Health and Safety

Health and Safety is Eglinton’s top priority and everyone’s responsibility, to ensure  our ponies, riders and all the supportive entourage is safe at all times

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Guidance for ALL mounted activities    

• Please be ready at the start times for activities – leave plenty of time to get mounted.
• All members must only walk their ponies until they reach their instructor. All members are the responsibility of their parent, until they reach their instructor, unless over 18.
• If for any reason a parent has to leave a member (under 18) at a pony club activity, they MUST ask another adult (not the instructor!) to be guardian. The Activity Organiser and the instructor MUST be informed who is guardian
• At rallies members aged 4 and under must be led by their parent at all times, those aged 5 must have their instructor’s permission to come off the lead rein.
• Horses / ponies MUST NOT be left tided to trailers / lorries unaccompanied
• Parking areas MUST be left clean and tidy – no skipping out or piles of poo or hay to be left. If you are last to leave, please check on behalf of others

Gentle Reminder for Parents

All of our instructors are trained to a high standard and are carefully selected to provide quality lessons for our members, if you have feedback please ensure that is directed to the discipline coordinator, please be mindful of the impact and delivery of feedback and ensure it maintains, at all times, the values of Pony Club.  If in doubt contact our DC, we encourage complaints/concerns to be raised directly.

Uniform

New clothing and tack is not expected, but what is worn, must be clean, neat and tidy.  Instructors will have a quick check of riders and ponies at the beginning of rallies to ensure that the dress code is met and that tack is safe – please do not be offended if instructors mention any concerns they may have, the health and safety of our members and their ponies is paramount.

RIDER DRESS CODE

• Beige or navy jodhpurs
• Pony Club sweatshirt, base layer or jacket
• White shirt and Pony Club tie or stock, OR white/navy collared top – Long sleeves are compulsory.
• Pony Club badge
• Boots – Only standard riding or jodhpur boots with a fairly smooth, thin sole and a well defined square cut heel may be worn. Plain black or brown half chaps may be worn with jodhpur boots of the same colour. Tassels and fringes are not allowed. No other footwear will be permitted, including wellington boots, “muckers” or trainers. Boots with interlocking treads are not permitted, nor are the boots or treads individually.
• Hairnet should be worn by those with long hair
• Gloves, preferably black
• No jewellery is allowed other than a wristwatch, a wedding ring, a stock pin worn horizontally or a tie clip. Earings must me taped.
• No hoodies or hoods on jackets
• Stick length –  see event organiser as this varies depending on discipline
• Hats should be to current standard, and should be tagged to confirm this – see Event Organiser at start of session. Tagging of hat confirms that it meets current standard – NO check of fit is confirmed or implied.  For current hat standard see Pony Club Hat Rules . No hats with fixed peaks are allowed for Cross Country Training
• Body Protectors – The Pony Club does not make the use of body protectors compulsory, except for all Cross Country riding and Pony Racing training and competing.  Body Protectors used for Cross Country and Pony Racing must meet BETA 2009 Level 3 standard (purple label).  For general use, the responsibility for choosing body protectors and the decision as to their use must rest with Members and their parents. It is recommended that a rider’s body protector should not be more than 2% of their body weight. When worn, body protectors must fit correctly, be comfortable and must not restrict movement. Riders who choose to use the Woof Wear Body Cage EXO must lodge a key with the Event Organiser or instructor at the start of the session.
• Medical Armbands are compulsory members with a medical condition that may impact on their care in case of emergency or for anyone participating in Pony Racing or Endurance ridingTack