pony club??

Think it's now about £60 to join. Rallies seem to vary widely in price depending what part of the country you are in. As regards snobby, as a general rule I would say no but as with any type of club, sometimes you can get an unfortunate combination of personalities. Ask around, if you have a choice of which one to join, find one that has a reputation for being friendly.
 
millikins said:
Think it's now about £60 to join. Rallies seem to vary widely in price depending what part of the country you are in. As regards snobby, as a general rule I would say no but as with any type of club, sometimes you can get an unfortunate combination of personalities. Ask around, if you have a choice of which one to join, find one that has a reputation for being friendly.
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As above really, the cost of joining includes insurance which is well worth having. It depends on where you are for the cost of lessons but on average a lot cheaper than having to either go to someone/have someone come to you. There are 'characters' in every club, but you will soon find out who these are. I found for my daughter that it really depended on how competitive you were - she was not interested in competing and therefore 'taking' someone's team place was not an issue. If you are local to a couple of clubs do your research, there may be an issue regarding you joining a club which is not your nearest but this can on occasion be sorted. All things said pony club is a good thing, they are mostly friendly and sociable you will make a lot of friends and have a great time.
 
Depends what club.

Our club is awesome, admittedly I am less active now as am one of oldest members (and quite possibly the oldest!) but usually do more helping/testing/instructing. Ive been in PC since I was 12 and our branch is one of the biggest, and one of the most competitive :p

We do have a very good track record at the championships, especially in showjumping but us eventers are climbing up the ladder, at last years champs our team was 5th in the open with 3 out of 4 going clear xc (quite a feat if you look at the results!!) and we have amazing instructors/trainers with some fantastic instruction from overseas as well.

Our PC/area is also very friendly/sociable, we have had quite a few tours to south africa pc with SA pc then touring us the year after :) and the stable management side of things are very good, I'm hoping to take my A riding at some point along with my friend!

Generally depends on what you want to do and which club suits you best, and going along to watch rallies or a demo evening would be a good way to see what each club is like. :)
 
I joined and made some really good friends (not snobby) Unfortunately, I did encounter the snobby people but they're easy to deal with and I found they soon start being nice to you if you make a joke in their expense!
 
My daughters have centre membership through the riding school we livery at. It's not snobby at all as most of the kids don't own their own ponies and my two share one. They have great fun and it's not terribly competitive as most of the kids are novices anyway. That suits me as both my girls turn into monsters if they get competitive - this way it stays fun!
 
Oh wow - where are you? (PM me if needed). I organize rallies for our PC (Wimbledon Branch).

Pony Clubs are what their volunteer's make them - that is true of everything. But honestly - I wouldn't have thought of anything to do with horses at PC level as snobby or elitist. Bitchy is probably down to the members and - without wanting to put you down in any way - young people are sometimes not nice to one another. Adults aren't either come to it!

PC is quite firm about things like proper dress and plain tack. Not to be snobby - actually the very opposite. You can't compete in PC with blingy tack or technical jackets. You don't have to have anything "special" but what you have should be safe. It is supposed to be accessible.

The PC experience is generally a very positive one - but I do accept that this will vary with different groups of young people and different volunteers. Some branches are are competitive, some are huge, some smaller. PC Training is really top notch - the PC A test is universally regarded as the highest qualification. Annual camp for most is a stunning experience and a chance to really bond both with your horse and your team mates. Many - if not all - of the top UK riders came through pony club.

If you want to PM me then please do.
 
Hi, I had the same worries before my daughter joined our local pony club- I can honestly say it's the bet thing for her riding we've ever done! So many opportunities , lots of new friends.

A one off payment of £60 to join yearly, then just pay for each event you attend- in our PC-
Rally between £12-18 depending upon hire of facilities
Badges between£5-10 a badge

Then the big one- camp, ours is £275
 
Depends where you are & which branch :) we're a very small branch in a very working class area that is far from snobby or clicky! I also don't think we are as expensive as some others, we charge £35 per year (+ the £60 odd pc fee) to cover rallies, rosettes, field rent, instruction etc that's for 6 all day rallies a year & 4 days stay away camp is about £120.

Have a look round at different branches & maybe see if you can attend as a guest to see if you like it x
 
Can only suggest you try it and see.
Our Pony Club heavily subsidises all training rallies meaning we get very cheap training from various professionals :).
There are snobby people wherever you go ;).
 
If you are close to a couple or more pony clubs, I would do a bit of investigating into what they do. My daughter has been a member of two in the last few years as we moved and one does a lot more than the other in the way of rallies. It is much better value for money. Also, although my daughter is a bit too old now she is still a member as having the PC public liability insurance makes it worth while (don't need to pay for it on our other insurance)
 
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