Pony Club

7 replies

roseyposeysmum · 17/08/2012 13:53

My dd is almost 5 and has started having riding lessons at a local school, half an hour every week. She loves it and has been pony mad since I can remember. The school is not the best the classes are large and sometimes there can be up to 10 kids in one class but to get her started I don?t mind as she can plod around and get used to it.
There is another riding school up the road which has a great reputation and also does pony club, the classes are limited to 4 kids and I am going to move her there in the next few weeks.
My main question is Pony club, when I was little and learning to ride it was never an option so I don?t know too much about it, I have bee to a few shows where they have been and have heard whispers about pushy parents etc. The school we will be going to offers to loan the pony?s to the kids to do Pony club and I do think my dd would love this.
Is it worth joining and can anybody tell me a bit more about it ?

Thanks

OP posts:

Mirage · 17/08/2012 14:02

My DD1 did Pony Club at a riding school before we bought a pony and absolutely loved it.She learnt a lot and had a lot of fun.She did her road rider badge and bronze award there too.

Both dds go to Pony Club on their own ponies now and I also had comments from people about how it was full of snobs and you get looked down on,but this has not been my experience at all.99% of the parents are lovely,down to earth and always ready to help or give advice if needed.I've only come across one person who made a silly comment,which I chose to ignore,but you'd get that anywhere.

emlu67 · 17/08/2012 15:50

DD briefly joined the Pony Club at the riding school that she attends however it was so popular that there simply weren't enough ponies to go round for the ridden events so she didn't get to ride at all. She got more out of it with the stable management side however I thought it was quite expensive considering the children are actually helping the riding school!

This is just my experience but I get the impression there is a vast difference between the 'Centres' based at riding schools and the 'Branches' where everyone has their own pony. Hopefully yours is better so definitely worth checking out.

Treblesallround · 17/08/2012 15:57

We've done several years of Pony Club (same branch as Mirage) and GD has loved it, and I'd second what Mirage says about the people. Centre membership (ie riding school based) very much depends on how much effort the riding school put into it so worth going along to watch a few times. I'd probably wait till she's a bit older though as she probably won't get that much from it at the minute. Probably better to spend the money on extra riding as it's time in the saddle and confidence building that's best at her age

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 19/08/2012 08:15

SaggyOldClothCatPuss · 19/08/2012 08:18

A branch centre is a great idea. I used to spend summers helping out at camp and loved it. However, our local pony club, is appalling! I know several people in it, and dd joined and attended one rally. It's all about looking right, being over horsed, having the right equipment and having the 'perfect horse'! We took Dds pOny, a gorgeous traditional Shetland she fitted perfectly and who was an angel. They physically stared at her as she went past! We were told that we should sell her and buy her a proper pony, and she couldn't jump 2'3 and was holding back all the other 8yo on 13.2hh ponies in the group! Fuck that!

Callisto · 20/08/2012 12:31

DD is a member of the PC branch of one of the smarter hunts in the country and it is great. She is still in mini's (just done mini camp - instructor not v good but DD and pony had a great time). There are all sorts and shapes of pony there, the instructors tend to be excellent and the other parents are generally lovely. There is an awful lot of money there, but it tends to be old money iyswim.

redpanda13 · 22/08/2012 21:19

My DD is 6 and is a centre member of the Pony Club. For her it is not about the riding but learning about ponies.DD wants her own pony and is really keen on learning as much as possible about horse care. She listens to them whereas when I have told her the same thing she acts like I am talking horseshit.
In a few years time when she does get her own pony I will see about her joining the local branch. Hopefully it will have changed since I was a girl. Us older teenagers got up to things that would give me a bad turn if DD did the same. The parties were wild!

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