What is the Pony Club?
The Pony Club is an organization for people younger than 25 who are interested in ponies, horses and riding. A voluntary District Commissioner (DC) and a committee run each branch. The headquarters of the Pony Club is at Stoneleigh in Warwickshire. The DC of the Puckeridge Hunt Pony Club is Alana Pack and the committee’s names and details are listed separately. They are all there to help you. Two Pony Club publications ‘Keeping a pony at Grass’ and ‘The Manual of Horsemanship’ are valuable sources of information.

What is a rally?
A rally is a day of instruction, usually for members of all standards but some rallies are aimed at a particular group of members and this will be made clear to the activity sheet sent out separately. About eight children will be grouped into rides according to ability and ages with an instructor for each group. Some rallies may be un mounted especially in the winter when stable management is taught. Some rallies are held in indoor arenas and your child will be allocated a time. Ring the rally secretary for times the day before or you may be emailed or the information put on the website.

What do I bring to a rally?
It is important to arrive at least fifteen minutes before the rally is due to start to allow time to unload your pony, tack up and get the rider correctly dressed.

1. Bring the pony, its tack, head collar and a good rope and full hay next for his lunch and plenty of water for the pony.
2. You will need two buckets. One for drinking water and one with a sponge to wash the pony down if necessary at lunchtime and at the end of the day.
3. Bring rugs suitable for the weather (a New Zealand if it’s likely to be wet and a warm rug if the horse is clipped. A sweat rug or summer sheet maybe useful but is not essential.
4. The horse or ponies valid flu certificate must be shown to the DC
5. Lunch for you and your child and a small first aid kit is useful. Sun cream and spare clothing are always worth having.

You are expected to stay for the duration of the rally in case your child has an accident or becomes ill. This is also a chance for you to learn by watching and to meet other parents. The instructor will be happy to talk to you afterwards. Should you have to leave your child at a rally please ask another parent or friend to take responsibility for your child and make sure the instructor has your mobile number incase you need to be contacted.

What do I wear at a rally?
Riders must wear a long sleeved white shirt, Pony Club tie, jodhpurs, jodhpurs boots are riding hat, a jacket with the Pony Club badge. Your clothes must be neat and tidy but don’t need to be new. A body protector is required for cross country rallies and is advisable whenever there is likely to be jumping.

The pony needs a good fitting saddle and bridle and boots may be advisable especially when jumping. Stitching on the stirrup leathers, saddle, girth and bridle should be checked regularly and the pony’s shoes (if he has them) should be in good order and not loose.

What happens at a rally?
Please aim to have your child mounted on their pony by the time the rally is due to start. You will see children begin to collect in a certain area so join them and your child will then be allocated to a ride with an instructor. As far as possible the riders will be divided according to age and ability. Your child will not necessarily be able to be in a ride with there friends.

If it is an all day ride they will usually ride for two to two and a half hours in the morning followed by a one to one with the instructor and then hour and a half hour lunch break to allow the pony to rest. In the afternoon there may be a period of stable management before they ride again and there may be a little competition to finish the afternoon session.
If your child or the pony has any problem please tell the instructor as soon as your child joins the ride and should you require any assistance in tacking up or loading please ask for help.
In is not necessary to wear a jacket for a cross country rally, a sweatshirt over or under the body protector is acceptable.

How do I find out what’s going on?
Our calendar of events is posted on the our website along with forms to download and send to the rally secretary. If your are in any doubt over any issues with a particular rally please ring one of the committee members or the PHPC phone number (07999807403).

There is an enormous amount of worked attached to running a successful branch of the Pony Club and the committee is made up of all volunteers. We aim to run a full range of activities but this cannot be done without the help from all the members and their families. Not all jobs involve knowledge of horses; there is often catering to be done and jumps to be moved. Please telephone the DC and offer what help you can especially when there are competitions, which are always labour intensive.

What is Camp?
We offer three different types of camp during the summer and your child can go to whichever one is most suitable to their ability. Mini camp is for children under 10, on or off the lead rein. Main camp is for children over ten years old who camp for the duration of Camp, which is a week. Senior camp is for children who have reached a good level of confidence and skill and can jump up to 3’6”.

Are there any special terms I might need to know?

1. Dressage and flatwork is teaching your pony to go quietly and obediently in walk, trot and canter and this is suitable for all children.
2. SJ – Showing jumping involves jumping over colored poles in a small area. Grid work is part of the training for this, which involving poles or jumps in a straight line with different distances between the jumps.
3. CC or XC is cross country and involves jumping natural type fixed fences traveling a bit faster and over fields, in woods and where jumps are; often out of sight.
4. ODE: One day event or HT – Horse trials are same thing and can only be attempted when your child is reasonably competent. It involves doing a dressage test, a round of show jumping and a cross-country course. It is marked in penalties and the person with the lowest sore winds. It can also be referred to as Eventing.
5. Eventer Trial is show jumping and cross-country.
6. CT –Combined Training is a dressage test and show jumping.
7. Hunter Trials is doing a cross-country course, the winner is either the quickest over all or though a timed section or nowadays nearest to an optimum time.
8. Tetrathalon is a four-part competition-involving running, riding a cross-country course, swimming and shooting. This is particularly popular with boys.
9. PPC – Prince Philip Cup is a gymkhana games, which is great fun. The aim is to try and get a team to the final at the Horse of the Year show
10. Polo Cross is a ball game using sticks to catching and pass the ball while riding.