Question about pony club and experience before joining and fees

[ponygirlzmum]

Hi all, so sorry if this has been asked before, I tried the search and it pulls up anything with pony in it.

My little girl (6 years at end of Nov) has been on me for a long time about getting on a horse. I finally got her on one a week ago and she is hooked. So we came across the Pony Club and it looks great because not only will they teach her to ride, they will teach her how to take care of the pony. I feel that's important even though I don't think we will ever be able to afford our own horse.

Anyway, we have quite a few Pony Club Centres and the prices all vary. Our local club is £20 each time they meet and one that is about a 30 min drive is only £8 each time they meet. Both are 2 hours long for each meet up. Does anybody know why there are such huge price differences?

Our local centre won't allow her into their pony club until she is riding on her own. Understandable but what kind of timeline would that be? I realise all riders are different and then there is the frequency and time put into. I plan to take her for weekly lessons as that's all we can afford at the moment.

Lastly, when they join pony club, do they have to go weekly? We can afford the £20 pony club twice a month but the other at just £8, she could go weekly. Budget wise, it's a no brainer but then I wonder why there is such a price difference.

Sorry to ramble, this is all new to me and I just want to help my daughter the best I can. Thanks in advance

 

[Shay]

Welcome! I'm the mum to a now 15yr old with an embarrassing number of years both as a PC mum and a PC committee member. (Oh and I suppose a PC member if you count when I was a kid back when God was a boy!)

As you own your own pony you need to join a branch not a center. Centers are for riding schools. So look at your local branch. If you have a choice of more than one local to you - and you often do especially in the South East - have a look at the websites and see what sort of things they are up to. You can also call the District Commissioner (Branch boss) and chat to them. If you are SE based you can also PM me - but I have no personal experience of branches elsewhere.

On the whole the difference in the price could be whether or not the branch has to rent facilities or they have their own. Our rally costs are either a straight split of instructor fees if we are at home and don't have to pay venue hire - or with venue hire split too so prices run from £10 up to about £35 for XC hire. Unmounted rallies are usually cheaper than mounted.

You can do as much or as little as you want - most branches won't manage rallies every week. They are more often once a month, but more frequent in school holidays. Different branches can accommodate different ages so you'd need to check with the branches you are interested in. You have to have done 3 rallies in any year to go to camp or to compete at area level. But other than that you can go as much or as little as you want.

Pony club is a brilliant organization. Really something for every stage. Whether you join now or later - really do join! They'll teach riding, train into loads of different disciplines and teach stable management. There are badges to collect to sew onto your sweatshirt. There is the chance to compete as a group, or individually. The progressive tests are recognized by UCAS (long way off for you yet!) and well thought of by the industry. Mostly branches are really welcoming. Like anything run by volunteers things do depend on who is volunteering - but that also gives the opportunity for you as a mum to get involved and shape your branch too. It is also a good place to find ponies and source good instructors to teach your daughter between rallies if you want that.

And then there is pony club camp! At 6 she'll be in mini camp for a while - my daughter did her first mini camp at 7 and has done every camp since. Highlight of the PC year!

 

[be positive]

I read this as the 6 year old got on a pony for the first time last week, not got her own pony last week, so a PC centre is appropriate, I would get going with the lessons, maybe try lessons at both places and see how they compare, the more expensive may well be the best value but not always.
Once she is riding independently then take another look at what they both offer and which suits the best, the cheaper one may have less good facilities which could restrict how much they actually do with the ponies or it may be that it is less commercial run by an enthusiastic owner who is not looking to make a huge profit, visiting both should help with your decision, you could also post on here and ask if anyone can recommend either place.

 

[Shay]

Ah sorry missed that! Quite right. On a pony.... not own a pony! Sorry!

Yes - PC Center. Be Positive is quite right on all counts.

PC Centers can do most of what branches do and are still a great place to start. Not many do PC camp - although one in our area does in partnership with us. But get started with riding lessons first and see how it goes.

 

[ponygirlzmum]

Many thanks for the great advice. Will post a topic about the two clubs. She has a riding lesson tomorrow and we are going to make a stop at the other and get some more information and book a lesson there as a taster and compare the two.

It's good to know that they don't have to go to all the meets. Ultimately, I just want her to enjoy herself.

Thanks again

 

[DiNozzo]

At our centre, PC is paid for half termly (£27) sessions where they do stable management, then there is an option to join in for the lesson relating to their test group straight after the stable management. This is an extra £15 per ride.

 

[Orangehorse]

Some riding schools do their own pony club. One I know locally is very good, teaches the children stable management and they ride and then do games or jumping every lesson. So they get to be good little riders. (The only thing they never do is ride anywhere apart from the indoor school!).

So something like that would be fine to get your daughter going, and then when you think she would benefit you could look for Pony Club centres.

 

[ruth83]

Find out exactly what is involved in each PC session. Some centres do a ride and pony care in pony club sessions, others only do the pony care. That would explain the difference in price. It may also explain why she needs to be riding more competently before she is able to join.

 

[DuckToller]

I think ruth83 has a point - I can't imagine you would get a riding lesson for £8, more likely it's just stable management.

All the PC centres are independent - most are riding schools that decide to offer an extra 'club' and they apply to the Pony Club to be a PC Centre, and they get checked out by the PC to make sure they meet certain requirements in terms of health and safety, quality of instruction etc. Once they are approved they then operate quite separately, so what you get does vary hugely. Some get very involved with the main PC, entering Centre competitions and doing as much as they can, and others tend to do their own thing, using the name to attract more clients perhaps.

So check them both out and see which one offers what your daughter needs. With winter coming up, I'd go for one that offers a heated tack room

As for how long she takes to be competent off the lead rein, I would say six months as a rough guide but that depends on the quality of instruction, how good the pony is, and how strong and confident your daughter is.

Some can come off the lead rein after just a few lessons, but generally in a riding school they then stay in a ride, i.e. ponies walk round nose to tail, and the lead rider is told to trot to the rear, one at a time. This isn't really off lead-rein riding, just the beginning of it, as the pony knows where it is going and (generally) obliges. It takes a little longer for the child to develop the strength and coordination to get the pony to go in a different direction to the rest of the ride and listen to its rider rather than just follow the pony in front.

Good luck with it all!

 

[ponygirlzmum]

Thank you all for the great advice! I went out to the £8 club (Markfield) and answers were limited due the the pony club person not being available. The £8 covers pony care and he said riding lessons are separate. If that is the case, then I'm looking at £28 a week. The facilities are fantastic though! Very large riding areas and well lit along with loads of seating. I may ring back and speak to the right person to see how they fit the riding in.

She did get an hour group lesson at parkview and I loved what I saw and how she was taught but I have nothing to base it on. The instructor was very encouraging and smiley. They practiced walking, triotting and some walk over "jumps". Then they took ponies for water and a trail ride. Came back and did exercises to get the children comfortable on the saddle. The centre was super friendly. I was a bit concerned when my daughter was led by a very young girl but this little girl was very interactive with my daughter and showed her what to do when needed.

As of now, our plan is to take her to parkview once a month for a group lesson and then 3x a month to a half hour riding lesson to a small school around the corner from us.

Is it wrong to use 2 different riding schools? I would love to take her to parkview weekly but couldn't afford private there. This is factoring in fuel as well.

Thanks again for all the help!

 

[ihatework]

You do realise this is the tip if the iceberg and ponies get far more expensive the longer you do it and the more addicted you become ?!
Hope your daughter continues to enjoy it.

 

[FestiveFuzz]

You do realise this is the tip if the iceberg and ponies get far more expensive the longer you do it and the more addicted you become ?!
Hope your daughter continues to enjoy it.

Haha this is so true! I still remember my mum telling 5yo me that I could go to saddle club (effectively a pony club style set up where you learnt stable management and then went on a ride) every saturday but that I couldn't have my own horse. By 7yo I had 2 ponies I looked after 3 days a week and had weekly private lessons, which by 8yo turned into twice weekly private lessons. At 11 I got my first pony on full loan and it just kinda snowballed from there.

These days I think my parents are just happy to not be funding my ridiculous matchy matchy/dressage obsession!

 

[ponygirlzmum]

Yeah, fully aware this is just the tip......I'm just in denial of how big the iceberg is that I can't see, lol

We are really blessed that her granddad loves horses and is giving her quite a bit of money for lessons and my mom is helping with one lesson a month. We have also sorted out gear on eBay and other classifies ads. Got pony club approved helmet for £30 brand new on eBay and aldi had all their horseback riding gear in last week. Jodhpurs, fleeces, and boots for winter riding. Then local mole shop were clearing out riding gloves ranging from thin to thicker lines winter gloves. Ended up getting 3 different types, a pair of jodhpurs and some gloves for my son for £19. So we've kitted her out cheaply with good gear (I hope). Need to find it cheap at the rate children grow.

I really am excited for her and she is over the moon. She was supposed to have a lesson today but has been rescheduled for Sat morning. You can already picture the look of devastation on her face followed by....is Sat the day after Friday? At least one day of waiting made it more bearable.

Thank you all so much for the advice, so helpful

 

[oldie48]

When my daughter first started riding we were lucky enough to find a riding school that did a loan, basically we paid a set sum each month and when the pony wasn't being used for lessons (usually Wed evenings and Saturdays) we had use of him. i think this is quite usual and we were lucky to have the perfect loan pony who taught my daughter so much very quickly. We found this an excellent way to get started.

 

[ponygirlzmum]

Well, here I am a few weeks later and my daughter has been on about 5-6 lessons. The very first lesson, I booked my 9 year old son in and since then has expressed loads of interest but he is in scouts and thought he wouldn't really care about riding. Fast forward to my daughter's 6th bday party and he got to stand in for one of the girls that couldn't make it. He didn't even care that it was all little girls, he just wanted to get on a horse! During that party, he was on his own, never had to be directed. I know the horses follow along but he was steering out to where they needed to be. After seeing his enthusiasm and how easily he got it, we knew we would have to get him lessons too.

So here we are now with 2 children kitted out and a half hour private lesson each and now am on 2 iceberg tips, lol. We are getting private lessons at Owston Lodge and then hopefully join the Pony Club at Parkview. I was really happy with Owston as they really covered simple basics and gently pushed my daughter to hold just the reigns while trotting and was beginning to trot on her own. Previously, she was rein led only when trotting. She absolutely loved it and the staff were super friendly and welcoming. I think we have been to about 5 different centres and it's been great learning different teaching styles and which style suits my children best.

Thank you all for such great advice, looking forward to being around for a while.

 

[Orangehorse]

Thanks for the update, that is great news and so glad that your two are enjoying themselves.

Had to smile about your son. I had a Pony Party for my daughter when she was 9 and one of the guests, a boy, came along and so enjoyed it that he carried on and has made riding and instructing a career. So it was all my fault!

Just enjoy it, as the years go by so quickly.

 

[PorkChop]

That a lovely update, enjoy it while they do, being around ponies teaches them so many important skills as well as being great fun

 

[RunRunReindeer]

I missed this post first time around but just wanted to say as a mum of two (now grown up) I've loved reading the updated version. You sound like a great mum