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SAN JUAN COUNTY PONY CLUB |
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San Juan County Pony Club - Summer Camp 2005By Callie Bartlett posted 08/30/05
When it comes to the riding we did at camp, there were three separate phases. Dressage, Show jumping, and Cross-Country. Dressage is all about harmony. It's the stepping stone to everything else, the foundation of all riding. In dressage you learn to communicate with your horse through your aids (seat, hands, legs, etc), once this communication is developed you add building blocks to your foundation, learning harder and more intricate moves as you and your horse develop together. And through these moves you become one with your horse, attaining complete harmony. Show Jumping is jumping your horse over fences in an enclosed area. In order to successfully jump, your position must be solid because that is what keeps you in the saddle when things go wrong (and you generally want to stay in the saddle, as opposed to the ground). The objective is to make it around the course without knocking down rails, having your horse refuse, or going off course all within the optimum time. Sound easy? Guess again. Cross-Country, my personal favorite is jumping natural obstacles like logs, water, ditches, banks, etc out in open fields and in woods. Unlike stadium jumping, cross country jumps don't fall down when you hit them, you and your horse do. That's why you must know what you're doing, and Pony Club teaches you that. It's also the most strenuous phase which is why you need basic knowledge of how far to push your horse and what you're capable of doing so that you don't get in over your head and get injured. In Pony Club we have meetings once a month and lessons two to three times/month. No rider is ever done learning, even Olympic competitors admit they still take lessons, and they're the best of the best. Pony clubbers attend rallies which are like a show, where you compete on teams, not only riding but you also get judged on your horse management and have to take a written test. Then there are ratings. Ratings are progress markers. There are written standards for each test including all 4 of the disciplines I have explained. When you reach a certain level you can have an examiner come and test you at that level. Up until a certain point ratings take place inside your own club (D1-C2) when you reach a certain point (C3 and up) they become regional and are only held twice a year. These ratings are intense and take months of prepping, you have to go off island to take part in preps; at these instructors will help determine if you are ready. Pony Club also helps you outside of just riding horses. It creates traits such as punctuality, responsibility, respect, self-motivation, organization, etc. I know it has helped me so much to develop myself as a person; it truly has been life changing! You get to meet so many influential, strong, kind people that you retain bonds with forever. But anyways, so every summer the San Juan County Pony Club has a camp. It normally spans about 4 days. You get three days of lessons, with two mounted and two horse management lessons a day. Getting that prime attention from instructors is extremely beneficial! All of the campers get to get to know each other and develop skills in the process. Other activities like attending workshops, swimming, crafts, etc are also a part of camp. At the end of camp we have a mock competition, called a "Three Day Event". In this competition riders are divided into teams. For dressage this year we did what's called musical cur rides. In this you ride a pattern set to music. At our camp we did them in groups of fours, called a quadrille, and groups of two, called Pas de Deux. Each group got to select music that they thought matched their horse's rhythm and gaits. Then they made up a pattern (with the help of the instructors) to ride to the music. The goal in riding these tests in groups was symmetry and accuracy. You want the riders to mirror each other. Then each rider completed a stadium jumping course individually. The course included a variety of different types of fences with many turns and twists. Each rider had to memorize the course and navigate through it attempting to "go clean." This is where you stay on course without knocking down any rails or having your horse refuse to go over a fence. Then you got to ride your cross country course. Our course is out in an open field. Riders had to do the same thing as in stadium and make their way around the course, but the course is out in the open where horses tend to get happy and get going a lot faster. For each of the two jumping disciplines there were varying jump heights, with the more advanced riders jumping higher fences. In the highest level of cross-country the riders got to go down to what was referred to as "the strip" and jump in a field along the road going to Roche Harbor. This proved a bit exciting as cars , bicycles, and motorcycles loved to stop and look at the horses, and airplanes were taking off and landing on the Roche Harbor airstip at the same time. At the three day event, each rider was also judged on their horse management. Then all the scores of each rider on a team were combined to create final scores. After all scores were calculated, there was an awards ceremony. Both awards for overall best 1st through 4th and individual personal awards for each camper, as well as big prizes. At the end we were all exhausted - both riders and parent volunteers. I would like to thank all of our wonderful parents! We couldn't do it without you! As well as a big thank you to Brent Snow for allowing us to use Roche Harbor to host our camp. Camp was a great success, and I look forward to seeing everyone there next year! I think everyone went away satisfied and a more accomplished rider. For those of you who ride or are thinking of it and are under the age of 25, I would highly recommend pony club! And camps, while tiring are a great fun way to gain skills, and I for one am heading off to another two camps this month, remember you can never learn to much. Great job everyone! PREVIOUS STORIESKuheim takes first place in quiz rally
posted 03/12/04
Quiz Rally is a test of what you know about horses, but without the riding. The teams were tested in four areas: in an oral classroom situation they were asked individual questions; there was hands-on team work such as putting a bridle together in 60 seconds; they had to identify horse-related items in the Mega-Room; and were asked questions to be answered as a team. On Saturday March 20, at 11:30 am at the Friday Harbor Middle School, San Juan County Pony Club is hosting an "Everything But the Horse" rally. The public is welcome to watch D-level "riders" attend a mock, horse-less rally. A normal rally is something akin to a team horse show, which also includes a written test of your horse knowledge. As well as the ridden portion of the rally, teams are scored on how well the horses are groomed, stabled, and how properly-equipped the team is. San Juan County Pony Club has 16 members ranging in age from 8 to 19 years old. We hold un-mounted meetings once a month to learn more about horse care and have riding lessons about twice a month. This year, members will attend a local summer camp, show jump, dressage and three-day event rallies, as well as numerous un-mounted clinics. Other regional opportunities such as polocrosse, tetrathlon, foxhunting and games are offered to pony clubbers. Last summer four members of the club competed in rallies at the Western National Championships in Sacramento. You can learn more about the United States Pony Club at www.ponyclub.org. We are actively seeking new members (to replace high school graduates). Please come watch a lesson or attend an un-mounted meeting. If you are a pony club alumni we would love to meet and include you in our activities! Please contact Lee McEnery at 378-4852 for more information. San Juan County Pony Club teams
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