After more than a quarter of a century of gazing longingly at the fearless, competent Pony Club kids with their immaculate tack and shiny horses, I am about to become one. (Well, not the kid part, but you know what I mean.)
So what is your best advice for the overgrown soon-to-be-minted adult Pony Clubber, besides “learn to clean your boots and wear a belt”?
My best advice???
Have Fun!!!
:encouragement:
PC was the best thing I ever did. Welcome to the Club!
Don’t try to be cool, just be yourself! Kids see through adults who try too hsrd. Have fun!
Wait…adults can do Pony Club???
Welcome! I joined as an adult as well, never did USPC as a kid. My best advice is to find your people and recognize that while there are many ways of doing things, there’s the PC way and then everything else. They’re really big into “this is the right way to do X task”, which can be a bit of an adjustment as an adult. My Pony Club is primarily made up of adults and it’s lovely. Try to find a club where there’s other horsemasters if you can. Do at least one rally to see if it’s your thing. I did one, and decided I’d rather do horse shows where I don’t have to do turn backs. And can drink after a long day at the show. 
I’ve really enjoyed being a part of USPC. It’s great for learning the why of all the things you’ve been told you’re supposed to do in regards to horse management. You’ll have a blast!
I am also an adult Pony Clubber. As a kid, I was hugely influenced by the Cammie books and would have loved to do Pony Club, but it wasn’t gonna happen - finally got my chance in my late fifties.
As an adult member, I like the idea of being able to progress towards a standard. I like that our club uses multiple instructors so that mounted lessons tend to be “mini-clinic” experiences.
I have not yet done a rally - feel like I should try one for the “complete” PC experience, but in my region, they tend to somewhat expensive when compared to schooling shows.
I think my best advice is to figure out what specifically you want out of your PC experience and then do what you can to help make that happen in your club.
Yup, this 62 year old is a proud Horsemaster this year, grown up branch of pony club. Another who missed out as a kid.
Great advice above.
Try a rally, they are so different than horse shows with all the horse management rules, turnout inspection and such.
In the US adult pony clubbers are no longer called Horsemasters, we are now just senior members. (The way I understand it the term Horsemaster is going to be rolled out to mean something else.)
I will second the important information that @Always WIP said above. Realize that the pony club way is the only when when at a pony club function. Thankfully their way is pretty easy to find with all the materials out there (what you should have in your grooming tote, how to tie your hay bag, how to take your blanket off, etc).
Go and have fun and do not let the fact that there are kids who ride better than you (general) ever will put a damper on your ability to enjoy yourself.
Welcome to the club! My adult pony club experience officially starts January 1st but the club I joined has already welcomed me with open arms for non mounted meetings. The best advise I have is to just have fun, learn and rope another adult into joining with you. I was roped into joining by a junior moving up to the senior level and it helps to have her and new another adult member with me.
I missed out on the experience as a kid and it’s exciting to finally get to see horse management from a structured, not lesson barn side.
Our club has several horsemasters (I still call them that because I have a hard time lumping them into the same category of the 18-19 year olds we have). Are you joining a Capital Region or MD Region club? I’m actually considering joining so I can benefit from the discount lessons while my kid is at college.
I probably won’t go to a rally since I already did PC until age 21 (and the kid will be back to ride in rallies), but you really should. You can always go as a stable manager, which will cost you nothing and you won’t have to get your tack and pony sparkling clean. It would be a good first rally, so you can see how it really works, while being a vital help to your team. Bring a chair, some snacks, and a helpful attitude. Try riding in a rally after that. Or, volunteer at a rally as an assistant horse management judge, which is a good educational experience. If you are interested in doing the Quiz rally as a senior, you are welcome to come to the MD Region rally, which offers that division. The Capital and Delmarva regions don’t (at least so far. Sr. members from those regions have come to the MD rally in the past).
I guess my biggest advice is just to fully embrace being a member. What I’ve seen with our adults is that some of them feel weird about taking a lesson with the kids, or doing other activities. The kids NEVER feel weird about adults riding with them. It’s all in your head and not worth thinking about. We usually don’t have enough adults to give them a separate lesson, so it’s either join kids at the same level, or don’t come. Unfortunately, some choose not to come.
Also remember that the Pony Club model is that you should give back to the club and the younger or lower rated members, so make sure you do that. You can teach subjects for Quiz rally practice, work at a club-hosted rally or fundraiser, help set up a speaker or special event, volunteer at a rally as a horse management helper, etc.
I joined The Serendipity Pony Club in Lexington, KY. There are now 32, formerly Horsemasters, now Senior members in our club. It was begun out of a need for older members to join. All of our members are Seniors, although we do not care if Junior members join. I believe it is really cool. All of our members were invited to take part in the Eventing Rally at Mid- South Pony Club, at the KHP, last June. We did not put together a team, but are hopeful to do so this year. I had been a member of North River Pony Club in Tuscaloosa, AL, from 1967-1972. I was a “B”, so went back in as a “B”, when I joined Serendipity.
To the OP, Get the manuals and do everything “the Pony Club way.” Take the time to learn from the kids, who have been there a long time. As someone else said, “Have fun!” Pony Club shaped me into the horse person that I am today.
Thank you all for taking the time to reply! The threads from back when the Horsemasters program was first introduced were split on the utility of adults invading a youth org. On the one hand, I totally understand that! On the other, gosh darn it all, I always wanted to do this, and if they’ll let me, I’m gonna! Glad to hear I’m not the only one excited to buy rolls of 12" wrap for the vet kit and see how my boot polishing lines up with that of eight-year-olds.
Having fun, forgetting all else but the Pony Club way, doing at least one rally, and getting the manuals are all both great advice and all definitely on the list already!
I see that KBC already answered, but yes! There was a period when you could join as a Horsemaster but not do national ratings, but even that is open to we oversized fossils now.
Same here with regards to the “wasn’t gonna happen”! I wish the Riding Center program had existed back then, but you know what? It exists now, and it’s awesome.
Regarding the tangible progress towards a standard, that’s exactly the draw for me. Is the program the be-all end-all only way to do things? No, but if you make it to a national rating, you have a good solid validated base of skill and the opportunity to test it under pressure. As someone who knows a reasonable amount about some aspects of horse management and almost nothing at all about other areas, that appeals to me a lot. There’s a lot of value to systematic learning.
As for what I want out of the experience, I’m open to all of it! That said, I am very excited about learning and being evaluated on the horse management side, and, since I have also always wanted to event, I plan to work my way up the traditional track as far as I can go.
Capital Region, but that was strictly a function of finding a riding center with adult PC members! (Still looking for a full lease on something that can go cross-country.)
Once I finish reading all my shiny new stack o’ PC Manuals, I would love to do Quiz, so will definitely keep that in mind about the MD region rally. And I’ve been volunteering as a jump judge a fair amount this year and plan to move some of that time into PC volunteering as well.
I guess my biggest advice is just to fully embrace being a member. What I’ve seen with our adults is that some of them feel weird about taking a lesson with the kids, or doing other activities. The kids NEVER feel weird about adults riding with them. It’s all in your head and not worth thinking about. We usually don’t have enough adults to give them a separate lesson, so it’s either join kids at the same level, or don’t come. Unfortunately, some choose not to come.
That’s really good advice, but too bad that people feel such that it’s necessary. I am definitely 100% onboard with both learning from and learning with kids, and I think anyone that joins a former youth organization probably ought to be!
Once again, thank you all for the good wishes and advice! Keep it coming!
Welcome to the world of USPC as an adult!
I’m one of the founding members and jDC of a horse masters only (I know that term has been dropped but I still like it) club and now am the incoming DC for 2020. I did not do PC as a kid as in NJ they were not very welcoming to kids without their own horses. We’ve got a mixed group of disciplines, levels and experiences which IMO makes the club great.
My advice would be to use those unmounted meetings to learn the pony club way. Your DC should also have a library of manuals you can borrow. And most importantly, don’t feel ashamed to ask the older high rated juniors in your area for help- they are great resources if they have grown up in PC and education is part of their requirements. The expectations increase as you certify up the levels-what you need to know and do for D is very different than that for your A (that includes tack cleaning and dress).
Also to make sure you have the best PC experience, keep in mind that the goal of PC mounted meetings Is to supplement your normal training program and expose you to new disciplines. When riders forget that, they get upset when mounted meetings are not in their specific discipline or with their preferred trainer every month.
Not every PC chapter has them though. Depends on your location.
Technically incorrect. When USPC first started allowing adult members, there were separate adult only clubs, and they were not available everywhere. Here is the current position from the USPC web site:
https://www.ponyclub.org/Discover/Horsemasters/Default.aspx
I think it is still possible that an adult trying to join might encounter a club that is “closed” to adult members as clubs do have some latitude to limit their size or membership - but things have evolved such that most clubs in my region have mixed youth and adult membership.
A little sad in some ways in that I think part of the reason for including adults is that in the face of declining youth membership, the national organization does not want to turn away anyone who is willing to pay the national dues. But good and beneficial to the organization in other ways…
If you cannot find a Horsemanship part of Pony Club - you could look for Vintage riders, … or start one and make
a version of it for yourselves. You help each other, put on any activities that suit you.
I’m another senior Pony Clubber at age 60. So glad I joined, have met some amazing people and they are so generous and supportive of everyone and the lessons with local BNT are awesome!
Yes, this is absolutely true, and I’m really happy that it is, even though it made finding the right club to join a bit of a process. Glad they’re not forcing it down any individual clubs’ throats. I’m delighted that I have the opportunity and absolutely do not want to go where I’m not wanted!
SOunds like fun and if I get to retire one of these days I might have to be a pony clubber too!. I remember what about 10 or so (maybe more) there were some adult pony clubs out there are they still around?
I am a National Examiner for USPC and some of the most fun certifications that I’ve gone to have been ones with Horsemasters/Senior members! 😊
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