SATURDAY 3RD DECEMBER 2011

What a lovely but chilly start to December. The members almost decided for themselves what they wanted to do today (with a little bit of guidance from us)

Jenna took all of the riding today and worked on a wide variety of things. With the older members there was jumping exercises, balance, control, 20m circles etc all done in trot while with the younger members, there were also lots of balancing exercises, accuracy, 20m circles, serpentines, etc however they were done in walk. They all rode round on the track as well during the morning session.

They followed the riding with untacking the ponies and putting them back into their stables.

Meanwhile June had all of the members in the yard, for grooming, mucking out, cleaning water buckets & Putting hay round all of the stables ready for lunch time. They had their knowledge of grooming tested, mucking out also for the reasons behind each job. They also made sure that the horses had hay in their stables for lunch.

After all of this was done, they all went into the school on foot for the fun.

Firstly, Hannah gave them a lesson on dressage on foot where they tried different exercises.

Jenna then gave them a jumping lesson on foot. She started with some ground poles set at a certain distance apart and got the members to jump over them with a varying amount of strides between each jump. This is a ground exercise to help teach the members about the horses striding and how sometimes you have to ask the horse to lengthen its stride OR shorted it, (very few jumping courses are set at ideal distances for your own horse).

In the afternoon session, we had 3 small competitions! The first was the best groomed horse or pony! Each member was allocated a pony for the afternoon, and they each had to do all their own grooming. The winners of this were Eryn with Fred & Alice with Barney! They both did very well.

The second was fo the best rider of the day, again there were 2 winners for this category – Emily on Danny & Annabel on Jack. Both rode extremely well and have improved immensely.

The final category was for our helpers, Both Hannah B & Hannah N are Pony Club Members as well as being helpers. They often go unmentioned but the other members got together and decided that the final category should go to the helpers for the amount of time, effort & help that they give to all of the other members.


Well done to all of you members & helpers alike for such good work!

SATURDAY 26TH NOVEMBER 2011

We did a very wide variety of things this week! The members started out with Alice’s Charity Cake Stall – Alice was doing her Fund Raising Badge & decided on a cake sale. There were a wide variety of very delicious cakes & cookies and Alice did a roaring trade all morning, She thought that she had made enough to be able to come back in the afternoon and sell more, but misjudged just how popular they would be – She sold out and has raised somewhere in the region of £35 for the Neuroblastoma Society for Childhood Cancers – Extremely well done Alice!

Riding was with Jenna & June who worked on the usual Accuracy, Control, Figure Work & Balance with lots of exercises to achieve these aims.

Unfortunately during June’s Session there was an episode when the horses spooked due to the sudden appearance of a Pheasant followed by a strange dog, that had the ponies all dancing sideways and 3 Riders parted company from their ponies. This just goes to show how unpredictable ponies can be & why balance is so very important.

On the yard with Jenny, the members were grooming, mucking out, doing hay & waters and one member asked if she could show her how to do a tail plait so that she could try to do it as well (June got the job). They also did some horse handling & leading on the yard using Jack & Ella with Jenny.

Meanwhile, back in the sand school Hannah was teaching the members about dressage. She had the members doing figure-work on foot, collected & extended trots & canters all on foot. There was a lot of energy expelled doing these exercises and they were a lot of fun.

This Weeks Birthdays

Joshua was 9 years old on the 25th November & Megan was 12 years old on the 30th November. May we wish you both a belated Happy Birthday from all of us here at Pine Ridge Pony Club Centre.

SATURDAY 19TH NOVEMBER 2011

The members were, as usual, separated into groups! Jenna concentrated on the riding and covered accuracy & control in walk & trot as well as transitions from halt to walk & walk to halt.

They all rode very well indeed and the reward for the last session was mounted games!

Jenny & June worked in the yard with them doing mucking out, grooming, horse handling & tacking up.

Back to the mounted games! These were played on horseback in walk & involved bending in & out of bending poles, dismounting, running back over the stepping stones & throwing a ball into a bucket before running back to where the next team member was waiting to go on horseback.

This was a lot of fun but very tiring for those of us on the ground as we had to do a lot of running.

The members didn’t want to stop but as there was another session in the afternoon, we had to finally call a halt to the games & take the ponies in for lunch & Untack them.

The afternoon session ran in a similar vein but without the mounted games. We did riding in open order and had a lot of fun with that as it really enables the members to put into practice what they have learned.

SATURDAY 12TH NOVEMBER 2011

Firstly I would like to apologise for the lack of last weeks blog, I have had an extremely busy week on a personal level and was unable to do it!

Now to the business of the day!

Announcing the winner of our Sunflower Growing Competition – Libby, her prize was a book on horsemanship which we have all signed for her and we hope that she finds it informative, Keep up the good work Libby.

Paul & Jack taught the members in the yard this week – They covered Mucking Out, Grooming, Sweeping the Yard, Filling Haynets, Filling Water Buckets & Feeding.

The Aim of these tasks is to instil some knowledge of how to care for a pony should they ever be lucky enough to own their own at some time in their lives.

There are certain jobs that have to be done every single day, regardless of how you feel or what the weather is like!

Mucking Out, Feeding & Watering your Horse is a daily job as should be grooming. Grooming is important to check for injuries or swellings that can lead to unsoundness in the horses.

Bailey was the star of these sessions as she just loves to do all of these really mucky jobs and does them so well.






Riding was with Jenna.

Jenna tried to get the members to act ‘drunk’ on the ponies to get them relaxed in the saddle! This enables them to test their balance in a relaxed way!

She then went on to do lots of different exercises to strengthen their position & balance. There were lots of leg stretching, toe touching & balancing by standing in the stirrups.

Jenna also did some Figure work with them like ‘Figures of Eight’ & ‘Three Loop Serpentines’

Yasmine was the most improved this week – well done Yasmine, keep up the good work.

During all of these exercises, Daisy decided that she was hot & the sand being quite wet looked very inviting to a hot horse, so she thought that she would quite like to roll and cool down! Poor Madison had to jump off quite quickly to avoid getting caught under her – well done Madison for acting so fast - Naughty Daisy!!!!!

Meanwhile – in the office June was in charge of the Crafting session that we had today. The members were making Cards with a horse theme. There was a lot of glue, a whole lot of glitter glue, a heap of noise and then on top of it all a lot, lot more glitter.

Some of the members have decided to keep their wonderful cards hidden from parents as a surprise so please excuse me if I don’t show any of the members finished items!

I will say however that they were all wonderful but the one I liked the mose was Alice’s first card (Some of the members managed to do more than one card)


Well done to you all, see you next week for more Pony Club Fun.

SATURDAY 29TH OCTOBER 2011

Firstly I really have to apologise for the total lack of photographs this week, we have all had a very long week & by Saturday, the last thing on our minds was using the camera. 3 full pony days in front of 2 pony club sessions took its toll on all of us!!

Today Jenny concentrated on all of the Yard duties with the members, from Grooming & Mucking Out to Tacking Up, Feeding & Parts of the Tack.

Paul did Field Maintenance which is an essential part of horse care, as you need a knowledge of suitable fencing, poisonous plants, suitability of the grazing for the horses, the reasons for Poo Picking the paddocks, checking fencing, and the availability of shelter, both natural & man made.

As we had quite a number of members who had not done any work towards Working Dogs, June once again covered that subject. The members were paired up, the blindfolds came out again and they discovered how difficult it is to be blind and to get around on your own. They were then given their ‘Guide Dog’ who led them around the stables in a safe manner. All of the members then had a discussion on other types of jobs that dogs do, and the different breeds that do them. A lot of fun was had with this subject, and at the end of the day we managed to pursuade Jenny to have a go – she found it to be an absolutely terrifying experience and became totally disorientated.

Jenna concentrated on the riding this week and worked on co-ordination, balance, steering, accuracy & figure work. June also took one of the lessons and concentrated on figure work, transitions & accuracy Sienna was her most improved rider of the week.

SATURDAY 22ND OCTOBER 2011

Today June revisited Wild Birds for a bit, with the members all choosing a bird to colour in and assemble. They were given a general outline of a generic bird along with a pair of wings, and instructed to colour in a REAL bird (some wanted to create their own weird & wonderful feathered friend). A few of the members wanted to do more than 1 bird & almost managed to complete both before their parents came to collect them.

Paul took the members for field maintenance, and all enjoyed that. For some reason, the all seem to like Poo Picking the fields & mucking out stables, and when faced with a choice of that or grooming, they will nearly all of them choose the Former over the latter.

Grooming was done with June & by the end of the sessions we had 2 extremely clean ponies which adore being groomed & pampered – Jack & Ella.

Jenna did most of the riding lessons again today and concentrated on Figure Work, Accuracy, Position, Control, Riding with one hand & Balance. All of her riders had a turn around the Riding Track & that helps to reinforce what they have learned. Hannah N was her most improved rider this week very well done Hannah

June took the last 2 lessons of the day and worked on Position Accuracy & Control. We did a series of exercises in the school that lead to a drawing by the ponies hooves in the sand of a spiders web! We started off with several changes of rein at different points to connect the ‘Spars’ of the web then followed it with a spiral in the centre of the school to complete the ‘Web’. We then took the ponies back to the outside track of the school where the ‘Web’ became visible! This exercise needs a lot of accuracy to do as well as a lot of control and the members all did very well. June’s most improved rider this week was Nathaniel, Very well done Nathaniel!

While June was in the school Jenna was in the yard filling Haynets & Water buckets with the members, and this is yet another job that they all enjoy doing.

Jenny went into the school with the members while the birds were being done, and each of the members had a turn at being the instructor. They had to mount unaided from the Mounting Block with Jenny Holding Freddie (the only help they received was from Jenny holding & leading Freddie) The instructor then gave them exercises to do, after a couple of turns round the sand school they then dismounted and it was then the instructors turn, with the next one to ride becoming the instuctor. A lot of fun was had & some of the exercises done involved dancing & riding backwards. Everyone seemed to enjoy this immensely.

The following members have passed badges: GROOMING MINI ACHIEVEMENT BADGE-
Harmony, Lillian, Georgia, Maya
HANDLING & GROOMING ACHIEVEMENT MERIT BADGE – Hannah N
WORKING DOGS MINI ACHIEVEMENT BADGE – Nathaniel
‘E’ RIDING TEST FELT – Nathaniel

Very well done to all of you!