Pony club camp - advice needed please on novice horse/rider combo & fitness plan

[R2R]

Before I start this, I would like to say I am not nuts, nor “that” precious about my horses. I believe that anything can be fixed by schooling, and I am confident in my ability to fix things.

Phew.

I have a 5 year old 16hh wb. He loves work, but is obviously 5 and a bit green. He had 4 months off over the winter, and came back into work happily and with no fuss. He loves being ridden. He is currently being schooled once a week by me, ridden in the school once a week by girl in question, and hacked 3 times a week.

A 13 year old girl on my yard is desperate to go to pony club camp, but her pony has done a tendon, and so will not be able to go to camp. She already rides my horse for me under supervision (hacking out, lessons etc) This is obviously “at home”. She is 5"8 so not a tiddler.
She is fairly novice, however can walk trot, canter, pop a jump. She can just about get 5 year old pony working correctly (with a lot of shouting from me!!) but not consistently. They are both as wobbly as each other though to be honest. She has good hands and confidence, which are key (to me). He does the odd buck and she gives him a boot and carries on.

At the moment I have kept them in walk and trot as he has only been back in work a month, but I cantered him at the weekend, and plan to get them cantering whilst hacking out this weekend.

Do you think it is a realistic prospect that they could go to camp together? I would obviously talk to the pony club and explain the situation. I know she will have to get him fit, but I am also slightly apprehensive about her confidence in giving him a boot if he decides to act up when I am not there telling her to do it! At the moment, he is bold, but I don’t want him pulled out of jumps etc? She has agreed to follow a bit of a strict plan etc with regards to riding him, I will also school him twice a week and be on hand to help her with schooling etc.

There is 12 weeks till camp – I was thinking of the following regime:

Week 1&2 – hacking – introducing canter work
School - establishing seat/balance in walk and trot (3 x 20 min sessions)


Week 3&4 - hacking – 3 sessions, longer canters & trot work
Schooling – introducing bend, working forward, introducing short canters (3 x 25 min sessions)


Week 5&6- hacking – 3 sessions, longer canters, trot work, introducing jumping small logs
Schooling – transitions, longer canters – 2 x per week
Lorry trip - walk and trot dressage schooling (week 5) walk and trot dressage test (week 6)


Week 7&8 hacking – 2 sessions as before
Schooling – introducing trotting poles – 3 x sessions
Lorry trip – minimus xc – he loves xc and is really bold. Prob. Hack round local UK chasers course (week 7) then minimus hunter trials, probably pairs (week 8)


Week 9&10 hacking – 2 sessions as before
Schooling - 1 flat schooing session as before, 1 grid work session, 1 mix (to work on stuff)
Lorry trip – show jump schooling (week 9) show jumping clear round (week 10)


Week 11&12 hacking – 2 sessions as before
Schooling – 1 flat session, 1 jump session, 1 mix
Lorry trip – to somewhere like coombelands, where he can school over xc and showjumping (week 11) then off to camp for week 12

What do you think? Will it work?

 

[teddyt]

Depends on the pony club and level of instructors. Camp can be a nightmare for green horses. You get 6ish to a group and they are not always well matched. This can lead to problems and disasterous consequences! TBH more for the horse than the rider.

If it were my horse i would follow your plan but not go to camp- ive seen so much good work undone at pony club camp! Good for you for thinking of a fitness plan anyway, many are just dragged out the field the week before

 

[251libby]

your fittening plan sound fine, but I would worry about the pair as a combo at pony club camp, I've been twice before and had an excellent time but remember the horses are kept in for the whole week, so think about whether your horse would cope with this or not?
They are sometimes ridden for 3 hours a day in two sessions, so horse (and rider!) would need to be fit enough for this. Also at the camp I went to we did things like gallop rides all cantering in a group of about 20 on the gallops, pony games and most of the ponies get groomed, bath, plaited and pulled to within a inch of their life! So if yours is the sort that doesn't really like too much fuss, I would question whether to let her take him.

echo teddy T about the group situ, lots of horses with young riders all doing XC in a big open space can lead to disaster

 

[TGM]

I would take the horse to at least a couple of PC rallies first, to get an idea of how he and the rider cope, before committing to Camp.

 

[Cat&Mouse]

I would agree Pony club camp it not a place for a green horse. I attended pony club camp on a very green 5yr old that had done very little. I was only 8 at the time but everyone in my group got annoyed as everything took me twice if not three times as long as he was learning & having to cope with all those other horses & groups wizzing about! Camp is great but they need to have done at least a year of going to different events & getting used to the atmospher before throwing them in the deep end. We did get most improved horse & rider by the end of the week but it was very stressful.

I think you will none stop worry about it as well while they are away.

 

[R2R]

The thing is, she has paid for camp already - this is becasue her ned has broken.

TGM - do you thing going out weekly for the 6 weeks before hand will suffice?

Pony is fine to be in for a week, pulled about etc.

 

[_MizElz_]

Ooooh - tricky situation!!!

To all those saying that Camp is a horrendous place for a young/green horse.....not always. I took my girl as a 5 and then a 6 year old, (I was 12-13) and she was a star! It was a wonderful opportunity for us to do things that at home, we would not ordinarily do - cross country being the main thing, but also hacking out in groups another - and all under supervision. I think the whole process was really good for her - yes she was a baby, but it was a great way to get her used to settling into a new environment for a few days (in later years when we had stay-over trips whilst competing BSJA she was a star!).

I think you need to make a decision as to whether you are happy for the girl to take your boy unsupervised. I totally agree with everyone here who has said that they need to attend rallies together first....and I would also talk to the DC to find out who may be teaching the girl's ride at camp, so that you can lliase with him/her and let him/her know how much you are happy for your boy to be doing. All I will say is that we had a horrific year at camp once where a friend of mine took an elderly 14.2 when the rest of us were on 13h pones....the instructor for some reason felt that because her pony was bigger, she should be jumping bigger fences than us and so even though the pony had clear limits which were actually the same as our smaller ponies, she chased him over all the big BE fences with a lunge whip. These incidents I am sure are very rare, but I think for your peace of mind it would be good for you to know who the instructor will be....

Another thing: could you yourself volunteer as ride assistant for the week??

At the end of the day, if she is fairly competent and your boy is as laid back and genuine as he sounds, then I can see it being a very positive experience for them both. They could both learn a hell of a lot!

 

[superpony]

Ahhh everyone is worrying me now!!

I'm taking my ex racer to pc camp this year.. hes still very green and novicey. But i've taken to a couple of showjumping rallies which he has coped with amazingly well. Because i'm 20 we were in the top group... which wasn't too much of a problem, we jumped most things fillers, doubles, wall just not the very big things as hes still learning!

I'm abit concerned about how he will cope but the instructors have encouraged me to take him to get him out about and i can't take my pony as he isn't allowed to jump anymore.

I would say to take him to a rally asap first to see how he copes, you will get an idea then if we will cope at camp. I'm nervous about it but i am 20 so obv alot older. If theres anything like going on the gallops i will not be doing that with him and will just not do that session, could you tell her to not do stuff like that with him?

 

[Divasmum]

As an ex PC DC I would say take the horse to a couple of rallies and then enjoy camp. The organisers can be told the age/experience a horse has. It will be a beneficial experience to both horse and rider.