Spring Camp

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Essex Union Hunt Pony Club
🐴Non-Residential Spring Camp 2024🐴

Mon 27th May to Weds 29th May 2024 inclusive

At Downhouse Farm, CM2 7TD, by kind permission of Mrs A Barr

Hopefully you have all had the dates in your diary for a little while now – plans are certainly well underway to ensure we can deliver another wonderful Spring Camp experience for your children in 2024!

Spring (Non-Residential) Camp is all about having fun and your child gaining confidence with their pony – not to mention the incredible friendships they will make!

It also serves as an excellent transition for those considering Summer (residential) Camp later in the year – as a Branch, we want to encourage as many learning opportunities for our members as possible – for those considering Summer Camp, there is certainly no requirement to choose either Spring Camp, or Summer Camp – you can do both! If you are uncertain, please do get in touch and we would be delighted to try and help – our overriding objective is that your children have a wonderful time with their ponies, as often as possible.

COST

We are very mindful of the current financial climate and the rising costs that everyone is facing at the moment – but we have sought to keep the impact on our members to an absolute minimum through careful negotiation and some very generous support. As a result, we are able to confirm that the cost of Spring Camp this year will be £140 per child.

We have received excellent feedback over the years that Spring Camp provides super value for money – the Branch continues to benefit from a number of highly qualified and enthusiastic coaches, ensuring that all riders, ponies, and families benefit from an educational and fun experience at Spring Camp – and of course there will still be a super variety of treats and prizes up for grabs too!

AGES

We invite members aged 4 and over as at 01 January 2024 to join us at Spring Camp. We hope you will understand that we are unable to accommodate any children under the age of 4 since coaching such youngsters can prove difficult and compromise the tuition available to others. It also becomes extremely tiring for all, especially by day 3 when they are completely exhausted!

TIMINGS

Spring Camp is non-residential, with ponies and riders coming in each day.

Each day will begin PROMPTLY at 8.30am with a briefing and finish at approximately 4pm with a break for lunch. A more detailed timetable for each day will be circulated in advance and also posted on the day – in outline, it will include a minimum of two mounted sessions each day, together with unmounted sessions with children working towards their next Pony Club Tests and achievement badges .

LUNCH

We invite everyone to bring their own packed lunches each day, but hope that everyone will eat together either in or around the marquee.

We will also be providing a snack station to ensure that everyone’s energy levels are maintained throughout the day – we suspect the more sugary offerings will be the most popular! Water and squash will also be in plentiful supply.

REQUIREMENTS

Ponies will need to be physically fit and well shod or with feet trimmed.

Tack and turnout is in accordance with that which is required for all pony club rallies. We strongly discourage bling on rider or ponies and kindly remind you that all riders must be in hair nets and have any jewellery including earrings removed for their own safety.

Out of courtesy to our coaches, we politely request that ponies and riders are smart, clean and tidy each day, but there is no need to plait.

As with any pony club event, parents need to be vigilant with their children and siblings at all times, both mounted and unmounted. At least one named adult must be available at all times throughout the period of attendance at Spring Camp. During the periods of unmounted instruction, and during lunch, ponies will also need to be attended and secured to a horse box or trailer which is attached to its pulling vehicle.

For health and safety reasons please can you ensure that your dogs are on a lead at all times and / or restricted to your vehicle.

VACCINATIONS

All ponies & horses attending camp are required to comply with the current Pony Club Vaccination Rule for 2024 which can be found here : Vaccination Rule 2024

For those following an annual programme, boosters must be administered at a maximum of 12 month intervals – please note however, individual venues may impose alternative requirements, whilst those looking to represent the Branch should also check the specific rules applicable to the relevant discipline.

It may therefore be that whilst an annual booster vaccination is sufficient to enable you to attend Spring Camp, there may be additional requirements for other Pony Club activities during the year.

If you have any queries relating to your pony’s vaccination history, please do get in touch and we will do our best to help.

LOGISTICS

Spring Camp is a non-residential adventure – there will be no stables available to accommodate ponies overnight, and please ensure that you bring enough shade, food and water for your ponies. In recent years, we have experienced the full range of weather from scorching arid temperatures to monsoon rains – so please come prepared for all eventualities.

HOW TO BOOK

So…..now you know the plans, how do you sign up? Please head over to the ‘Calendar’ tab of the Branch website and find the entry for camp, this will take you to Horse-Events, where members are welcome to pay in instalments.

To help us with the planning and to ensure the children get the most from camp, please enter before 6th May – it may not be possible to accept requests for places received after this date, although we will be happy to keep a list of late applications and set up a waiting list on a first come, first served basis.

So that rides can be grouped appropriately, attendees are required to attend a minimum of three rallies, prior to Spring Camp – a full Spring programme has been announced, many of which are already available to book, so please do head over to the calendar tab, with your diaries to hand, get booked on and have fun making friendships that could last a lifetime!

PLEASE REMEMBER your vaccinations must be up to date for each and every rally that you attend and you must also be a current member.

HELP!

Finally, Spring Camp is supported by a fantastic committee, but we really do need EVERYONE to help in setting up and clearing away. There will be a working party at Downhouse on Sunday 26th May and we would REALLY appreciate your help, even if just for an hour or so. In simple terms, YOUR help, benefits YOUR children – it really does!

We really hope that you will be able to join us and be part of another wonderful EUPC experience in 2024 – if you do have any queries, or if you would like to volunteer and support in any way at all, please do get in touch!

We hope to see you soon!

Sophie, Susan, Becka & SamEUHPC Spring Camp Organisers

We can’t tell you it will be easy, but we can tell you it will be worth it!