FROM 1 JANUARY 2025, NO MEMBER WILL BE PERMITTED TO WEAR SPURS UNLESS THEY HOLD THE C+ TEST OR THE NEW SPURS TEST.
MOUNTED RALLIES AND PRACTICES
Hats: must comply with Pony Club Standards for the current year.
It is mandatory for all Members to wear a protective helmet manufactured to one of the minimum standards listed below. It must bear the CE mark and a quality symbol, either the BSI Kitemark, the SAI Global symbol or the official Snell label with number. The CE symbol on its own is not sufficient to ensure consistent standard of manufacture.
For cross country riding (including Eventing, Tetrathlon, Horse Trials, Tests and training) over fences 0.80m high and above; jockey skull cap, with no fixed peak, must be worn. It is also strongly recommended that a jockey skull cap is worn for cross country riding even over lower fences.
YOUR HAT SHOULD BE TAGGED BY A BRANCH OFFICIAL: PLEASE ASK
The fit of the hat and the adjustment of the harness are as crucial as the quality. Members are advised to try several makes to find the best fit, the hat should not move on the head when the head is tipped forward. It is strongly recommended that second hand hats are not purchased.
Children under 9 years old
Medical advice is that children’s neck muscles do not develop adequately to support a fairly heavy helmet until the age of nine. Therefore, it may be appropriate for children under nine years of age to wear a lightweight hat made to comply with above requirements.
Hats with long ventilation slits are not allowed for Members over nine years old.
CROSS COUNTRY PRACTICE:
Body Protectors: Body Protectors used for cross country, arena eventing and Pony Racing must meet BETA 2018 Level 3 standard (blue and black label). This includes rallies, training and competitions and will be part of the tack check.
We will allow you to wear your cross country colours over this if you want to. As a minimum, shoulders must be covered. Pony Club Tie or stock (with pin removed).
It is surprising how nice a pony can look, even if just in from a muddy field, after a good grooming. We never mind if you cannot manage that if he/she is wet. Tack should always be newly cleaned, including girth and numnah. Remember to remove the stirrup treads from the stirrups and give these a good scrub too. Always check stitching when cleaning tack – run your nail under it to check it is firm. Get it mended at once if it is starting to ‘go’. This will save you many problems with tack inspection and, of course, will keep you riding safely.
All of you will be growing fast and should check that your feet have not become too wide for stirrups and that you are not too big for your saddle, which might mean you are sitting too near the back of it. Check the fit of your saddle – you should be able to get 3 fingers sideways in the gap between the pommel and the pony’s withers when you are sitting in the saddle. It may need re-stuffing if you cannot – get advice from your saddler if in doubt.
TIMING: Please remember you will always need to arrive half an hour early for your rally to allow time for parking, unloading, tacking up and getting yourself ready. You should be ready and mounted 5 minutes before your actual time to allow for tack checking by the rally organiser. This way the rally can start on time – late arrivals spoil it for everyone; including themselves.
If you are riding someone else’s pony, this does not mean you arrive and expect to hop straight on it. Think about offering to clean the tack the day before, arriving in time to catch and groom the pony – it is not just a riding lesson – more is expected of you by us and the owner of the pony when attending rallies etc.
COMPETITIONS: Check with the organiser what you should wear. Pony Club Dressage Rules do not allow you to use brass or coloured brow bands, bit guards, split reins, coloured reins, martingales, boots and bandages. These Rules also say that you must wear a black, brown or dark blue silk if your hat has a cover, light coloured jodhpurs and gloves are compulsory. Horse Trial Rules say an effective body protector MUST be worn for the cross country part of competition. Jackets must be worn for showjumping.
DISMOUNTED RALLIES: There is no need to wear your riding clothes but do turn up looking TIDY. PLEASE BRING ALONG YOUR RIDING HATS. Jeans, wellington boots, Pony Club sweatshirt, jersey and jacket are fine. Girls should tie their hair back unless it is short and leave jewellery at home. Remember, you may be tramping around a muddy yard, so sensible footwear is a must. It can be very cold on winter evenings, so you may need several jerseys and pairs of socks, plus gloves.
Remember to bring your Pony Club Manual, notebook and pen/pencil.