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Discuss horse riding and ownership on our Horse forum.

DD now in pony club

4 replies

Ribbonblue · 23/06/2026 14:47

We have finally signed up DD to pony club. I’m horsey but never been in it myself, so feeling a bit overwhelmed. We have some rallies booked in and signed up to camp. Share with me your tips please! 😌

OP posts:
maxelly · 23/06/2026 15:28

Great, I bet she'll love it. What sorts of things were you after tips for, practicalities about travelling the pony to rallies and packing for camp etc, or more about how to get on with the other parents and manage any competitiveness or politics with the other parents? The latter I think gets massively overplayed, maybe we're just lucky with our local branch which isn't very competitive in terms of the regional or national competitions so maybe that makes a difference, but can't say I ever experienced much bitchiness or cliques or drama, no more so than any other kids sport or hobby group anyway (primary school PTA was way worse!). Just because of the nature of equestrian sport there will probably be more overt wealth on show from some members, we were very much on the lower end of the scale with our hairy native ponies and beat up old trailer, there were families who ran whole strings of ponies for their kids, brand new lorries etc but (a) We've also recognised how incredibly privileged we are to have ponies at all so I stamped down quite hard on any 'first world problem' complaints and comparisons from my kids and (b) the great thing about sport in general and horses in particular is that it's a great leveller, the kid head to toe in head to toe designer clobber on a £20k bsja pony is just as likely to get dumped in a puddle as the kid with the hand me downs and a heinz 57 faithful friend - you just have to try and teach your kids to handle both triumph and disaster with equanimity and resilience and not make either positive or negative comparisons with others.

Practical tips - organisation, lists, allow lots of time to prepare and get to/from, way more than you think you need, loading pony plus child up is slooww, venues sometimes are hard to find or there can be delays and diversions on country roads and lorries/trailers are slow moving. Pack extras of everything, from tack to equipment and clothing to first aid kit and snacks/drinks for pony and rider. I used to travel to PC rallies with supplies to equip a small private cavalry unit, my car would be bursting at the seams with suncream and extra tack and spare headcollars and jumpers and gallons upon gallons of water but most of it came in handy at some point for other people's kids if not my own, a great way to make friends is to be able to help someone out in a tight spot (martingale snapped/child has a nosebleed/forgotten gloves), no issue, go into Maxelly's treasure trove and you shall be supplied 😂

Also, please, please be nice to the DC (District commissioner not dear child!), instructors and other staff/volunteers (this goes for stewards and judges at shows as well). Even if some of them are being paid the whole system runs on goodwill and voluntary effort and I think some people forget that. Just basic manners and consideration is all that's needed (teach your DC the same), yes not everything goes 100% smoothly 100% of the time, but it's kids having fun with their ponies not life and death so think twice before complaining as to whether it can be resolved a better way. And if possible, volunteer yourself at least some of the time, even in a small way, you'll make friends and ease the system along!

newnewnamename · 23/06/2026 23:59

How exciting, I'm sure she'll love it, how old is she and does she already know anyone there?

Pleasedontdothat · 26/06/2026 09:18

At the end of my daughter’s first pony club camp she said it had been the best week of her life! Two of her closest friends still are from pony club and I’m good friends with some of the other mums. Yes, there are some staggeringly wealthy families (one of the dads was a star hedge fund manager but the girls recognised that that kind of money isn’t the norm) but certainly in our branch the secondhand trailers outnumbered the lorries at rallies. Definitely get involved - volunteers are always needed and it’s a good way to get to know people.

OhMrDarcy · 29/06/2026 13:00

Well done for taking the plunge! The more you do the better it'll be.

I'd say find out the ways the rallies work over the year so you can prepare for when it's busy and also when things quieten down a bit. Different pony clubs vary obviously, but eg ours was quiet after camp until September, as the focus was on regionals and champs for the older ones, then holidays. Each discipline within pony club has it's own cycle of activity over the year and it is helpful to understand this.

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