United States Pony Clubs
The United States Pony Club (USPC) was founded in 1954 and has its headquarters at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The USPC aims to teach children to be well-rounded horse people with complete knowledge of riding on the flat, in the open, jumping and horse care.
- "The United States Pony Clubs, Inc., develops character, leadership, confidence and a sense of community in youth through a program that teaches the care of horses and ponies, riding and mounted sports."[1]
-Pony Club Mission Statement
The word "Pony" in United States Pony Club does not refer to the type of horse allowed in the club, but to the ages of its members, who must be 25 years old or younger, though originally members had to be younger than 21.
Clubs and Centers
The USPC has over 600 clubs/centers and over 10,000 members in the United States.[2] Many programs are offered including eventing, dressage, mounted games, horse management, Quiz (formerly known as Knowdown), polocrosse, show-jumping, tetrathlon polo, and fox hunting. Pony club includes unmounted meetings where children are taught about the health and care of their horses. Unmounted lessons include instruction on feeding, shoeing and veterinary care. More experienced Pony Club members help instruct and assist younger members. In fact, as a pony club member progresses through the certifications, teaching of fellow pony club members becomes a prerequisite for improvement.
Pony Club has added an adult organization, the Horsemasters Program for adult volunteers. Horsemasters clubs serve as both a volunteer group to assist with Pony Club activities as well as their own adult horse riding club.
Core Values
Horsemanship with respect to healthcare, nutrition, stable management, handling and riding a mount safely, correctly with confidence.
Organized teamwork including cooperation, communication, responsibility, leadership, mentoring, teaching and fostering a supportive yet, competitive environment.
Respect for the horse and self through horsemanship, for land through land conservation, and for others through service and teamwork.
Service by providing an opportunity for members, parents, and others to support the Pony Club program locally, regionally and nationally through volunteerism.
Education at an individual pace to achieve personal goals and expand knowledge through teaching others.[3]
Certification
One of the aspects that makes the Pony Club one of the most popular and highly regarded equestrian instructional programs in the world is their rating system. When a child enters the Pony Club, they are unrated. They can then begin to test into the higher ratings beginning with D-1 then D-2, D-3, C-1, C-2, HB, C-3, B, H-A and finally A. D-1 through C-2 are local ratings given at the club level with the H-B, C-3, B, H-A, and A at the National level.
The USPC has specialized certification levels, focusing on eventing (the traditional format), dressage, and show jumping. Beginning at the C-3 level, the candidate may choose a path and follow that discipline through to the A certification level. These would go as follows:[4]
- Eventing (traditional): C-3 approx. training level, B approx. preliminary level, A approx. intermediate level
- Show Jumping: C-3 rides 3'3-3'6" (level II-III jumpers), B rides 3'9" (level III-IV jumpers), A rides 4'3" (level V-VI jumpers)
- Dressage: C-3 approx. first level, B second level, A third level.
According to the United States Pony Club Standards of Proficiency, a D level Pony Clubber learns to ride independently and with control, maintaining a reasonably secure position at the walk, trot, canter and over low jumps. The C-1 and C-2 level Pony Clubber shows development towards a secure, independent seat and increasing control and confidence in all phases of riding.
All riders would still be required to take their H/H-A certification.[5][6]
Competitions
Competitions are held annually for Dressage, Show jumping, Eventing, Mounted Games, Polocrosse, Tetrathalon, and Quiz. The competitions are known as rallies and they are team rather than individual competitions. Rallies that involve the care of horses (Quiz is referred to as a "horse-less rally") also involve a great deal of horse management: teams usually have a dedicated Stable Manager and are frequently inspected by the judges for how well the competitors take care of and present their horses, tack, and stable areas. Horse management scores are factored into the overall placing of the teams.
For the Quiz competition, pony clubbers' knowledge is tested in regard to horses and their care. There are five aspects of a quiz competition: classroom, barn, stations, mega-room, and the written test. In the classroom section quiz questions are asked for each particular members rating level with varying degrees of difficulty. Questions cover such areas as equine nutrition, conformation, competition rules, riding skills, veterinary knowledge, and equine first aid. For the barn section, members are taken into a barn (or mock barn) and asked to test the members' practical, hands-on knowledge (for example, identifying pieces of equipment and demonstrating their uses). The stations phase is limited only by the creativity of the organizer: questions can be written, games, hands-on, oral, etc. All questions in the stations phase are answered as a team and are meant to be of a more difficult nature than in the classroom phase. Mega-room consists of tables with horse-related items displayed on them where each item must be identified (matched on a given list) by the individuals (no team work) under a given time limit. The written test consists of 25 questions and is taken independently. The difficulty of the test varies as specified by the competitor's rating level.
Rallies are held at the regional level and the top competitors in each sport can then choose to participate in the Pony Club National Championships. National Championships are held every year, except for festival years, in various places (for the East coast it is usually held in Lexington, Virginia at the Virginia Horse Center). Every three years, Championships is held at the Kentucky Horse Park along with Festival. This event normally brings over 4,000 Pony Club members and has educational clinics in addition to the competitions.
See also
References
- ↑ http://www.ponyclub.org
- ↑ http://www.ponyclub.org/news/187022/2014-USPC-Festival-Recap.htm
- ↑ http://www.ponyclub.org
- ↑ "E-Newsletter Feb 06". USPC. Archived from the original on 2006-10-08. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
- ↑ "Specialty Ratings: Chart". United States Pony Club. Retrieved 2006-08-28.
- ↑ "Standards of Proficiency". The United States Pony Club. 16 March 2009.