IT has been another successful and interesting year for all those involved with the Blackburn and District Pony Club.

The year kicked off with with Pendle Triathlon where four Pony Club members competed in the annual event.

At the Holcombe Winter League Dressage, the team of Emma Riley on Buck, Elle Gethin on Tufflez, Emily Latham-Taylor on Casper and Louie Atkinson with Puzzle finished in second place overall.

Emily also competed in the individual event on Zander and went on to qualify for the Area final, which she also did with her second ride.

Emily, on Zander, and Elle on Trufflez competed in the Holcombe Dressage finals finishing third and fifth respectively.

On the same day, it was the Area Finals for the Dengie Winter League and Emily, again riding Zander, qualified for the National Final.

In to the summer and James Heys and his pony Squiggle represented Blackburn in the endurance event at the Pony Club Championships and finished in an impressive sixth place, completing the 34km route in 3hrs 6mins.

The following month, Blackburn booked a place at the National Pony Club Championships dressage finals after the intermediate team of Emily (Casper), Ricki Riley (Copper), Emma (Buck) and Louie (Puzzle) finished in first place in the area event.

The novice team of Matthew Barton (Spirit) Ellie Gethin (Trufflez), Jade Fielding (Vicky) and Lucy Fielding (Bracken) also took part with Ellie finishing in an impressive third place in the individual event.

In the National Finals themselves, Blackburn finished an impressive ninth out of 22 teams with Emma (sixth), Louie (eighth) and Ricki (ninth).

After the dressage, Blackburn also impressed in showjumping after it was selected to represent Area Four of the Pony Club at Bramham International Horse Trials.

The team, made up of Emily Latham Taylor (Zander), Ellie Gethin (Trufflez), Jess Core (Seppi) and Jenny Allman (Darcy) finished eighth out of 17s teams, finishing on an impressive final score of eight faults.

And Matthew Barton, Emily Latham and Jenny Allman all took part in the area eventing with all three winning.

Anyone interested in joining should contact Elaine Barker, district commissioner for the Blackburn and District Pony Club on 07939 614585 or visit the Blackburn and District branch of the Pony Club.