
of the Sierra Carrascoy

Event: To coincide with the half term holidays we've organised our Halloween
Gymkhana Show for Sunday 25th October 2009. Free entrance - All welcome!

Enjoy a scary morning - Halloween treats, Face painting, Competitions, Tack
Shop, BBQ and Refreshments - Why not come along all are welcome and
remember it's FREE!

Do you want to learn to ride?

Would you like to improve your riding?

Perhaps you have
visitors coming and want give them a brilliant day out in the heart
of the Murcian countryside?

Are you looking
for exciting activities for your children that they will love?

Then, why not ring Liz, discuss your riding needs with
her and arrange a day out to remember!

* * * New Summer

Activities * * *

Pony Club Days will be held
onTuesdays and Thursdays starting on the 30th June and running through the
summer until the schools start back in September

Classes and Hacking Out are on Mondays,
Wednesdays and Fridays

Stay-overs will be organised
for certain weekends according to demand

Language - Learning/Riding Camps (7 days) dates will be set ASAP

Watch this space!

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Kids Specials: Pony Club - Birthday Parties - Sleepovers

Here at META all our horses are very well kept
and loved; riders can expect to enjoy a hack through the fabulous
surrounding countryside or they can take a lesson in a well equipped
school with expert tuition

Gymkana, Showjumping, Dressage

Young, old and
disabled are all welcome here at META

Therapy for the disabled and Horse riding

Equine therapy gives a disabled child a physically enjoyable experience
(learning to ride a horse) that also helps develop muscle tone, balance, and
coordination. It also helps the child develop and improve upon hand-eye
coordination. It achieves the same results as standard physical therapy but in
a more pleasant setting.

Therapy programs often include more than just riding. Learning to groom a
horse can aide disabled children in their comprehension of the importance of
caring for other living beings (both animals and humans). In addition, as the
child begins to better understand how to groom the horse, the therapist can allow him to start directing the grooming process. A step like that does
wonders for a child's self-confidence, not to mention that it's a natural
decision-making and problem-solving activity.

META Horseriding Centre
We are open 7 days a week
Telephone: 0034 - 636 172 198
Email: meta@meta.nom.es