Over the past few weeks we have had a lot of new members – it is lovely to see you joining in and making the most of the opportunities we have on offer.
Our unmounted rallies which are held every other Friday remain very popular and we regularly are oversubscribed for these – when we can, we will engage an additional coach so that we don’t disappoint anyone. These are ideal training for both the PC quiz and the Blue Cross Horse and Pony Care quiz. The area competition for the Horse and Pony Care quiz took place in the Easter Holidays and our mini team (Jess, Harriet and Evelyn) and our junior team (Rosa, Isobel and Liv) qualified for the National Championships in August.
We started holding rallies for members aged 10 and under on Wednesday evenings at Stubley Hollow back in February. Again, these have proved very popular and are generally full. The improvement in the riding and confidence of those members who attend regularly has been incredible. We do operate a waiting list for these sessions and if we have sufficient interest will put on extra sessions.
We are holding monthly general rallies at Buntingfields – these have so far taken place on Sunday mornings. They are open to all members. They are a mix of flatwork training and jumping – covering the content of the PC Efficiency tests.
Mounted Games training and rallies take place weekly at Holmsfield. These are open to all (although there are age and pony height restrictions for the competitions). Our members have started competing this year – both in friendly competitions and at the Area competition. The Junior team (Daisie, Jess, Victoria, Lola and Ruby) won the tack and turnout competition and came 2nd qualifying for the next round of competition and will be at the zones in July. There was an inaugural junior novice (friendly) competition which our team ( Harriet B-C, Harriet V, Zara, Molly and Poppy) won.
We hold monthly Show Jumping rallies, currently these are held on Wednesday evenings, by kind permission of Lisa Morris ( FBHS). We are incredibly fortunate to have Lisa coaching for us. Our Show Jumpers are out competing at PC competitions on a regular basis. We have been invited to send a team to Chatsworth and Finn, Anabelle, Liv and Daisy are competing on Sunday 19th May in the 80cm competition. We also send teams to compete in the PC SJ at Osberton HT in October where classes start from 70cm so there are plenty of opportunities to compete for us at the bigger local events. The area SJ competition is being run by the Brocklesby PC and takes place at Epworth on Sunday 14 July. We will be asking for expressions of interest once the schedule is available.
Dressage rallies are held monthly and are coached by Sonia Baines. This year the area dressage competition is being run by the Blankney PC at Norton Disney on 30th June. It would be fantastic to be able to field teams at this competition.
Tetrathlon/ Triathlon. Shoot and swim training takes place on a regular basis and we have a very active core set of members who compete and train regularly. Triathlons (shoot ( bean bag throwing for the under 8s) , swim & run ) are held regularly throughout the winter months. Tetrathlons tend to run from April to October. There is a Winter triathlon championship. The area Tetrathlon competition takes place on 6/7 July at Aylesford.
The Area Eventing competition takes place over the weekend of 20/21 July with classes from 70cm to 1.10m.This is being hosted by the Belvoir PC at Buckminster . we hold regular XC training sessions, which along with our flatwork, dressage and SJ rallies prepare our members for the Eventing season.
All Day rallies
We hold these during the school holidays. There is always a mix of lessons, which generally include XC riding, Show jumping, flatwork, games and an unmounted session, and sometimes a fancy dress competition.
The next one is on Monday 27th May at Unthank.
EFFICIENCY TESTS
We are holding a day of efficiency tests on Thursday 30th May at Broomfield College at Derby.
The Pony Club Efficiency Tests enable members to learn progressively about horse and pony care as well as riding. These tests are taken at recommended ages and are designed with specific objectives in mind. The available tests include:E Test: Entry-level test. D Test: Covers basic riding and horse care. D+ Test: Expands on D Test knowledge. C Test: Focuses on more advanced riding and horse care. C+ Test: Builds on C Test skills. B Test: Combines riding and horse/pony care (can be taken separately). Lungeing Test: Assesses lungeing skills. B+ Test: Further develops riding and horse/pony care abilities. AH Test: Advanced horse/pony care. A Test: The highest level, covering comprehensive knowledge and skills.
The higher tests allow direct entry into British Horse Society (BHS) or British Showjumping (BS) exams
We are holding the following tests E/D/D+/C If you would like to take any of the tests but are unsure which level you should be taking please ask me or Jennie.
– later in the summer we are holding a C+ test – more details to follow soon.
CAMPS
We still have a few places available on both our Senior and Junior camps.
Senior camp
This is taking place at Somerford – Friday August 2nd to Tuesday 6th August. This is a residential camp for those who will be aged 11 and over on 1 September – so those who will be in secondary school from September.
Junior Camp
A non residential camp for our younger members (under 11s) takes place at Broomfield college Derby from Sunday 11th to Tuesday 13th August. In reality most parents and members stay on site from Saturday night – with the official camp taking place from morning stables to suppertime each day.
If you would like more information about either of our camps = please let me know and I can send more information.
FIRST AID TRAINING
Being able to provide live saving first aid is a valuable life skill. We are fortunate to be able to offer this to our older members (11 and over) – The 3-hour course takes place on Saturday 8 June at Barlow Village Hall – those who complete the course successfully will be awarded a National Level 2 certificate and the PC Human First Aid achievement badge.
All of our rallies and events are bookable through Horse events, The easiest way to book is following the link in our calendar.
The events close when full, in which case we operate a waiting list, or a week prior to the rally to give us time to arrange the appropriate number of coaches.
We use Facebook as the quickest way to communicate with members and parents. We have a private group which is only visible to its members – who are parents or guardians, members and our coaches. You have to be invited to join this by an existing member of the group.
We also have a public Facebook page
– but this does not include details of rallies and other member only events.
There is a lot of information in this update – but I think that this is because we are a very active Pony Club, run by a very hard working volunteer committee who give endless hours to arrange activities for all our members.
For more information or details about any of our actviites, please contact me or the appropriate committee member.
Our Committee and their responsibilities and contact details are :-
District Commissioner
Liz Lovell
07800513373
Email dc.barlow@pcuk.org
All enquiries
Assistant DC
Camilla Bedford
Email : barlow@pcuk
Eventing / Tetrathlon Manager
Secretary
Claire Lambie
Email: barlow@pcuk.org
Health and safety/ safeguarding
Show Jumping Team manager
Treasurer
Eleanor Gregg
Email :treasurer.barlow@pcuk.org
Coach
Jennie Brailsford
Email : juniper7686@yahoo.co.uk
Rallies / test training
Committee members
Katie Lee Calvert
Mounted Games and Under 10s (Joint)
Email : barlow@pcuk.org
Bex Vardy
New member liaison/ general rallies / Under 10s (Joint)
Email: barlow@pcuk.org
Katie Cliff
Dressage manager / Unmounted rallies
Email : katie@penneyhouse.com
I look forward to seeing you all out ad about soon
Liz