Is Pony Club still " a thing"?

[Desert_Topaz]

Pony Club, like other older organizations focused on kids that aren’t based on a sport (yes, horses are a sport, but it’s not soccer), has a declining membership. So does Girl Scouts, so does 4H. My personal theory is that years ago they were really the only thing available for girls and now there’s a heck of a lot more stuff to do. If you believe in what Pony Club can do, find your local club and help them out. Become a sponsor of the club to show your support. Encourage kids to join. If a local club is floundering and you think you can help fix it, step up. As an adult, you can join and take advantage of most of the things the kids can as well. You need to look for a Horsemasters group, or in the next few months as we go through a transition, just a pony club that allows adults.

Pony Club is awesome, but even the awesome needs help and support to keep going.

[tua37516]

My impression about the organization is that a lot of eventer pros highly value a pony club rider, however from a hunter jumper prospective having attending a local show recently by the local pony club they were not up to snuff according to the level of riding skill I would expect. I also understand that has a lot to do with the quality of instruction.

In theory, I wish I had learned more horsemanship coming up as a h/j rider that is taught by PC, but if you want to be a quality rider I still believe in finding the best instruction possible and becoming a working student if you really desire to learn it all.

[Sunflower]

THANKS all for the replies. It is heartening to hear that PC is still a viable organization. When I was a kid growing up in the middle of cowboy country, I read the PC manual, I remember reading a novel about pony clubbers and their rallies, and I was so envious. I wished that something like that had been around for me then— and now. As an adult rider, with my own horses, I took a lot of lessons (still do), in both dressage and huntseat/jumping. I never bought a totally “made” horse, all of mine came with some quirk or issue that I had to be willing to learn to work through. Now I am bringing along my own OTTB project horse. Speaking just for myself- it is far more thrilling to work with my own horse and see his improvements, than any class or ribbon I ever won. When/if I ever get him to a show the thrill will not be for getting ribbons, but from having brought my own green bean along to that level.

I am going to look around and see what PC opportunities there are for me as an adult, both to ride and learn and to volunteer.

[merrygoround]

[QUOTE=soloudinhere;8134275]
You missed my point about the horsemanship. At the upper levels that might be true but for your average C pony clubber, they come and ride their one lesson a week and don’t have one horse they’re responsible for. Maybe it’s just this group of people, and maybe it’s a problem with the parents, but instead of being grateful for the generosity of others providing horses for ratings, etc they expect a string of lesson horses to be at their disposal to take their kid all the way through B rating and never have to buy, lease, or locate their own.[/QUOTE]

Watching a lady with her exPC daughter who runs a riding school. They donate their horses, facility, and time. And all the members act as if it’s expected.

Recipe for burn-out.

[soloudinhere]

[QUOTE=merrygoround;8134729]
Watching a lady with her exPC daughter who runs a riding school. They donate their horses, facility, and time. And all the members act as if it’s expected.

Recipe for burn-out.[/QUOTE]

I’m providing a horse for a pony clubber right now and it’s really out of control, both the complete lack of touch in terms of what things really cost, to the idea that they can schedule riding like ballet and the horse machine will just be ready to ride on their time.

[MHM]

[QUOTE=vxf111;8134280]
But it takes good DCs/leaders and they are sometimes in short supply.[/QUOTE]
It’s like any group for kids that relies mostly on parents and volunteers. Sometimes you will end up with a bunch of great people who are really wonderful about encouraging and developing all the kids, and sometimes… Not so much.

I enjoyed Pony Club when I was a kid, and looking back on it, the DC did a nice job of helping many kids participate who had different levels of parental support. It probably depends a little bit on the luck of the draw when you join your local Pony Club.

I still remember when our Pony Club ran the food stand at a horse show as a fundraiser. The kids were actually involved in the on site food preparation. To this day, I wonder how many exhibitors came down with food poisoning as a result. :lol:

[Bent_Hickory]

[QUOTE=MHM;8134797]
It’s like any group for kids that relies mostly on parents and volunteers. Sometimes you will end up with a bunch of great people who are really wonderful about encouraging and developing all the kids, and sometimes… Not so much. [/QUOTE]

This is what I’ve seen as well. One of my former neighbors was a DC and is now heavily involved at the national level. Their daughters thrived in pony club 25 years ago.

But now, that pony club is in a major suburban area where most of the parents/volunteers have zero horse background other than what they learn as they go. As a result, they focus on the inane (did you stick a toothpick in every stitch hole when cleaning your bridle?) rather than practical horsemanship because they don’t know any different.

I opted to send my daughters down a different path. They have taken occasional lessons from an ex-pony clubber and now trainer and pony club instructor; but the vast majority of their instruction comes from a H/J trainer who still believes that the kids need to be involved with the care of their horses. This was the right decision for us.

YMMV

[Metropolitan]

Two guesses why Pony Club is less of “a thing” than it used to be:

(1) More working mothers. I think this is a big reason why Girl Scouts and other parent-volunteer-run groups are faltering. If I was planning to stop working when i have kids (and financially able to!) I would totally get involved with hypothetical child’s Pony Club chapter and run it with the energy and enthusiasm I put into my job :D… but I highly doubt that will ever happen.

(2) Suburbanization means fewer parents, and even fewer kids, who grew up around horses. No basic familiarity for parents may make them less likely to support or encourage their kids to join a Pony Club, much less commit to the time or volunteering.

There’s also IEA now. It doesn’t have anywhere near the same horsemanship component, but is a great way to extend riding academy programs for kids whose parents won’t commit the time/money/supervision/etc required to own a horse or even lease/borrow on a regular basis. And the end result may be better if not-remotely-horsey parents from the suburbs steer their kids towards IEA instead of getting in over their heads…

[carasmom]

I was at a local show this weekend and the PC kids usually trailer in for the jumper classes. The PC kids’ rounds are by far the scariest and most out of control. Poor turnout, poor coaching.
A few years ago I sold a very promising jumper to a PC kid. Horse was started out in the hunters and quickly excelled in the jumper ring. We have a XC course so although we are a H/J barn, all of our horses get out of the ring and get to experience some XC. The mare was quirky but was kicked out of PC because the PC DC felt that she was an unsuitable mount. This kid also had one of the best eventing trainers in the area. She quit PC and continued to train and the horse went to her first 1* and then unfortunately had to be put down due to a stall accident.

[soloudinhere]

[QUOTE=carasmom;8135089]
I was at a local show this weekend and the PC kids usually trailer in for the jumper classes. The PC kids’ rounds are by far the scariest and most out of control. Poor turnout, poor coaching.
A few years ago I sold a very promising jumper to a PC kid. Horse was started out in the hunters and quickly excelled in the jumper ring. We have a XC course so although we are a H/J barn, all of our horses get out of the ring and get to experience some XC. The mare was quirky but was kicked out of PC because the PC DC felt that she was an unsuitable mount. This kid also had one of the best eventing trainers in the area. She quit PC and continued to train and the horse went to her first 1* and then unfortunately had to be put down due to a stall accident.[/QUOTE]
There is something about being “pony club affiliated” that lends an air of legitimacy to someone who otherwise wouldn’t be taken seriously. She’s actually a good teacher (which is why I ride there) but I don’t understand the lack of standard keeping and the constant selection of unsuitable horses.

I would happily volunteer my organizational skills to our group but they don’t want the help. She seems to think she’s got it all figured out. So, whatever.

The pony clubs that require a bigger financial commitment and minimum volunteer hours for EVERY parent are the ones that do well. Probably because quality instructors are willing to deal with them.

[tua37516]

@carasmom;8135089

I was at a local show this weekend and the PC kids usually trailer in for the jumper classes. The PC kids’ rounds are by far the scariest and most out of control. Poor turnout, poor coaching.

This is what I was trying to tactfully say lol

[carasmom]

[QUOTE=tua37516;8135115]
This is what I was trying to tactfully say lol[/QUOTE]

I am beyond tactful anymore! I am old!!!

[MHM]

On the other hand, I believe one of the big winners in the pony jumpers at Pony Finals last summer was a Pony Club kid. So I don’t think it’s fair to paint them all with the same brush.

[findeight]

Don’t think carasmom is painting the entire organization with that particular brush. Just illustrating the vast differences in quality of the local chapters that make it so unpredictable as a recommendation…

I refrained from mentioning the one in my area other then distance and out in the boonies location but concur with the observation made-it’s probably that same chapter.

[Eventer13]

I think, like anything, you need to evaluate the individual and go from there. There are some fantastic PCs with excellent instruction, and terrible PCs with scary riders. Many pony clubbers take outside lessons in addition to PC clinics and events. You do not need to do PC to the exclusion of anything else, and honestly I don’t think that would be a good idea unless you were in a club that offered regular, high-quality lessons. Which honestly most clubs can not afford to do.

In general, I think PC promotes good horsemanship and self-reliability. It’s nice that horsemanship is actually a required and tested aspect of the program. And it’s nice that there is a culture of feeling personally responsible for the welfare of the animal, by members of all ages.

Saying that most pony clubbers produce scary, out-of-control rides (based on what some people might see at a local show) is just as incorrect as saying that most hunter/jumper kids don’t know how to tack up, wrap their horse, or pick a stall. You are going to have good and bad everywhere, you just have to do your homework and make sure the program in your area is suitable to you.

[JWB]

PC still exists and as it always had, quality of education varies greatly from club to club, depending on the volunteers involved in each club.

My lesson barn growing up had tons of kids who rode school horses. Of course they were not as strong as the kids who were able to have their own horses, but kids were able to go through their c and b ratings on borrowed horses if they were willing to work. This was in the 80s and 90s.

I have not followed that closely with all of the specialized branches and I am not sure how I feel about them. On one level I think it may be good because I know people who left pony club to focus on dressage, but on the other hand, I think pony club did produce amazingly well rounded riders.

I got a chance to try a bit of everything and see what suited me.

[carasmom]

[QUOTE=MHM;8135169]
On the other hand, I believe one of the big winners in the pony jumpers at Pony Finals last summer was a Pony Club kid. So I don’t think it’s fair to paint them all with the same brush.[/QUOTE]

I totally agree, I have known some kids that were fantastic riders that have been in PC and agree the fault does lie within some of the individual chapters.

[Sunflower]

I asked about Pony Club, as in part, it is the only organization I am aware of that has a comprehensive training program and assessments for its riders on riding ability and horsemanship ( non-riding skills of horse management, care, etc). There might be others, I am just not aware of them.

The US lacks a qualification program for trainers and instructors. And let’s face it, at all levels of riding/showing, there are spectacularly not-up-to-the-job types as well as those that are. For those students/potential students who are not clued in, it might not be obvious as to which is which until it is too late.

Short of getting a national system of qualifications ( which frankly I never see happening in the US), something like Pony Club seems to offer a viable alternative-- a comprehensive and objective program on managing and riding a horse. Elsewhere I read on a thread about a PC kid eventually being able to ride and produce a horse from a green OTTB as a rite of passage. I wonder how many of the junior riders in the ring today have that ability or experience.

[MHM]

Eventer13, well said.

I agree that the inclusion and importance of horse care education sets Pony Club apart from many other programs, in a good way.

[MHM]

Ok, I had to dig a bit, but here’s the Chronicle article about the Pony Club kids who won the team championship in the pony jumpers at Pony Finals last year:

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/pony-club-way-beats-out-competition-us-pony-jumper-team-championshi

And here’s the one on the 10 year old Pony Club rider who won the individual championship. Both articles include some interesting comments from the kids about their experiences with Pony Club:

http://www.chronofhorse.com/article/munson-makes-good-pony-jumper-individual

Funnily enough, their team coach is someone I took lessons from when I was a kid, which was (ahem) some time ago. I saw him for the first time in decades at Pony Finals last year, and it was fun to catch up.