Dear N&TPC Members, parents and coaches.
WHIP RULE – see www.pcuk.org for full details of use of the whip
Show Jumping and Cross Country only – a whip, if carried, must be held in the hand by the handle with the handle at the top. The whip must be ‘padded.’ The maximum length of the whip is 70cm and must be no less than 45cm.
- The ‘contact area’ is considered to be two-fifths of the overall length of the whip and must be covered with a ‘pad.’
- There must be no ‘binding’ within 17cm of the end of the ‘pad.’
- The ‘pad’ must be smooth, with no protrusion or raised surface, and be made of shock absorbing material throughout its circumference such that it gives a compression factor of at least 6mm.
- There is to be no wording, advertising or personalisation of any kind on the ‘pad.’
There are a number of important Rules that we, as a Pony Club, have to implement
You will not be able to attend ANY mounted Pony Club activity without complying with them so PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY.
1. HAT RULE
Please note that from the 1st January 2023, the following hat standards will no longer be accepted:
1. PAS O15 1998
2. SNELL 2001
To unify hat standards and to avoid riders having to wear multiple tags on their hats, The Pony Club, British Eventing (BE) and British Riding Clubs (BRC) have introduced ONE ‘pink’ hat tag. The tag carries the logo of the body that checks the hat so that tagging can be tracked. You can get your hats re tagged with the new pink tag by Sarah 07855 118471 or Erin 07796 148058.
2. BODY PROTECTOR RULE
Body protectors for any Pony Club activity must meet BETA 2009 Level 3 standard (purple label) or BETA 2018 Level 3 standard (blue and black label).
3. VACCINATION POLICY
In order to be consistent with the FEI vaccination policy with regards to the intervals between injections & to align The Pony Club with BD, BE and BS. The Pony Club Equine Influenza policy for 2023 has been adjusted to reflect this.
Equine Influenza Vaccination Schedule:
- An initial primary course of two vaccinations must be given: the second vaccination must be administered within 21-92 days of the first vaccination.
- Horses may attend events 7 days after receiving the second vaccination of the primary course. (for clarity: no horse or pony may compete on the same day as a relevant injection is given or on any of the 6 days following such an injection)
- The first booster must be administered within 7 calendar months following the date of the administration of the second vaccination of the primary course.
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Booster vaccinations must be administered at a maximum of 12 months intervals however horses competing at Area level and above, including Grassroots Regional Championships and the Championships of the Spring Festival competitions, must have received a booster within the 6 months +21 days (but not within the 7 days) before arrival at the competition.
The Newmarket & Thurlow Pony Club require ALL horses & ponies taking part in ANY Pony Club activity to be fully vaccinated in accordance with the above Rules. Victoria Murrell has very kindly offered to collect, record and check vaccination records for the horses and ponies belonging to our members.
Please could you scan and email, or photocopy and post a copy of your Horse/Pony Passport to Victoria.
Cottage 3, Banstead Manor Stud, Cheveley, Newmarket, Suffolk, CB8 9RD & email vjadelawson@yahoo.com or WhatsApp Victoria 07901 531984
Victoria requires the front page of the Passport with the official name of the horse/pony and then the full flu vaccination record (NOT just recent annual boosters, as Victoria needs to check the course was commenced and maintained correctly)
N.B. 6 monthly EI Vaccination boosters are required for all horses and ponies aiming to represent the N&TPC in ANY Area Competition in 2023, including Mounted Games, Endurance & THE BARRIER ANIMAL HEALTH SPRING FESTIVAL CHAMPIONSHIP
The vaccine brand and the inclusion, or not, of tetanus is not important. The vaccines should all be signed (and ideally stamped) by the attending veterinary surgeon on each occasion.
THIS IS A HUGE UNDERTAKING FOR VICTORIA SO PLEASE CAN YOU MAKE HER JOB AS EASY AS POSSIBLE AND SEND THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS ASAP.
Please do email either Victoria, Ginny or Tessa with any queries.
3. TEAM SELECTION
If you are selected and accept to be part of any Pony Club Team you must honour this commitment. In the past we saw a significant number of our Pony Club members pulling out of Area Teams at the very last minute, even the day before. This is totally unacceptable as you are not only letting down your friends and Team mates, but also your trainer and your Pony Club. We, as a committee, have decided that this behaviour will not be tolerated in the future. Therefore, unless you present a valid vet or Doctors certificate or have exceptional personal circumstances, withdrawal from a Team Event, once entered, will exclude you from all Newmarket & Thurlow Pony Club Team Events for a year. This is not a decision we have taken lightly as we want to encourage as many of you as possible to be part of a Team. Please could you also make sure that you are available for the relevant PC Championships (Check the N&T web site for dates) if required.
4. RALLY POINTS
Please see the N&T PC website under the heading ‘Area Competitions 2023’ to find out the Rally Point Rules.
We are sorry to bombard you with these rather bossy sounding rules but we hope you all take them in the spirit they are intended and the quicker they are implemented the simpler everything will be.
We would like to thank all of you for being so supportive and we are hugely looking forward to a fun filled and successful 2023.