Pony club people

[Tigersteeth]

Hello horsey lot!
You may remember me from such times as 'being out of my depth with a pony share' and 'what to do with a horse mad 7yp when you don't have a clue'!
Well, sadly our share pony was sold on, and I thought maybe I had bitten off more than I could chew...so my next big idea is Pony Club!
There's a centre near us,so we can use riding school ponies, which sounds ideal. I've signed dd up, and am just waiting for a call to tell us when we can come along.
I've got some questions though, and thought people here might know... They run rallies 9-1most Sundays, will I stay, or is it a drop and run kind of thing? They said it's an hour of lesson and an hour of stable management, so what will they do the rest of the time? Am I right in thinking it's a bit like scouts, run by volunteers? What will I need to pitch in and do? I'm keen, if a little clueless! Abd of course the big one: will they be nice?! Am I going to have to stand around like a lemon?
Please tell me your PC experiences, so I can get mentally ready to join in the unknown!

Dd went to pony club at a riding school so a centre rather than a branch from when she was 9-11. Where she went the pony club sessions were just stable management type stuff but all the girls (and it was exclusively girls) had riding lessons on another day. Dd enjoyed it to start with but was disappointed that they never did any competitions or tests or went on outings (as had initially been promised). Then she started doing a second lesson which was on at the same time as pony club and she didn’t miss it so we let her membership lapse. Where she went it was drop and go and there was no expectation on parents to do anything. From what I can gather it’s a very different experience at branches which are for children with their own pony.

Oh dear, noitsnot, that doesn't sound great! My dd is all excited about the thought of badges... Fingers crossed it will work out ok.

My daughter started off at a 'drop and go' pony club at a riding stables. It was great for her knowledge and confidence around ponies. How much they do really depends on the person running it but if it's pony club affiliated you can look up the badges etc yourself. They have a good website. www.pcuk.org

With us, a rally means a competition and dd does like me to stay and watch. The stable management is not such a big deal.

Depends on the centre, really, but I sometimes coach at centre PCs for their members and there aren't usually parents around unless they want to watch. The kids do ride at these usually, and do stable management and other skills - they get some great opportunities to try new things and learn a lot. If it's a good centre, your DD should have a brilliant time.

Mucking out and tack cleaning will fill the rest of the time. And loving the ponies.

Hope she enjoys it.

My DD went to day camp over half term and had an amazing time! She 'won' some rosettes, earned some badges, and started to learn to jump. Thank you all for your reassurance x

That sounds great tiger. My dd1 started this way, 10 years on and we have three horses