Our Committee Members
Amanda Hamley – Chairman
Lisa Clarke - Vice Chairman
Devon Allison – Secretary
Clare Luhr - - Membership Secretary; membership@westsomersetbridleways.org.uk
Karen Power - Riding and Road Safety Officer
Julia Holtom - Area Representative for Parracombe
Shelagh Dean - Committee Member
Amanda Lang - Committee Member
Janthea Newman - Committee Member
For enquiries other than those relating to membership, please email - info@westsomersetbridleways.org.uk
MEET THE committee
AMANDA HAMLEY
CHAIRman
Amanda has always enjoyed pleasure riding and when she had the opportunity to move to Exmoor with its fabulous outriding, she upped sticks from Kent and moved with her three horses, two dogs and cat.
She wasted no time exploring the area, putting many miles under her horses’ hooves. She also enjoys competing with her horses in Endurance.
Amanda has organised many pleasure rides and riding camps in Kent and Sussex and now works with current organisers of the Golden Horseshoe to establish routes for the event.
Her aims for WS&EBA are to continue to gain support, promote its good work and work with other organisations to keep access to our bridleways available.
LISA JANE CLARKE
vice chairman
Lisa lives high up on Exmoor between Dulverton and Winsford. Her first love is her three Exmoor ponies, all three were born and bred in Withypool. Lisa moved from Surrey and brought her ponies home to Exmoor from where they had originally come. Lisa is a happy hacker these days and loves exploring the numerous tracks and bridleways local to her.
DEVON ALLISON
SECRETARY
Devon is a very happy novice horse owner, after many years of riding other people's horses (and picking up poles etc for Pony Club daughters with ponies on loan). Her Arabian mare, CF Nouschka, lives at the foot of the Quantocks. The 2022 Golden Horseshoe Pleasure Ride was their first (and so far, only) endurance event, but they have spent many happy hours on the Quantock hills.
Clare Luhr
Membership Secretary
I have owned horses most of my life and worked in the industry during my twenties. I have never been a competitive rider or gone down the route of a particular discipline - I just love horses! I live in North Devon with five equines varying in size and age.
My favourite thing to do is map a ride and then go and explore it. With the huge increase of traffic using the lanes where I live and the lack of bridleways, Exmoor is the nearest and best place to do this. I want to make sure the bridleways continue to be a safe, accessible places for likeminded people to enjoy.
Karen Power
Riding & Road Safety Officer
I feel very strongly about vulnerable road users and am really keen to promote safety of riders on the roads, which is why I organise the annual 'Pass Wide and Slow Awareness Ride' in Bampton and Morebath. I hope to be able to encourage and support other riders to organise similar rides, so that they can raise awareness locally to them. As an organisation we liaise with the British Horse Society and Somerset County Council to request horse specific safety signage is put up in areas of high risk - helping promote safe driving around horses.
I also enjoy hacking and I'm taking part in the #hack1000miles challenge, slowly clocking up the miles with fun rides and outings to the beautiful and stunning Exmoor - the perfect place with it's miles of bridleways and off road riding!
Julia Holtom
Area Representative for Parracombe
I have lived and ridden on Exmoor for most of my life, at a gradually declining pace! I feel very strongly that we need to look after our rights of ways and try to improve the network.We are very fortunate to have such a beautiful area to ride in but do need to be proactive in maintaining and improving our bridleways. Associations such as the West Somerset and Exmoor Bridleways Association play a key role in this.
Shelagh Dean
Committee Member
Shelagh has ridden since she was a small child, and keeps two ponies near her home in Shillingford, where she and her husband have lived for over 40 years. She rides most days using local bridleways, and occasionally competes in TREC competitions. She is committed to keeping open bridleways within the area.