Pony Club Area 10 meeting

Pony Club Area 10 meeting

As a Pony Club Centre Talygarn is part of Area 10 We have 18 Branches and 14 Centres in our Area which covers all of South Wales and much of Mid Wales. Twice a year a meeting is held in Llangorse outside Brecon for all the branches and centres. The meeting is organised by Sandra Fisher the branch Area Rep and was also attended by Cherry Mitchell current Chairman of the Pony Club and previous chairman Mary Anderson unfortunately our Centre Rep wasn’t there. Most of the branches attend but very few of the centres. The most active centres appear to be Cardiff, Underhill and ourselves.  Last Thursday I travelled up with members from Llangeinor Pony Club. One of the topics discussed were the dates and who would hold area competitions for 2011. Some competitions do not apply to us i.e mounted games, eventing, tetrathlon. Most will be run by the same clubs as last year, so the quiz will be held at Underhill on the monday of Feb half term. The Horse Care is to be held at Cardiff on a Monday in the Easter hols (not easter monday I believe it will be the 16th). The Area Dengie Dressage winter league will be held at Alps court on Sunday March 11th, which is excellent for us, Carys Morgan on Buffy has already qualified and we should be able to take 2 more. Dates need to be decided for the Area Dressage and Show Jumping but both are being held around the Monmouth/Curre area. It has been decided to move the Championships from Draycott to Cholmondeley Castle (pronounced Chumley) which is near Nantwhich on the 16th to the 19th August. This will be a big problem for us as the champs are now being held Thursday to Sunday whereas they used to be Saturday to Tuesday. The entries, stabling diesel, food cost a small fortune and as well as these costs we also have to pay staff to cover us being away and take two horses out of lessons. These costs were kept lower as we are closed on a Monday anyway. We are too busy over the weekend to take horses out of lessons and be away saturday and sunday.  Another subject discussed was the differences between Centre and Branch Members. Centre members who buy a horse and transport must then go to branch. Some children would prefer to stay centre members as they have formed friendships at their centre. In order to overcome this Pony Club will allow people to be members of both but the member’s loyalty must be to branch. Therefore the member may take achievement badges at centre but must take progressive tests at branch. When competing at area competitions the member must compete for the branch. I wanted to know if the member may compete in a team for the centre if the branch weren’t submitting a team but apparently they can’t. I do think that is wrong as the member is paying both subscriptions. Several other dates I can now arrange will be the last team jumping date which will be Wed 18th April. The summer Open day will be slightly earlier next year on Sunday 8th July.

Dressage

Dog Show

What a successful day the Fun Dog Show turned out to be. The Pony Centre committee worked hard to organise the event and put out lots of posters. The committee set the indoor school up at lunchtime with a ring for the fun showing classes and a ring for the dog agility. Having organised who was taking entries who would be on the agility ring etc. they were ready to start by 1pm. There was a good turn out with plenty of entries in each class and lots of dogs (and owners) having a go at the agility and if you didn’t have a dog it was worth coming to purchase the home made cakes. A big thank you to Leanne Jones who organised the judge  and to the Judge herself who did a marvellous job.  The Pony Club Committee is made up of the older centre members age ranging between 14 and 18. They organise several events in order to raise funds for the Halloween Party which will be held Saturday Oct 29th 6.30pm. Photos from the Dog Show can be found on the Gallery

Show an Hunter Trials

We have been a bit short on help on the yards the last couple of weeks and Kate Malissa and Zoe M have turned up every day to help out. I had planned to take Jimbob to a couple of competitions so we decided to take some ponies for them too. Last sunday it was the Millbrook/Llantwit Riding Club show. Sarah took Jimbob, Kate has grown out of Hannah and just bought a new horse Bodie so Kate took Hannah for her final outing and we took Jasper. Kate had a 2nd on and a 4th in the jumping on Hannah and Zoe had a bit of a stumble after planks on Jasper, nearly fell off but then had a fence down. Sarah won the 2ft 3 on Jimbob and was 4th in the 2ft6 and Malissa had a 3rd in the Best horse for riding club activities on Jimbob. The girls did the gymkhana classes at the end of the day winning several rosettes. Kate won the one up polo beating the ‘games ponies’ and Zoe fell off in the bending. I took my camera but forgot the card so Photos were taken by Pat Blake (Sarah’s Gran). This Sunday we went to the Hunter Trials at Alps. Sarah and Carys took Rosie and Jimbob in the pairs and Zoe and Malissa took Jasper and Foley all went clear. Bethan and Angharad were also there and did very well on Diesel and Sid. Toni Thomas won the Minimus seniors on Emma. In the Novice class Malissa and Sarah had a few stops, Zoe went clear and came 5th in the junior section and Carys and Jimbob won the senior section. Julie Whiles took the photos because I took my camera and card but forgot the battery. When we go to competitions I always say to the girls – Have you got your hat, Whip, Bridle etc and they are now going to reply with – Have you got your camera, battery and card. Photos on the Gallery

Pony Club Championships 2011

Last week we spent 3 days at the Pony Club Championships in Derbys.  After packing the lorry and loading up Lucky and Buffy we left around 6am and arrived at the showground at around 11am. After putting up the tents we put Buffy in her stable but Lucky had to stay on the lorry until his was available. Carys Sarah and Libby made their way over to the Horse and Pony Care section. The competition is a test in practical ability and knowledge which lasts about 2 hours. 20 teams took part and the girls were placed 6th. After sorting out the horses we had spag bol for tea and Libby had a lesson in washing up assisted by Chloe followed by a few games of cards. The girls slept in the tent and Steve, todd and I had the lorry. The following morning there was plenty of time to prepare Buffy as Carys was riding her in the Dressage to Music at 12 noon. Unfortunately Buffy was a bit wound up and didn’t go quite as well as Carys hoped but still did a nice test and Carys was placed 8th. The girls then plaited Lucky ready for the next day. Robyn’s parents brought Amelia up in the evening. Tuesday was an early start for the Centre Equitation Competition. Robyn was the first to ride Lucky then Chloe then rode the Dressage test on Lucky.  Carys rode Buffy and then Sarah. After the Dressage Chloe was in 2nd place in Section B Carys in 3rd place in Section C and Sarah in 2nd place in Section D. Next came the jumping section Robyn scored the highest score for her section but unfortunately Chloe was eliminated. Buffy who is not the keenest jumping wasn’t too bad for Carys but by the time Sarah came to jump Buffy decided she wasn’t playing anymore and although Sarah got her round it wasn’t good round. The scores from the dressage and jumping were then added together for the overall score. There were 24 teams taking part and Talygarn were placed 5th in the Tack and Turn out and placed 5th in the competition. Carys received a 3rd as an individual in Section C, Sarah was 5th in Section D. Robyn was 2nd in Section A and was also Best Newcomer in Section A. Later we were told that there had been a mistake in the overall placings and the team had come 4th. After packing up the tents and the lorry we arrived home just before midnight. Photos from the Pony Club Champs 2011 can be found on the Gallery