Western

The Waikato Western Riding Club was formed back in 1979.  The Hamilton City Council awarded the Club some ground allowing the founding members to put up an arena so that they could meet to train their horses and generally socialise with friends who shared the same interest in Western Horses and the Western lifestyle in general.

In December 1980 the first WWRC show was held and the show has been held every year since at this time.  The original arena was at Claudelands Showgrounds in the centre of Hamilton.  In the last few years the decision was made to move it out to the Waikato Equestrian Centre where it now resides.

The Club still meets every 2nd Sunday of the month where people who are interested in Western Horses / Western Lifestyle can meet, train their horses and enjoy being together and having fun. 

A typical Club day will run as follows:

Start at 10am with exercises to get both people and horses limber and fit.  Then a designated person will take training in some aspect of Western Riding - eg Trail.  Training lasts for a couple of hours, breaking for a shared lunch.  After lunch there will be either more training or a judged event on the training given in the morning.  The day usually ends around 2pm, but a lot of the time people will stay to work on or to just socialise with friends. 

Visitors are very welcome to come along to these days and try out the concept of Western Riding to see if that is what they would like to do.

In addition  to these Club days, the WWRC also holds a number of shows during the year.  We have shows that cater to every area of ability for riders - eg the rookie / introductory show for people just starting through to our Championship show which is one of the biggest shows in the Western Show calendar. 

The aim of the Club is to cater to all areas of expertise within the bounds of Western Riding.  In addition to these show and Club days, the WWRC holds trail rides for its members a couple of times a year. 

We also hold 'clinics' with professional trainers for our members.  Usually these get held over the winter months so that people wishing to show their horses can learn new ideas and get help training their horses during the 'quiet' months of the year.

If you would be interested in knowing more about us, please don't hesitate to visit our website: www.wwrc.co.nz or click here to read "The Sport of Western Riding".

  
 
Stefi Young