OBHS Pony Club Update

Hi Everyone,

Following on from our Annual Meeting/Presentation Eve, please read below about some of the items that were discussed.

Trophies

If you won a trophy, please do remember that it is your responsibility to get it engraved.

The following people still have trophies to collect. Please contact Emma Churchouse  em85williams@hotmail.com  to arrange to collect your trophy.

Violet (Run & Ride)

Nevaeh (50cm SJ)

Holly (60cm Hunter Trial)

Efficiency Tests

Test certificates and felts for the following people will be given out at Friday Night Club on 13^th Dec. If you aren’t there, they will be posted on.

C Test – Chloe K

D+ – Talia , Maia, Isla, Molly

If anyone else believes they are awaiting a test certificate and felt, please email me kimobhs@hotmail.co.uk with details.

Road Safety

The progressive tests include elements of riding and road safety, so to complete these progressive tests you will need to complete either the mini road rider badge or the main road rider badge.

These badges are also recommended before D test and C test respectively.

There will be on foot training for these badges on the evening of Friday 10^th Jan.

There will be a theory session (probably via Zoom to accommodate as many people as possible).

We will then have a ridden training session, followed immediately by a test.  This is planned for 12^th Jan at Hedsor (tbc).

If you don’t have these road safety tests and are eligible to take them you will receive an email once dates/venues are confirmed and on EntryMaster.

You will be expected to watch some sections of a DVD and to complete some reading before the 1^st session.

C+ Riding Mock

Those of you working towards C+ have the opportunity to take a mock C+ riding test. This is planned to take place at Hedsor on 26^th Jan. The aim is to identify what you need to work on to prepare for the C+ riding. Once we have all the feedback we will plan one or two tests, which we expect to be summer/autumn 2025 depending on how you all progress.

Spurs Test

Those of you wanting to train towards your spurs test can take part in the theory training on the evening of Friday 10^th January.  There will be a ridden training session on 12^th Jan at Hedsor.

You will have the opportunity to take the test on the same day as the C+ riding mock which is planned for 26^th Jan at Hedsor.

B Horse and Pony Care

Those of you who want to start working towards your B test horse and pony care please join this whatsapp group and we will then poll dates on this group. Please note that there will be at least 11 sessions to cover the entire syllabus plus additional revision sessions as required. https://chat.whatsapp.com/HWyhzflqZmq4r1JmGLs5lP

Committee Changes and Vacancies

We sadly say goodbye and thank you to Jess Latimer (secretary) and Abi Shuttleworth (membership secretary and website).

Charlotte Axe will take over as membership secretary.

Bryony Skinner will become the branch Health & Safety Officer.

We are still looking for 2 new committee members to take on the roles of Secretary and Safeguarding officer. Training is available and no ‘horsey’ knowledge is required for either of these roles. If you are interested, please contact Kim kimobhs@hotmail.co.uk

We are delighted that Emma C will take over the trophies. Also that Christal, Charlotte and Kate will organise the first 4 Friday Night Clubs starting in April once the clocks go forward.

Junior Committee

Thank you to those members who volunteered at the meeting to sit on the newly formed junior committee. If anyone else is keen to be involved with this, please contact Kim kimobhs@hotmail.co.uk We will be in touch with you in the New Year to get this up and running.

Informal Parents Meeting

One of the dates we asked you to put in your diary some time ago was Jan 10^th for a Friday Night Club session for members.

On this evening, we will also be holding an informal drop in session for parents which we will run as a Q and A session.

We can answer any questions you may have, but we expect to cover the following:

• Efficiency and Progressive Tests – what they are, what training to expect and how they are tested.
• Road Safety Training and Tests – what they are, who should be taking them, how are we running training.
• Pony Club Camp
• 2025 Teams (all disciplines) – what’s on offer and selection processes.

Arena Eventing

With the loss of Rosehill, we have been discussing an alternative ‘eventing’ competition and we have now booked Merrist Wood (near Guildford) to run an Arena Eventing competition on Sunday 27^th April in the indoor arena there.

Please put this date into your diary as we will need volunteers to help run the event and we hope that some of you will also come along to compete. We are going slightly further afield with this venue, but it offers a good opportunity for us to run something exciting to replace our previous event at Rosehill.