A warm welcome to North Shropshire Hunt Branch of the Pony Club

We use website updates, our DC’s Monthly Email, Whatsapp Group for all parents, and our Closed Facebook Page called “North Shropshire Pony Club Members” as the main way of communicating the latest information to our members. Find out what we get up to by looking at previous editions of our annual Newsletter and have a look at the different disciplines you can have a go at.

We recommend all our members have an up to date copy of The Pony Club Manual of Horsemanship. It is the essential guide to riding and pony care. Generations of people, young and old, have trusted the Manual to gather together the latest knowledge and skills from a wide range of experts, including The Pony Club Training Committee, Coaches, veterinarians, saddlers and loriners.

This iconic publication, having sold over a million copies in English alone, has been completely re-written and is now available in three volumes: Fundamentals, Progress and Mastery.

Book 1: Fundamentals​ Intended for younger riders and households new to owning or looking after a pony.​Aimed up to and including the C Test.

Book 2: Progress Intended for those who can ride and are beginning to advance their skills and training.​Maybe competing on their own/loaned, or shared horse. ​Aimed at the C+ and B Test standards. Not available to purchase yet.

Book 3: MasteryAimed at the B+ to A Test, the young professional. Able to begin to work in the equestrian industry, as a rider/trainer, for pleasure or career progression. Not available to purchase yet.

Tack & Turnout

We like our members to have a high standard of tack and turnout at all our events. See the Dress Code for Rallies page for further information.

Your hat will be checked and tagged at your first rally so it is easy for instructors to see that it is safe (the colour of tag changes as new standards are introduced). Body Protectors need to be of the current standard as do Whips and there is a second tag for those wearing spurs (check the rules below)no tag….no spurs allowed!

You can see the current… Hat rule. Whip Rule. Body Protector and Air Jacket Rule. Spurs Rule. Stirrups Rule.

Please note that for cross country riding at all levels including Eventing, Tetrathlon, Horse Trials, Pony Racing and Mounted Games Competitions a jockey skull cap must be worn with no fixed peak. For further details and the current safety standards see the Pony Club main website.

All North Shropshire Pony Club Sweatshirts, Polo shirts and Blouson Jackets etc. are available from JS Teamwear. 

Ties, and badges can be bought from Wainwright Screenprint and items can be bought and sold on the Facebook page.

Jodhpurs/Breeches should predominately be of a solid, single colour. Dark-coloured contrast seats are permitted. Striped or bold patterned  jodhpurs are not permitted. However, white, cream or beige (with or without dark-coloured contrast seats) are preferred for all Area, Regional and Championships.

Your pony should have…

Clean tack that is in safe condition (it will be checked for safety eg stitching at each rally).

Plain numnah either black, brown, blue or white with piping of the same colour – no embroidery is permitted.

If you need GRASS REINS the rules have been amended to allow the use of grass reins at rallies and competitions jumping up to 50cm and in walk & trot dressage tests. There is a diagram showing the correct use of grass reins here and in the rule books, but the general rule is that they must NOT be attached directly from the bit to the saddle. They must be fitted to allow and not restrict the normal head position of the pony and must be of a sufficient length to allow the pony to stretch over a small fence. They may be leather or a synthetic material, however if they are synthetic, there must be a leather (or other suitable material) as a break point.

Humane girths are not permitted in any sport, whether during training or competition. A humane girth is described as having non-independent straps that will loosen if one of the straps was to break.

There has been an update from HQ on the type of stirrups that are not allowed to be used in Show Jumping which also applies to all Working Rallies or where show jump style fences may be used. For the avoidance of doubt, at Pony Club events:
▶ Stirrups which connect the boot and the stirrup magnetically are not allowed.
▶ Interlocking boot soles and stirrup treads are not allowed.
▶ Cage stirrups are not allowed. ▶ Composite matrix stirrup treads or similar are not allowed

For Mounted Games Only:
Bostock & Free Jump stirrups are not allowed at Pony Club Mounted Games events.
Stirrups which include Metal/ Metal type treads, including but not limited to those with protruding spikes and/or perforated grip features are NOT Permitted.

Booking & Attending Rallies

Please see the Rally Booking and Calendar page to see what events/rallies we have planned.

To book in to attend a rally, please enter online.  Remember that you must book rallies by the closing date. To obtain your ride time please see the website under Times.

Ride groups for rallies are put together taking into account ability, experience and age of both rider and pony/horse.  We try wherever possible to meet special requests e.g. if you share trailer or lorry with someone or can only ride at a certain time. Please add this information when booking on.  Please remember that a responsible adult must accompany and stay with you at the rally.

When at rallies/Pony Club competitions etc. for safety no dogs are allowed and younger siblings must be supervised at all times. Please remember to pick up all droppings.

Rally cancellations will be shown on the Latest News page of the website and we will do our utmost to inform you.

North Shropshire Hunt Branch of Pony Club has Junior, Senior and 18+ Camps  during the Summer.

All ponies and horses must be fully vaccinated for Tetanus and Equine Flu before coming into Camp.

18+ Camp 2026 will be held at Berriewood from Friday 26th to Sunday 28th June.

We are pleased to announce that Senior Camp 2026 will be held at Berriewood from Monday 20th July to Friday 24th July.

Junior Camp 2025 will be held at Berriewood from Saturday 25th to Monday 27th July 2026.

Junior Camp is available to members who are 10 years of age and below whilst Senior Camp is for those members 10 years old and above (10 year olds have the choice to either attend junior or senior camp but can’t attend both!). 18+ Camp is for members aged 18 and above (and those aged 17 who have completed 6th form or equivalent).