The Pony Express

At long last, welcome to the first newsletter of 2002. I hope you will find it interesting and informative. I know I had fun putting it together for you. If you have any comments (good or bad!) please let me know.

Unfortunately, due to unforeseen circumstances within our own club, I find I am unable to continue as your Communications Chair. I do hope that there is a parent out there that will come forward to fulfil this role. This newsletter is a great way to share information, and stay connected as a region.

There really isn't a lot of writing involved, it's more a case of gathering information and formatting. If you are handy on the computer, and would like to give the newsletter a try, please contact either Gerry Stephenson or myself for more information. This is one job where horse experience is not required!

Linda Agnew

From the Regional Chair

WOR Pony Clubbers,

As Chair of the Western Ontario Region (WOR) of the Canadian Pony Club, I would like to welcome all members and their parents to the 2002 season. It looks as if all clubs have begun their Education meetings and are gearing up for Regional Quiz. Traditionally, this has been our most popular event, participation-wise; let's see another great turn-out this year!

Safety is one of the most important first lessons in learning to ride, and your education meetings are where they start in Pony Club. Be sure to check out the Canadian Pony Club website www.canadianponyclub.org for lots of information. The Regional Calendar is always posted there, as well as executive names and contact information.

Help - Parents!! Volunteers are needed for the following positions at the Regional Level. Dressage Chair Quiz Co-Chair Communications Chair Senior Testing Most of these positions could also be done effectively by a small group of people. If you are interested in either of these areas or would like more information, please contact Gerry Stephenson at (519) 837-9485.

In that vein, all parents need to know that the WOR executive are all volunteers; they have family members involved in Pony Club, have full-time jobs, and many other interests. The executive work hard to make your Pony Club experience safe, educational and fun. We are presently looking for more volunteers on the executive: someone with a strong Dressage interest, and perhaps some expertise ( that part is optional, as long as you are willing to learn) to serve as Dressage Chair for 2002, someone interested and capable of producing this newsletter to serve as Communications Chair for 2002, and a Co-Chair for Quiz for 2002.

Fund-raising is a necessary evil, especially in 2002. We will be continuing our WOR Travel fund raffle for this year. All funds raised go into the WOR Travel Fund, which is used to help off-set travel by WOR Pony Clubbers that represent WOR in a Provincial (i.e. Central Zone), National or International Event. Please support the region by getting your tickets sold quickly. The draw will be held, as usual, at D Rally. Remember, clubs can sell over and above their allotment ( one book/family), and the profits go to the Branch.

In 2002, get behind your Branch and your Region, get active, learn to ride safely - remember the Canadian Pony Club Motto - *Loyalty*Character*Sportsmanship.

Gerry Stephenson
WOR Chair

Are you competing in Tetrathlon events this year? Mark these events on your calendar!

Albion PC Mini-Meet Orangeville, Ontario Sunday April 28, 2002 Registration: 8:30 - 9:00 am Tony Rose Memorial Sport Centre, Orangeville Cost: Prior to April 21 $15.00          On the day $20.00 For more information contact: Del Zelmer at (905) 829-4969 (Bus.) (905)-842-2458 (Res.) email: delzelm@aol.com

Niagara/Mt. Nemo PC Mini-Meet Burlington, Ontario Saturday, June 1, 2002 Registration: 9:00am Burlington Rifle and Revolver Club Cost: Prior to May 25 $15.00          On the day $20.00 For more information contact: Lani Harris at: (905)-957-0853 email: ponyclubmom@home.com or Linda Agnew at (905)-335-8859 email: agnew@sympatico.ca

Regional Tetrathlon/ Modern Pentathlon Championships Old Orchard Farm, Moffat June 22 & 23, 2002 Registration is due May 22, 2002 Schedule of Events: Swimming: Victor Davis Pool, Guelph Shooting: Old Orchard Farm, Moffat Running: Old Orchard Farm, Moffat Stadium and Cross-country: Old Orchard Farm, Moffat For more information contact: Gayle Dennison at (905) 880-0305 email: don.mitchell@sympatico.ca

 

 

2002 Challenge Series Hunter/Jumper Shows Hunter Shows: May 5th Twinholm Stables (905) 332-9679 June 2nd Milestone Stables (905) 854-0762 June 16th Pause-A-While (905) 854-0575 July 14th Meadowlarke Stables (905) 821-0419 August 4th King Oak (905) 877-8854 August 18 Meadowlarke Stables (905) 821-0419 Sept. 8th Milestone Stables (905) 854-0762 Sept. 12th Pause-A-While (905) 854-0575 Jumper Shows: June 1st Milestone Stables (905) 854-0762 July 13th Meadowlarke Stables (905) 821-0419 August 3rd King Oak (905) 877-8854 Sept. 7th Milestone Stables (905) 854-0762 Sept. 21 Pause-A-While (905) 854-0575 For information contact Barb Jolicoeur at (905) 854-0575.

Belgrove Farms Durham,Ontario Schooling Show/Combined Event Dates: July 1st August 18th Summer Camp Dates: July 22-26th and August 12-16th Cost: $250.00 per week Campers will have the opportunity to ride each day as well as participate in activities such as training seminars presented by local equine professionals, crafts, and lots of hands-on experience. Camps include a BBQ, campfire and sleepover on Thursday night, followed by a small show on Friday. At Belgrove, we are a family-oriented, family-centred facility. We look forward to introducing you and your family to our world of horses. For more information call (519) 369-6894. Visit us on the web at http://ca.geocities.com/belgrove_farm/

Caledon

Caledon Pony Club has 31 members at this time, and has developed two separate education programs for our senior and junior members. Our education co-coordinator has provided meetings for the senior kids covering many topics. The first meeting included general pony club information with subsequent meetings presented by knowledgeable people that discussed conditioning, confirmation, blacksmithing and bits.

The junior member meetings have consisted of a “general information”meeting, a walk with the hounds, a session on bandaging, some time with the blacksmith and a “hands on” for braiding and clipping. At the beginning of April a “trailering” session is planned for all the kids as well as their parents. Our last meeting is the annual workday at the Caledon Riding Club in May.

The Riding Club director has informed us that she will be having two workdays to help rebuild and maintain the cross-country course at the Caledon Riding and Hunt Club on May 5 and June 2, 2002. This is a great way to for everyone to chip in and help keep our “D Rally” course well maintained. Please set some time aside for one, or both of these two days so you can make great jumps for your future.

The club has started to get together for Quiz practices once a week alternating between the seniors and juniors. We plan to have testing in the spring as well as the autumn. Some of our club members are looking forward to the mini meets this spring. Our PPG group is planning to start regular indoor practices in April. We are all looking forward to getting together for our fun riding program starting in mid May. Once again, Caledon has a busy year celebrating the many disciplines of pony club.

Members of the Glen Highlands PC attended the Royal Winter Fair in November and were very pleased to meet Ian Miller. Top Row, left to right: Danielle Watson, Brittany Carr, Courtney Hawksworth, Ian Miller, Brittany Morris, Whitney Donnelly, Rachel Green. Front Row, left to right: Elissa Bell, Davyn Miles, Dana Bell.

Welcome to the Glen Highlands Pony Club. We started the club in the fall of 2001, taking over for the recently closed Georgian Bay Club. Centered around the town of Durham, we currently have 33 members from the Ayton, Neustadt, Hanover, Walkerton, Owen Sound, Chesley and Chatsworth areas. Our Branch colours are dark green and white.

We plan to offer an extensive education series covering all areas of horsemanship, horse and pony care, safety, equipment and sportsmanship, and offer monthly clinics on a wide range of topics.

Pony Club has many levels and our members are encouraged to learn and test according to their own skill, ability and knowledge.

We currently have teams in place for PPG, Tethrathlon, D-Rally and C-Rally and will be an active participant in the many competitive opportunities available at the Western Ontario Region level.

Glen Highlands is based out of Belgrove Farms in Durham and is gearing up for a fun and successful 2002 year. For further information on Membership contact thebells@bmts.com

Help needed -- Earn Education Credits ! In an effort to keep the cost of our events to a minimum, many facilities agree to host our events at reduced rates. In return, they ask that we help build, repair and tidy up their cross country courses or provide volunteers to jump judge during their events. Work Days. If you are handy with a hammer, chainsaw or weed-eater, Old Orchard and Caledon Hunt Club could use your help. Various work dates are listed on the calendar and your help would be most appreciated. Jump Judges are needed for Checkmate Horse Trials, May 25/26, and August 31/Sept 1st and Headwaters Horse Trials on Saturday July 7th.

Grand River Pony Club is an older club that has been dormant for the past three years. A group of families from the Mill Ridge Pony Club decided to resurrect the club and it has turned into a positive and progressive project.

We currently have 1-C1, 4-C's, 1-D2, 2-D1, 3-D's and 5-E's for a total of 16 paid members. We have held a very extensive winter lecture series for the older members and we are currently holding educational sessions for our younger and/or inexperienced members.

We hope to have most of our members compete at Quiz this year and a few members have begun training for Tetrathlon.

At the GPC annual awards ceremony in November 2001 members received recognition for their achievements and outstanding efforts. Her peers voted Nicole Cowper "Pony Clubber of the Year".

In 2001 three members of the Guelph Pony Club participated in national or international events: Nicole Cowper attended the PPG finals in Alberta, Jamie Greenfield competed at the National Tetrathalon Finals in BC, and Luke Stephenson competed at the North American Jumping Competition in Kentucky. Danielle Bechard, Nicole Cowper and Danielle Cardinal participated in the Central Canadian Show Jumping Championships in Morton, Ontario.

This year the Guelph Pony Club has grown to 42 members. A busy schedule is already in progress with the weekly education meetings having started on January 23. Be prepared - we're going for red in this year's branch standings for quiz! Practices have begun for the shooting /swimming components of Tetrathalon.

Some upcoming events include the Guelph Combined Event on May 5, at Old Orchard Farm, plus a busy spring testing season. For more information on the Guelph Pony Club or upcoming events please contact District Commissioner Cynthia Cowper at (519)-856-9558.

 

Did You Know? Why is a pony's frog called a 'second heart'? There are two reasons why the frog is sometimes given this name. To begin with, if you pick up a pony's foot you'll see that the centre is occupied by soft horn in the shape of a heart---this is the frog. The base of the heart points towards the toe and the rounded top faces the heel. The second reason is that the frog helps to pump blood around the leg. When a pony takes weight on the foot, the frog and the soft tissues within the foot are squashed like a wet sponge. The pad of tissue inside the heel and frog area is called the 'digital cushion'. When the frog is squeezed, the cushion is also pressed and the blood is given a boost up the leg towards the heart. Farriers and vets realise the importance of the system and are very careful not to cut back too much of the frog when they are trimming the foot. In a well-trimmed well-shod foot, there will be good 'frog pressure' between the ground and the frog so the 'second heart' can do its job. Horse and Pony Magazine

Hi from London Pony Club!

We have gotten things going at our club and already we have learned a lot.

At the beginning of January, before we went back to school some of us went to a Beth Underhill clinic. It was great.

For the older members (D2 and up) of the club we had a gymnastic jumping clinic with Andrew Pocock. We learned how important this is to your training with your pony.

At the end of January we had our 2nd annual Pizza meeting. We all enjoyed lots of pizza and salad and got to meet our 2 new members, Jessica Smith and Meghan Anderson. We all received the safety booklets that we got from Region and the younger kids were given specific pages to work on and talk about at our next Education meeting.

On Feb. 16th we went to Taylor Made, a local tack shop where we had a awesome lecture on saddles, girths and bits.

We really learned a lot from Nan Taylor and she gave us each a bar of saddle soap to help keep our tack clean. After the lecture, we went back to a members house for Hot Diggety dogs, went over quiz questions and talked about what we had learned that morning. Austin rode a pig and we had a lot of fun.

On March 2nd at Fox Hollow stables we had a speaker come to talk about hay quality. Some of us had hay samples tested to see how good it is. We are having a hay judging competition to see who can pick the best hay. I know we will all be experts by the end of the morning. The younger members are going to have a shoeing demonstration while the speaker is talking and then come back to look at hay. I know it will be great.

Over the March break we are planning to have a mounted meeting and also a PPG get together. Well that is all for now and we shall see you all soon at Quiz!

submitted by Jean-Louise Eagleson

Greetings from Mill Ridge Pony Club!

Do you want to find a way to “establish yourself as the leader in your horse-human partnership”? Do you want to use “a controlled environment where you can 'tune up' the horse's attitude and at the same time establish your dominance in terms that the horse understands and naturally accepts...and more importantly, naturally wants to follow”?(Lamm and Lamm 1997)

If so, the round penning clinic that we are hosting on Sunday April 7, 2002, will be of interest to you!

For an overview of the process you may wish to check out the website http://www.kbrhorse.net/tra/round01.html, or do your own web-search to find other useful background information!

Then put theory into practice, and join Helen Elgie at Wild Spirits in Fergus, for a 1-hour demonstration plus a 1½ -hour hands-on session (11:00-12:30; 1:30-3:00; 3:30-5:00; maximum 3 people per session) and learn about non-resistance training in an indoor arena. The cost is $25.00 per person and pre-registration by Saturday April 6th is required.

For more information or to register, please contact Joyce Buck by phone (519) 843-2367 (home) or by email jbuck@uoguelph.ca

Be ready this show season! Don't forget to get a Coggins test! May is good month to have a Coggins test done on your horse so you are ready for the show season. Place a copy of the negative Coggins in a ziploc bag and tape it to the lid of your travel tack box. One less thing to remember to pack on those early mornings!

We remain a small, but active club. Members have started the winter series of lectures and riding lessons under the capable direction of Sandra Sanders. We are combining some activities with the Mount Nemo Pony Club and have recently enjoyed a clinic with Paula Rainford on Prince Phillip Games. Most members plan on testing up a level in the spring.

Welcome to new members: Bobbi-Jo, Marlo, Mackenzie-Anne and Kristen!!

Niagara Pony club rounded off their year with a Fall Hack, held at Quarry Oaks farm in Smithville. Herb Murray escorted the members through his fields and forests as well as an old quarry on his property. The afternoon ended up with a wiener roast by the old Forge.

Becky Bridges practices her technique at a vaulting clinic taught by Sandra Saunders at Go-Between Riding Stables in Smithville. ---->       <----- Behind every successful Pony Clubber…… is a helping parent!

WOR Women's team at National Tetrathlon in BC - clockwise from top: Corrin Harris, Casey MacIntosh, Devon Ambroise, Alex Bailey.
	WOR Team at National Tetrathlon in BC - Back: Wes Morrison, James Prine, Ryan Mitchell Middle: Jamie Greenfield, Bailey Jackson, Devon Ambroise Sitting: Corrin Harris, Casey MacIntosh Lying: Alex Bailey Chaperones: Lani Harris, Bob Bailey

Hello from Mount Nemo!

We ended 2001 with a Fun Day held at the Curran-Blaney's farm in Freelton, in late September. Lots of fun, games and prizes, with the highlight being the costume class. Judging was a challenge as there were some very inventive costumes for both horse and rider!

In December, Niagara Pony Club joined us at Bahr's Saddlery for an evening of Christmas shopping that included a tour of the store and a talk about different pieces of tack. Bahr's very kindly donated 10% of our sales that night back to the club, as well as handing out bags filled with goodies. The evening ended with hot chocolate and lively discussion, at where else but a nearby Tim Hortons!

Our Christmas party was held at the Agnew's in Burlington. Each member decorated a photo album for their favorite horse or pony, and drew names for Secret Santa gifts.

In February, Paula Rainford coached Niagara and Mount Nemo members in the basic skills of PPG and spoke briefly about her many experiences in Pony Club.

Everyone had a great time, including learning how to vault…some more successfully than others! Many thanks to Paula for a great day.

Niagara PC joined us in March for a lively evening of "Equine Trivial Pursuit", pizza and drinks held in Burlington. (Seems we are always eating….) This was a great "ice breaker" and really helped bring the two clubs closer together.

We have also joined forces with Niagara in their Education program. There have been a number of theory and mounted lessons, in preparation for spring testing. Many thanks to Sandra Saunders for all her help and patience.

For those interested in Tetrathlon, mark Saturday, June 1st on your calendar and plan to attend the Mount Nemo/Niagara Tetrathlon Mini-Meet being held in Burlington. For more information please contact Lani Harris (905) 957-0853 or Linda Agnew (905) 335-8859. Hope to see you there!

Marketplace For Sale: MAGIC CREATIONS Attractive Large pony (14.2) Mare. Bay, Thoroughbred-cross. Has evented pre-training. Good Pony Club mount, well schooled on the flat, comfortably jumping 3'0''. Sound/no vices, good to shoe, vet and trailer. Suitable mount for a junior or small adult. Sadly outgrown. Magic is a lovely pony who looks and moves like a small Warmblood. Her fluid, sweeping movement make her an excellent dressage propect for the Trillium or A circuit. She will be a welcome addition to any stable. GOOD HOME ESSENTIAL, NO DEALERS PLEASE. For more Information call Chelsea at: (905) 936-1125. QUIZ TACK SALE, Fergus Saturday May 4, 2002 Spring is the perfect time to clean out your closets and sell all those riding clothes that don't fit, as well as any items of tack you are not longer using. Mark your items with your name, club and the price, and bring them to the Central Wellington High School in Fergus on Quiz day.