SATURDAY 23RD JULY 2011

Firstly I must apologise for the lack of photos this week, this was due simply to the fact that we were all having so much fun – we forgot to get the camera out!!!!!!!!

However there is one of a member who quite simply didn’t want to go home so decided to become a gatepost ornament!

This morning we started the 1st session off with Pony Club Games on foot! This was achieved by splitting the members into 3 teams containing 4 members. We started with a grooming brush race, which was designed to double-check their knowledge of the different brushes. We followed that up with the bending race where they have to weave in and out of the bending poles; they did this race twice by popular demand. Then they combined the bending with the sack race. A lot of excess energy was expelled and a lot of fun was had by helpers and members alike.

Then we divided up into our team groups for Riding with Jenna, Jenna attempted to do some of the games on horseback with the members with varying degrees of success. This was not the week to see vast improvements as everyone was learning new things on horseback, however they all worked very hard at the games which, when they can play them properly on horseback will show their balance & control off perfectly.

Grooming was with Jenny, who also doubled up with horse handling in the yard. All members were able to groom, lead, muck out & ride. Most of the members can now groom to a reasonable standard and muck out a stable well with one or two who are at a higher standard than the rest.

Mucking out & Field maintenance was with June. We checked, poo picked & tidied all of the empty stables then moved to the paddocks. The members learned about the lifecycle of intestinal worms, and the importance of clearing dung from the fields. They also had a chance to spot some poisonous plants in the form of Ragwort, and to learn about the way the toxins invade the horse and attack the liver with the poison building up over a long period. If the horse & the field are left untreated, it will eventually, cause liver failure & death.
This plant is a notifiable plant. the landowners & Council have a duty of care to remove this weed in particular from areas where horses & livestock (i.e. sheep & cattle) are.

Ragwort


The afternoon session ran in the same format but without the games, as there were not enough members to field at least 2 teams.
All of them members worked very hard with special mention to Harmony who showed good knowledge on points of the pony & points of tack. Very well done to you all.