Saturday December 9, 2023
For National Pony Club updates and information please go to pcuk.org
Rules 2023

 To minimise the risks to venues, children, parents, support persons, volunteers and instructors we have implemented the following:

  1. Event entries must be made online in advance of the event.
  2. No children/parents to attend if they have any COVID-19 symptom
  3. Please park where instructed 
  4. No dogs are allowed at venues.
  5. The Entrance/Exit Gates onto A1307 to be kept shut at all times
  6. EI Horse/Pony Vaccination certificates must be submitted to Victoria Murrell vjadelawson@yahoo.com in advance and comply with current Pony Club rules.
  7. All riding hats have to be checked and correctly tagged with the PINK PC tag.  If your hat is not tagged they you must take it, dismounted, to your instructor before the designated Rally time.
  8. If a Body protector is worn for any Pony Club activity it must meet BETA 2009 Level 3 standard (purple label) or BETA 2018 Level 3 standard (blue and black label).
  9. Spectators to bring own seating – no sitting on jump fences allowed.
NEW NATIONAL PONY CLUB WHIP RULE FOR SHOW JUMPING, EVENTING & CROSS COUNTRY.
Narrow handled whips for small hands can be purchased from treehouseonline.co.uk– the Treehouse Showjumping Junior Whip (Black)

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.’

N&TPC RULES

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 N&T Pony Club activity without complying with them so PLEASE READ VERY CAREFULLY.

1. ALL BOOKING FOR N&T TRAINING, RALLIES ETC WILL CLOSE TWO WEEKS BEFORE THE EVENT.

This is to ensure that the correct number of instructors are booked and that they have time, in advance, to plan your tuition.

2. VACCINATION POLICY

The Newmarket & Thurlow Pony Club require ALL horses & ponies taking part in ANY Pony Club activity to be fully vaccinated. Victoria Murrell very kindly collects, records and checks vaccination records for horses and ponies belonging to all of 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 or email Victoria – vjadelawson@yahoo.com

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 from the outset).

Victoria will be checking for:-

  • 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.
  • 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 final 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 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. Victoria follows-up with monthly e-mails to those about to expire requesting confirmation that a booster has been given.

THIS IS A HUGE UNDERTAKING FOR VICTORIA WHO DOES THIS VOLUNTARILY SO PLEASE MAKE HER JOB AS EASY AS POSSIBLE AND SEND THE REQUIRED DOCUMENTS ASAP.

NO PONY CLUB MEMBER IS ALLOWED TO PARTICIPATE IN ANY BRANCH ACTIVITY UNTIL THE VACCINATION RECORD HAS BEEN CHECKED AND APPROVED BY VICTORIA.

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 a significant number of our Pony Club members were 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 but the situation that developed last Summer can not be allowed to develop any further.

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

ELIGIBILITY FOR ALL AREA COMPETITIONS AND THE CHAMPIONSHIPS 2022

To be able to represent your Pony Club at ‘Area Competitions’ all Competitors must be members of the N&T Pony Club 

The combination of horse/pony and the PC member need to have been instructed by the relevant ‘Discipline/Sport Trainer’ at least once this year to be considered as part of a team for that Discipline.
 
Both the horse/pony and the PC member need to have attained at least 3 rally points since the previous 1st July, with the minimum of 1 being in current year.
N.B. At least 1 of these points has to be attained by both the horse/pony and the PC member attending either PC Camp or an activity advertised as a ‘Rally’
 
RALLY POINTS EXPLAINED.
 
Camp counts as 1 Rally point.
 
Any number of points can be gained by –
Attending any activity which is advertised as a ‘Rally’ – 1 point each Rally.
Which includes the following
Gymkhana Rallies – 1 point each Rally.
Katie Barrett Technical Training Rally – 1 point for each TT Rally
Attending any Area 8 Training – I Rally Point
 
The other two remaining points that are needed can be attained by a combination of the following –
 
Up to 2 Rally points can be gained by –
Katie Barrett’s ‘GROUP’ XC instruction Rally – 1 point for each XC Rally
 
Up to 2 Rally points can be gained by –
John Adams ‘GROUP’ or individual Show Jumping Rally  – 1 point for each SJ Instruction.
 
Up to 2 Rally points can be gained by  –
Fiona Van Tuyll individual Dressage instruction – 1 point for each Dressage Instruction
 
It is vital that you have all complied with these qualifications otherwise you will not be able to compete and that would be terribly sad for all of us.
 
N.B. Your DC has discretion in the case of those who are working or in further education.
 
5. HAT RULE 

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.

If you have not already done so or have a new hat you can get your hats tagged by Sarah 07855 118471 or Erin 07796 148058.

We are sorry to bombard you with these rather bossy sounding new 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 to us both and we are hugely looking forward to a fun filled and successful 2022.