As the year progresses, we are slowly discovering more and more hidden talents amongst our students at the Sondela Academy. One in particular, Lonay van Zyl, a 1st year Student in Conservation & Tourist Guiding, has recently caught our eye. Lonay competed in the Fauresmith 200 Endurance race which was held at Sondela in July. This is a grueling three day race eventually covering 200km during which riders have to successfully pass nine control points.
Lonay says that people who have never had been involved in such an event fail to understand how emotional the entire experience can be for the grooms, riders and supporters alike. She says this sport gets in your blood and it is very easy to become hooked! Apart from changing weather circumstances, rider and horse must be in total sync. The grooms also play an important part as it is very important for the horses to be groomed correctly and ready on time.
At one year’s event the temperature was unusually high for the time of year so the grooms had to cool down the horses regularly and not raise their body temperature as normal.
Due to this year’s excessive rainfall, the route was particularly testing and there was a high number of withdrawals. 407 horses were enrolled but only about 245 horses completed the race.
There are various categories of riders that compete; Seniors: heavy, standard and lightweight, Juniors and Kids. Lonay competed in the Senior, standard weight class along with @ 200 riders in the same class and did exceptionally well to finish in 26th place – an accomplishment indeed!
Lonay would like to take this opportunity to thank Diederick, Mel, Ian, Sieg and Heidi for both their support and for allowing her to put in special leave to be able to live out this passion of hers. She adds that she proudly held Sondela’s name high. She also thanks all her supporters, fellow- Academy students, and all the encouraging SMSs she received.
Last but not least she sends a big thanks to her parents and her lovely pure-white Jiddua Hasan.
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ACADEMY OPEN DAYS:
Please note that upcoming Sondela Academy Open Days can be found on www.sondela.com.
Open Days start at 09:00 and bookings are necessary.
E-mail Eduard : academychef@sondela.com or
make your booking online http://www.sondela.com/academy/open_day_bookings.html
Open Days will be held on the following days:
11 Sep 2010, 18 Sep 2010, 25 Sep 2010
9 Oct 2010, 16 Oct 2010, 23 Oct 2010, 30 Oct 2010
6 Nov 2010, 13 Nov 2010, 20 Nov 2010, 27 Nov 2010
4 Dec 2010
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