​Welcome to the Gisborne & District Adult Riding Club, Victoria

About us
Gisborne is situated approximately 60km north of Melbourne along the Calder Highway in the Mount Macedon foothills.

Gisborne & District Adult Riding Club is a club of about 60 members and was originally called the Couangalt Riding Club and  was formed in 1991.

Our aim is for horse riders to enjoy themselves and learn something along the way. We encourage members who want to go out and compete, and have had teams in all of the HRCAV Top Team Trophy events, often with riders who have not been out and about much before. All levels, breeds, steeds and genders welcome!

Our rallies are usually on the second Saturday of the month and are held at the IR Robertson Reserve, Couangalt Road, Gisborne South. The grounds are well equipped with sand arenas, cross country course, club rooms, shedding and yards. We share the use of jumping equipment with the Gisborne Pony Club. 

​The cross country course consists of a number of fences for levels 2, 3, 4 and 5. 

In the Winter months of July, August & September our rallies generally move indoors. In recent years we have enjoyed the great facilities at Jack's Run, Bolinda.​
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Rallies at the club grounds offer dressage, showjumping and cross country lessons and indoor winter rallies offer dressage and showjumping. We like to make our rallies social occasions which take the form of one hours lessons with groups of 2-3 riders with top shelf instructors. Lunch is usually available between 12pm and 2pm.​

In addition we run extra clinics often in the lead up to TTT events such as Dressage Test Practise Days & Cross Country Clinics at a variety of different venues. Also a number of social events such our Winter Trivia Night & Christmas Trail Ride with Family BBQ.

Our club uniform colours are very appealing being navy blue, pale blue and white.

TTT Showjumping wrap
by team member Judy
​(see pics of our fabulous team in action in the Gallery section)
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Our club’s “Jump to it” team thoroughly enjoyed the whole experience of participating in the Mustad TTT Showjumping hosted by Hurstbridge and District Adult Riding Club and held at the Greenvale Equestrian Centre on 8 & 9 September.  It was such a well-run and enjoyable event.
I can only speak for myself, but when Karen Cook (our encouraging and efficient TTT co-ordinator) asked for nominations for the event I was pretty hesitant, thinking that I was not really up to it having only attended 2 showjumping comps and having achieved 0 points in level 4.  However, with encouragement I put my hand up. 
 
Our team consisted of:
Team Captain:  Talia Bognar riding Merriman (level 1)
Jaclyn Gow riding Kane of Arch (level 4)
John Hanrahan riding Lord Lenark (level 4) and
Judy Mackenzie riding Nastro Blu (level 4)
 
Talia generously gave of her time, expertise and facilities to host us for 2 practice days.  She also guided us with tips and advice which was invaluable.  Our team goal was to learn and have fun.  Being in the team was a wonderful experience and reminded me of my pony club days when riding in team events was my favourite thing to do. 
 
We ended up with 2 x 4th placings and 1 x 8th placing and our team placing was mid-field.  But much more importantly we all gained knowledge and experience, had some fun and are hoping to line up again in 2019 (maybe Gisborne could field 2 teams). 
 
Big thanks to our club for supporting us and special thanks to our family members who fulfilled our team’s volunteer responsibilities – we really appreciate it.   

TTT 'Jump to it' member, Jaclyn with a big 'that was fun' smile with Kane of Arch.

Special announcement: As many of you will be aware, the clubrooms have been condemned after falling victim to termites. We are seeking voluntary contributions to help construct new clubrooms. Information about how assisting us is available on the membership page
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Professional photographs kindly supplied by Jaydee Images