Gems of our history

In these extracts from The History of Porlock Vale Riding School: the home of British equestrianism, author Jacqueline Peck – daughter of the school’s manager – remembers daily life at Tony Collings’ school

- Jacqueline Peck

DISMOUNTING WITHOUT PERMISSION

MAJOR DICK HERN was chief instructor and at the end of one of his jumping courses, the pupils found that the cordon around a fence that had been cordoned off had been removed and the stinging nettles cut down. One particular pupil was riding a pony of 14.2hh.

All the riders were, by now, pretty tough and there was a great air of excitement and electricity running through the group as they planned their way of jumping this fence. There was, at the time, a rule that anyone who “dismounted without permission” would put 1/- (5p) into the charity box. The group joked about how much money there would be in the box at the end of the lesson. The students were told how to tackle the fence and then sent off in turn. There were refusals and runouts but no falls.

When the turn came of the pupil riding the pony, she “set the pony alight”. The little mare was well aware of how nervous the pupil felt and because of this, she hesitated on the take-off side and pancaked on the top of the brush fence, front legs one side of the fence, hindlegs the other. Here she see-sawed, unable to touch the ground on either side. Dick Hern was NOT pleased and shouted at the pupil to “do something”. The pupil who was well aware of the penalty for “dismounting without permission” sat tight. After a few moments though, she asked if she had permission to dismount and therefore not have to put the 1/- in the box.

With a roar of fury, permission was given and the pupil slithered onto the fence and down to the landing side, the pony wriggled off after her and only suffered a little soreness from the brush rubbing her tummy. Pony and rider went on to clear the fence, with a lead from one of the other horses, at the second attempt.