FAQ5 Benefits of Joining Pony Club?
WHAT WILL PONY CLUB PROVIDE TO MY CHILD?
(or Why should I join the Pony Club)
Shore Riders Pony Club provides opportunities for instruction and competition in English riding, horse sports, and horse management for children and young adults up to 25 years of age.
Sports :
Pony Club will educate your child in the horse sports of Dressage, Eventing, Show Jumping, Mounted Games, Tetrathlon, Quiz, Foxhunting, Polo, and Polocrosse. (The USPC has recently added a program for western reining) Your child may choose to participate in some, all, or none of these horse sports; competition is NOT a requirement for membership. Participate or not, your child will learn, through unmounted meetings, the rules and dynamics of these sports and will develop an appreciation for the sportsmanship and dedication needed to play the game well. The member is required to pay a registration fee for participation in a pony club competition, generally between $40 - $80 per rider, depending on the sport.
Horse Care:
At unmounted meetings, Shore Riders Pony Club will educate your child on all aspects of horse management. Here is a small sampling of unmounted meeting subjects:
· Feeding · Shoeing · When to call the vet · Equine diseases – detection and prevention · Trailer safety, loading, and unloading · Tack care and cleaning · Barn safety · Grooming · Formal/Informal attire · Horse in-hand handling · Bandaging and wrapping
Unmounted meetings are often taught by older club members and are tailored to the younger member’s age and skill level. The Shore Riders Pony Club has at least one unmounted meeting a month. We have more in the winter months as we prepare for the knowledge based Quiz Rally. For the winter of 2019-2020 we will have approximately 10 winter study meetings scheduled, covering 40 different different horse management and sport topics. There is generally no cost associated with unmounted meetings.
Riding:
We will provide the opportunity to learn an effective balanced seat position used in several different horse sports. That may sound like a dodge, and it may be, just a bit… Let’s explain. Membership in the Shore Riders Pony Club will NOT replace your child’s regular riding instructors; all of the Shore Riders members take riding lessons in addition to the club’s activities. Shore Riders applies the USPC program as a supplement to any other formal individual training a member is receiving. That said, the Shore Riders Pony Club will have mounted meetings to augment outside instruction. Here are some examples of mounted meeting subjects:
· Show Jumping · Flat work/Dressage · Grids · Cross country schooling · Mounted games · Strategy of pacing; how to moderate your speed · Vaulting clinic · Polocrosse · Mounted prep for upcoming ratings · Trail ride in local park · Riding on the beach
The mounted meetings are taught by a variety of knowledgeable horsemen/women. However, some subjects can only be taught by a professional and/or require the use of a facility for which a fee must be paid. Generally, if the subject is to be taught by an upper level member on a farm owned by the family of a club member, there is either a small or no charge for the mounted lesson. However, if, for example, we go cross county schooling at a public facility (Fair Hill Int., HPNJ, County Haven, Split Elm Equestrian Center, etc.) the schooling fee would need to be paid by each participating member. This would also be true if we need to bring in a professional instructor. You could expect to pay between $0 and $60 for a mounted meeting. But remember, this is a CLUB, and the sponsors of the club set the calendar based on the needs of the members; so we all take part in deciding the subject and location of the mounted meetings. The Shore Riders Pony Club appoints a Mounted Instruction Coordinator each year to make recommendations on subjects, instructors, and locations to help us decide. Participation in the mounted meetings is not a requirement for membership; of course we want you to participate as much as possible, but if cost or transportation is a problem we will understand. However, if you are planning to compete in USPC rallies, or plan to advance in the USPC Rating program, we normally schedule a mounted meeting to prepare the member for these activities. These mounted meetings would be required as a condition to participating in the rally or rating. In other words, you do not have to ride to be a member, but if you plan on competing, you must attend mounted instruction meetings for that subject.
Please Note: The Shore Riders Pony Club does NOT provide horses, nor trailering. Securing a mount for Pony Club activities is the responsibility of the member.
What do you do in Pony Club? Click on the links below for a list of Shore Riders Pony Club Activities in past years;
Click on the year: 2012 // 2013 // 2014 // 2015 // 2016 // 2017 // 2018 // 2019 // 2020 (Covid) // 2021 (Covid)