Pony Club: Make friends, learn life skills

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Pony Club: Make friends, learn life skills

05-10-2013 10:18 PM

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The Pony Club
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Equestrians



Pony Club: Make friends, learn life skills


by: Gina Randall
100th Air Refueling Wing PAO
published: May 11, 2013

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RAF MILDENHALL, England* -- Growing up on a farm with a horse-loving mother, it was inevitable my two sisters and I would take up riding.

One of my first childhood memories was falling off a borrowed pony at a local show and picking myself up, finding the pony after chasing him around the show-ground, and being thrown back in the saddle by a helpful passer-by before I had a chance to think of crying.

Then away I went again. I learned a valuable lesson in life, if you fall, get back up and keep trying until you succeed, even if it hurts!

Looking back at my childhood, my fondest memories are of staying up until midnight and cleaning tack in a freezing barn until my fingers were like prunes because my mother banned tack-cleaning from the house after a carpet was ruined. I would wake up at 4 a.m. to drag my long-suffering pony in from the dark, muddy field to clean him and plait his mane by torch-light. Likewise, I spent hours "encouraging" my reluctant steed into the rickety old trailer, and to make it all worthwhile, would then spend the day with my friends galloping over fences just for the fun of it.

Many people in The Pony Club attend as a non-rider and enjoy learning how to look after a pony and have a chance to meet new friends. The Pony Club is a group of pony enthusiasts from all walks of life, set up and run by like minded people. Members not only learn how to ride their pony, but more importantly, how to care of its welfare. My mother was a member of The Pony Club in Scotland where she grew up-- her offspring followed suit. My sisters and I were lucky enough to have a pony each. But how to acquire such a mount that I trusted with my young life? For me it was washing dishes and working in a chip shop, as you may imagine, I did not smell very good, but it was worth it.

I brought my first pony for £250, with saved-up birthday money and money I had worked hard for. He was unbroken and as stubborn as a mule. My mother broke Rye (named so by the neighbor who sold him to me) into the saddle and off I went, clinging onto him for dear life. Most days I spent hurtling through the air towards the ground as, while in mid-gallop, he would become too hungry to wait another second and stop suddenly to eat the grass. But alas, I had a pony of my own so I could attend The Pony Club as my older sister did on her prize-winning jumper.

Learning humility

My first rally was a blur of excitement. I patiently waited on the muddy field in the rain hoping that my pony would not kick other ponies and embarrass me, waiting for my name to be called and my group decided by the district commissioner (leader). I was sitting on my pony next to my best friend from school, praying I was going to be in the same ride, or group, as her. When my best friend's name was called, I was not in the same group. I was, of course, in the lowest-ability ride.

I quickly made new friends and my pony only bit one of the ponies in my ride that first day and I only fell off twice.

The horsemanship lessons were in the afternoons. This is where we would abandon our ponies at the trailer, and sit on straw bales and learn how to care for them. The skill I was best at was the Prince Philip Cup, or gymkhana, games. I'd like to think it was because of my speed and agility and excellently-trained pony; if I'm honest with myself, it was because my pony was as useless as I was at the jumping. I borrowed many different ponies for this. Ironically, my mother wouldn't let me use my pony as she didn't want to spoil his training.

One borrowed pony only had one eye, which made the bending poles race quite a hazard. At one event during the stepping-stone race, stepping-stones being up-turned buckets, I fell on my face and my pony abandoned me at a gallop. After this, I became the 'fifth member' which meant standing at the bottom of the field, eyes shut with fear, while my teammates would gallop toward me and collect a dandy brush or other item, turn on their heels before narrowly missing running me down, then gallop to the finish line.

Mothers' involvement equals family affair

Mothers were a huge part of The Pony Club. As I looked out over the field, I saw about a hundred pushy mothers, dressed as though expecting the Queen to make a surprise visit, dragging their unwilling, uninterested or unable daughter around on a pony that cost more than a car. They would be shouting orders at their offspring in a hushed voice like, "sit up straight darling" or, "you must try harder, that jump is not so enormous" and then in a pleasant voice commenting to other mothers, "oh, how fabulous my daughter is, is she not" and, "those riding lessons for my daughter with world-famous Mark Todd really have paid off, do you not think darling." Mine was no such mother. She had three of us, so would spend her day rushing from group to group trying to make sure she saw us in equal amounts. And she would be loaded down with water, dandy brushes, hoof-picks, the camera, spare changes of clothes for us in case, as happened to me on the odd occasion, one of us fell off in the ditch-water jump. Not the most pleasant smell in the world!

Well-spent summers

Summer camp was the highlight of the year. Here in the U.K., we don't have camps like the U.S. Those lucky enough attended Pony Club camp for five days. During summer camp week, it was four days of rallies with the last day full of games and prizes, both on foot and on pony.

On foot games included apple bobbing with a twist involving a bucket of flour full of sweets to stick to your wet face, egg and spoon race, three-legged race and the all-important sack race. The utterly fed-up ponies were of course abandoned at the trailers again for these races.

Transportation was as issue with three children as trailers only carry two ponies. Often, my youngest sister and I would have to hack (trek on horseback) to events. This was fun in the summer but in the winter, trudging across a ploughed field to get to the road was not the best preparation for the 'best-in-show turn-out' competition!

I found the journey home much more fun, riding at a fast speed along the grass verge. On one occasion, my sister's pony tripped, my sister hurtled over his neck, my pony jumped my sister and I had to take off at speed after her pony before he got to the main road.

Even with the mud, rain, cold and unreliable mounts, they were the best years of my life. I learned that the taking part is what counts. I also made life-long friends, and kept active as well as developing a skill for life - skills every child can enjoy and benefit from as they grow into adults.

www.pcuk.org


Tags: Equestrians, Horses, RAF Alconbury, RAF Croughton, RAF Fairford, RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Molesworth, The Pony Club, News
Related Content:






Pony Club: Make friends, learn life skills


by: Gina Randall
100th Air Refueling Wing PAO
published:

Share This:


Tweet

Comments
Email
Print


RAF MILDENHALL, England* -- Growing up on a farm with a horse-loving mother, it was inevitable my two sisters and I would take up riding.

One of my first childhood memories was falling off a borrowed pony at a local show and picking myself up, finding the pony after chasing him around the show-ground, and being thrown back in the saddle by a helpful passer-by before I had a chance to think of crying.

Then away I went again. I learned a valuable lesson in life, if you fall, get back up and keep trying until you succeed, even if it hurts!

Looking back at my childhood, my fondest memories are of staying up until midnight and cleaning tack in a freezing barn until my fingers were like prunes because my mother banned tack-cleaning from the house after a carpet was ruined. I would wake up at 4 a.m. to drag my long-suffering pony in from the dark, muddy field to clean him and plait his mane by torch-light. Likewise, I spent hours "encouraging" my reluctant steed into the rickety old trailer, and to make it all worthwhile, would then spend the day with my friends galloping over fences just for the fun of it.

Many people in The Pony Club attend as a non-rider and enjoy learning how to look after a pony and have a chance to meet new friends. The Pony Club is a group of pony enthusiasts from all walks of life, set up and run by like minded people. Members not only learn how to ride their pony, but more importantly, how to care of its welfare. My mother was a member of The Pony Club in Scotland where she grew up-- her offspring followed suit. My sisters and I were lucky enough to have a pony each. But how to acquire such a mount that I trusted with my young life? For me it was washing dishes and working in a chip shop, as you may imagine, I did not smell very good, but it was worth it.

I brought my first pony for £250, with saved-up birthday money and money I had worked hard for. He was unbroken and as stubborn as a mule. My mother broke Rye (named so by the neighbor who sold him to me) into the saddle and off I went, clinging onto him for dear life. Most days I spent hurtling through the air towards the ground as, while in mid-gallop, he would become too hungry to wait another second and stop suddenly to eat the grass. But alas, I had a pony of my own so I could attend The Pony Club as my older sister did on her prize-winning jumper.

Learning humility

My first rally was a blur of excitement. I patiently waited on the muddy field in the rain hoping that my pony would not kick other ponies and embarrass me, waiting for my name to be called and my group decided by the district commissioner (leader). I was sitting on my pony next to my best friend from school, praying I was going to be in the same ride, or group, as her. When my best friend's name was called, I was not in the same group. I was, of course, in the lowest-ability ride.

I quickly made new friends and my pony only bit one of the ponies in my ride that first day and I only fell off twice.

The horsemanship lessons were in the afternoons. This is where we would abandon our ponies at the trailer, and sit on straw bales and learn how to care for them. The skill I was best at was the Prince Philip Cup, or gymkhana, games. I'd like to think it was because of my speed and agility and excellently-trained pony; if I'm honest with myself, it was because my pony was as useless as I was at the jumping. I borrowed many different ponies for this. Ironically, my mother wouldn't let me use my pony as she didn't want to spoil his training.

One borrowed pony only had one eye, which made the bending poles race quite a hazard. At one event during the stepping-stone race, stepping-stones being up-turned buckets, I fell on my face and my pony abandoned me at a gallop. After this, I became the 'fifth member' which meant standing at the bottom of the field, eyes shut with fear, while my teammates would gallop toward me and collect a dandy brush or other item, turn on their heels before narrowly missing running me down, then gallop to the finish line.

Mothers' involvement equals family affair

Mothers were a huge part of The Pony Club. As I looked out over the field, I saw about a hundred pushy mothers, dressed as though expecting the Queen to make a surprise visit, dragging their unwilling, uninterested or unable daughter around on a pony that cost more than a car. They would be shouting orders at their offspring in a hushed voice like, "sit up straight darling" or, "you must try harder, that jump is not so enormous" and then in a pleasant voice commenting to other mothers, "oh, how fabulous my daughter is, is she not" and, "those riding lessons for my daughter with world-famous Mark Todd really have paid off, do you not think darling." Mine was no such mother. She had three of us, so would spend her day rushing from group to group trying to make sure she saw us in equal amounts. And she would be loaded down with water, dandy brushes, hoof-picks, the camera, spare changes of clothes for us in case, as happened to me on the odd occasion, one of us fell off in the ditch-water jump. Not the most pleasant smell in the world!

Well-spent summers

Summer camp was the highlight of the year. Here in the U.K., we don't have camps like the U.S. Those lucky enough attended Pony Club camp for five days. During summer camp week, it was four days of rallies with the last day full of games and prizes, both on foot and on pony.

On foot games included apple bobbing with a twist involving a bucket of flour full of sweets to stick to your wet face, egg and spoon race, three-legged race and the all-important sack race. The utterly fed-up ponies were of course abandoned at the trailers again for these races.

Transportation was as issue with three children as trailers only carry two ponies. Often, my youngest sister and I would have to hack (trek on horseback) to events. This was fun in the summer but in the winter, trudging across a ploughed field to get to the road was not the best preparation for the 'best-in-show turn-out' competition!

I found the journey home much more fun, riding at a fast speed along the grass verge. On one occasion, my sister's pony tripped, my sister hurtled over his neck, my pony jumped my sister and I had to take off at speed after her pony before he got to the main road.

Even with the mud, rain, cold and unreliable mounts, they were the best years of my life. I learned that the taking part is what counts. I also made life-long friends, and kept active as well as developing a skill for life - skills every child can enjoy and benefit from as they grow into adults.

www.pcuk.org


Tags: Equestrians, Horses, RAF Alconbury, RAF Croughton, RAF Fairford, RAF Lakenheath, RAF Mildenhall, RAF Molesworth, The Pony Club, News
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