Throughout the year, Springbank Pony Club members have the opportunity to earn Pony Club badges.

Thank you to Greenhawk Cochrane for donating saddlepads for the badge program!

Here are the newest badges SPC members can earn:

With fall now upon us and winter around the corner, it is time to get our horses clipped! Clipping horses is purely for the convenience of their humans – no one wants to wait around for an hour for the horses to dry, so clipping helps speed up the drying time. Horses not clipped do not need to be blanketed over the winter months unless they run a little cold, are ill or thin.

Objectives:

Members can different types of horse clips and understand different techniques for braiding horse or pony mane and tail.

Clipping: members learn the reasons for clipping, different types of clips, and what you need when clipping. Members are able to ID a full clip, hunter clip, blanket clip, trace clip and belly or gullet clip. Members know what equipment is needed and how to clip a horse or pony safely.

Braiding: Members are able to braid a horse or pony’s mane or tail correctly and safely. They know how to pull a tail and mane. Members learn how to braid a horse using elastics as well as with thread or yarn. Members learn about the different ways to braid a mane & tail and when each type is best suited. Understand the requirements for braids under different competitive disciplines and for testing.

On Sunday October 25 from 11-1 (plus if we need a little more time) we will do a clipping clinic (we will do braiding another day) . We will have some of our older girls guide you through the information needed to acquire the clipping portion of the badge as well as teach you how to clip your own pony/horse. We will have some demo horses we can work on (I believe Rocky is one of our test subjects!) plus some others- if you would like to volunteer yours please let me know.
I know not everyone’s pony/horse can wait until the 25th to get clipped, but even if yours is clipped beforehand please join us for some fun and learning.
If you have clippers please bring them. If you are looking to purchase some I suggest the Wahl KM10 or KM10+ available at Greenhawk, Wahl Canada website and Amazon (on sale right now for $250.00) Also you would need Wahl #10 blade(s), Showsheen, and blade cleaner I believe.

Objectives

Horses and ponies come in many different colours. According to our pony club materials, three of the most common colours are:

• Bay: a light brown or reddish-brown horse with a black mane and tail, black legs below the knees and hocks, black tips on his ears and black on his muzzle.
• Chestnut: a reddish-brown horse whose legs are the same colour as his body. His mane and tail are either the same colour or a little lighter.
• Grey: a grey horse has a mixture of black and white hairs. Greys can be light, dark or nearly white.

Project

Members will create a booklet or poster using cut outs from old horse magazines or online images. The project should contain at least 5 different colours, 4 face markings (ie. blaze, start, snip, stripe etc.) and 3 leg markings (ie. sock, stocking, etc.). Please present your booklet/poster at a future education session so everyone can learn from you.

Objectives

Recognize more complex horse colours. Understand that all horse colours are built out of variations on black, bay and chestnut. Discuss colour breeds and primitive colour marks. This is an extension of the beginner badge on horse colours.

• Understanding colour: Members are expected to describe the base colour of more complex colour descriptions (e.g. flaxen chestnut, blue roan, red dun, palomino, buckskin) and know what they look like. Members understand the greying process and can distinguish the different phases in the greying process, such as steel or rose grey to dappled, fleabitten and finally white.
• Primitive markings: describe primitive markings and breeds that still display these markings (zebra stripes, webbing, frosting).
• Uncommon markings: discuss some uncommon markings such as birdcatcher spots, ben d’or spots, galustra plume, medicine hat.
• Colour breeds and breeds with certain colour requirements: discuss the difference between paint and pinto. Describe other colour breeds such as appaloosa and paint. What are colour requirements for Fjord, Haflinger and Friesian?

Project

All horse colours can be described as a combination of the basic black, bay or chestnut combined with colour modifiers (grey, flaxen), dilutions (cream, dun) and white patterns (roan, appaloosa). Some modifiers are recessive, and some are dominant. Make a poster display or digital presentation including 3 uncommon markings and 1 colour breed or breed with strict colour characteristics. Describe the markings and breeds in some detail. Older members should be able to discuss the following questions:

• How can two black horses (a colour requirement in Friesians) still produce a chestnut horse. What can be done to prevent this?
• What possible colours can the offspring of two flaxen chestnut horses have?
• Describe the difference between overo and tobiano and 3 different overo patterns.
• Describe 3 different dilution genes and how they change the base colours black, bay and chestnut.
• Describe 3 different coat colour modifiers find pictures of these modifiers.

Please present your presentation/poster at a future education session so everyone can learn from you. Your work can also be posted on our website to share in the resources section.

Objectives

To learn about the sport of Working Equitation and participate in Working Equitation clinics and/or competitions.

First recognized as a sport in 1996 and hosting its first European Championship that same year in Italy, Working Equitation has quickly grown in popularity as an all-inclusive equestrian sport driven from the grass roots. The discipline encourages participation from any and all breeds and disciplines (dressage, jumping, western riding, and Spanish riding). There are 4 phases of a WE competition: dressage, ease of handling (EOH), speed, and cattle maneuverability; however, at the introductory level, participants focus on dressage and EOH.
Through introducing members to the discipline of Working Equitation (WE), this badge focuses on knowledge growth of the history of Working Equitation as it relates to the ancestry of the working horse breeds. Further, the badge signifies that they have participated in the WE clinic.

Project

Members can attend the Working Equitation clinic on March 8 to earn this badge.

Objectives

Members should learn about safety features in barns, pastures, arenas and riding rings. Safe trailing can also be included, as well as basic rules in the warmup ring or in group lessons.

Review the barn safety learning materials and then take the quiz to check your knowledge.

Please send me an email if you have questions about completing this badge.

In January, members who attended the musical ride clinic earned their musical ride badge.

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