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.