Kapiti Riding Club

History

The Kapiti Riding Club was established in 1981 by a local group of equine enthusiasts who wanted to bring together like minded people.

In the early days, club members got together for treks and club days and as time went on, also ran a variety of events with entry open to the public such as endurance rides, ribbon days, one day events, combined training days and orienteering days.

Over the years, the club membership grew and now has levelled out at around 70 members.

The first ‘club grounds’ that were solely for the use of the riding club was at the Otaihanga tip site. With permission from the local Council, the club had sole use of an area large enough to run monthly rallies and put up some jumps.

This lasted for a few years and then because these grounds were not totally suitable, we approached the Waikanae Pony Club, who are leaseholders of Waikanae Park, and arranged to use this park as our main venue for club activities, and here we remain today.

What We Aim For

The Kapiti Riding Club is traditionally a friendly social club with the emphasis being on fun and participation. We cater for equine enthusiasts from all backgrounds including dressage riders, eventers, breeders and recreational riders. We aim to run a range of events with input from club members as to what they want.

What We Do

On the first Wednesday of each month we hold meetings at a member’s residence. These are ‘open’ meetings to which anyone is welcome to attend.

We try and organise one ‘club rally’ per month which is usually held at Waikanae Park, although we do hold them at alternative venues from time to time. These rallies are run on Sundays from 10am to 12 noon and usually consist of some flat work and maybe a little jumping if anyone is keen. They are very low key, and riders of any level are welcome to attend.

We also organise treks, instructional days (with a club instructor or outside instructor), social events (eg video evenings, instructional evenings etc), hoofball fun days, obstacle rallies etc. We are always open to any ideas that club members have for events to run.

We hold one main fundraising event each year which is our Dressage / Show jumping competition day, usually held in August at Waikanae Park. This event is open to the public to enter.

NZRC

The Kapiti Riding Club is affiliated to NZRC (New Zealand Riding Clubs & Bridleways of New Zealand Incorporated). There are over 40 affiliated clubs throughout New Zealand. Each year the NZRC runs NITE (North Island Teams Event) and SITE (South Island Teams Events). This is an annual event in which members are able to send teams of 4-6 riders who compete in various phases. This is a fun event with the emphasis on participation, usually held over a weekend in January. Our club has been sending teams to this competition for the last five years.