FINALLY spring is around the corner! The days are a little bit longer; the sky is (occasionally) a little bit brighter so as we all venture out of the woodwork it is a perfect time to reassess and plan some activities for the rest of the year ahead.

We believe our Young Equestrians Clubs can conquer anything they put their minds to – whether this is a ride-athlon, a bake off or a step challenge! Why not pick a Club challenge or two to take on this year?

We’ve pulled together a list of some of the challenges on offer so pick your favourites and put them in your diaries today!

Sign up to Sport Relief

Sport Relief is back from 17^th – 23rd March and you don’t have to swim the channel or run a marathon to get involved!

Your Club could do an ‘athlon’ in a chosen activity such as skipping, dancing or – the obvious choice – riding! Set a length of time or distance as well as a target amount to strive for and ask for sponsorship to make your target happen!

If an ‘athlon’ isn’t for you, team together and take part in a step challenge across the week using the Sport Relief App. You can pick how far you want to go, such as London to Paris (630,040 steps) or Edinburgh to London (1,056,430 steps).

To get started order a fundraising pack, which has everything you need for your event including sponsorship forms, posters and more fundraising ideas.

Brooke’s MyHackathon

Brooke is challenging horse lovers to ride 100 miles in 100 days and raise £100 to help working horses, donkeys and mules across the globe. Just £100 could pay for three portable water troughs to make sure horses always have access to a cooling drink, wherever they are. You can start the challenge when you want, do it wherever you want but the aim is to try and complete it by 31^st October. You can either take part as individuals and all ride 100 miles or split the distance with a group of people e.g. 10 riders get together and ride 10 miles.

Once you’ve signed up to MyHackathon their specialist fundraising team will be able to help you by sharing lots of practical fundraising advice and providing plenty of materials to help you with the challenge.

Mention Mental Health

It is often difficult to broach the subject of mental health, but from the 14^th – 20^th May, on Mental Health Week, lots of Clubs and schools will be tackling Mental Health head on and we’d love our Young Equestrians Clubs to join in too.

It’s all about coming together to start conversations around mental health, to do this you could host a well being walk, put together a guide on good mental health, or hold a games night to get together. To raise money for the Mental Health Foundation ask anyone who joins in with the event to make a donation.

Volunteers Week

A celebration of volunteering will be taking place 1^st – 7^th June to show off the contribution made by millions of volunteers across the UK. Why not use this week as an opportunity to do some volunteering in the equestrian world? You could either volunteer at the yard you ride at or venture out to an equestrian show to help out.

You could also use this week to get started with your Young Equestrian Leaders Awards,these provide recognition for volunteering that you do within different Member Bodies such as Pony Club or Riding for Disabled Association. There are three levels, bronze silver and gold, the first award requires you to do 20 hours of volunteering in a chosen area across eight weeks.

Bake for Heroes

Earn your stripes by joining the nation’s biggest bake sale to raise money for Help For Heroes. Armed forces week takes place from 23^rd June – 1^st July, be part of the The Force for Good by raising money to empower veterans and their families to reach their potential.

Simply visit their website or call 03003039888 to receive your free fundraising pack full of ideas and tools to help your throw your baking extravaganza.

Coffee and Cake!

Join in with the World’s Biggest Coffee Morning on 29^th September with Macmillan Cancer Support by hosting your own event! Hosting a coffee morning is easy, all you have to do is sign up and Macmillan will send you an email with everything you need to host, including posters and games for you to download.

Ride for Research

Ride for Research provides events for equestrians across the UK whilst also raising awareness and money for Cancer Research UK.

For the past couple of years they have hosted a nationwide sponsored ride across one weekend in September and last year alone raised over £62,000! There is no location set for this event, so everyone and anyone can take part! You decide where you do your ride and how long you go for. Fancy dress is also encouraged, whether you ride in PINK or not…having fun is the aim of the game this weekend!

If you would like to organise a ride for your Young Equestrians Club please contact Ride for Research for more information.

Blue Cross week

From the 1st – 7th October the Blue Cross are asking animal lovers across the country to take on a challenge or host a fundraising event to raise money for sick, injured and homeless pets.

You can register your interest today and your special fundraising pack, including everything you need to have a great week, will be sent out to you in August.

Whatever challenge you decide to take on – We’d love you to let us know about how it goes! Either email us or tag us in your Facebook, Twitter or Instagram pages.