So... explain Riding Clubs to me...

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SFeventers

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As I've spent most of my riding life in the US, I'm curious as to what is involved in Riding Club membership.

I have already visited the BHS site so I have a basic understanding, but I'd like your experiences, what type of horse you have, and your reason for joining?

I have a younster who I bought as a BYEH prospect but I'd like her to get some experience at some low key shows and events before we go and play with the 'big boys'
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a riding club is basically like the Pony Club, but for people of any ages! they're all so different though, some are quite low key, and organised for people who are really just getting into riding, and others are more posh and competetive!
 
Ive just joinded our riding club. Mainly for the training sesions as i too have a youngster that would benefit from getting out and about to low profile places. PLUS our current trainer also occasionally does clinics at a yard as part of the club so its nice to go and have lessons with her, as she knows us!

The members only competitions are also useful and if we hadnt joined so late the novicy teams look fun aswell for a baby!
 
Ours is fairly small, friendly and informal. We have shows throughout the Summer where you can compete in teams or individually. You collect points and there's a prize giving at the end. Membership is only about £15 a year. I love it, and I'm part of the commitee.

Can't speak for others though.
 
Ours is very much a social thingy, there are competitions and a SJ team, but we also do quite a number of group rides, the sort of thing that might be quite good for a youngster to learn to be good around a large group while keeping moving. The last few things we've had were a picnic ride in October/November, a fancy dress pub ride in December and the horseman's carol service the Sunday before christmas. The next one is 3rd Feb a hot drinks circular join in and drop out where you chosse ride. There is an annual show, some training sessions and I think a dressage thing. It's great fun, but I would ask everyone to remember that for each show etc there is a need for people to help, not just compete.
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Thanks everyone, how do I go about finding a club near me? I know of one but surely there must be more?
Anyone else want to comment? Pictures are always appreciated too!
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Riding clubs.....? We steer clear of them now! My daughter joined one of our local riding clubs about five years ago with her 14.1hh Welsh Section D. A total newcomer to the club, she wiped them out! Kept winning, and in her first season with them walked away with the Junior Showjumper of the Year award......following season, they were so horrible to her that after just two shows we vowed never to return! Felt that just because we weren't in with the "in crowd", and, as a new member she'd been unstoppable on her pony, they basically didn't want us! Having a go at eventing now on her 17.1hh!
 
Affiliated clubs are listed here:
http://www.bhs.org.uk/Content/Brc-Home.asp?id=1625&pg=Find%20an%20Affiliated%20Club

I have belonged to my local club for almost 20 years alot of that time I have been on the committee. We run members only shows and some open shows. (Including horse trials). We also run training sessions and social events. Some clubs have juniors and seniors but we take members from 14 yrs. (I think). We send teams to area qualifiers. (Ideal for the more competitive members). I really enjoy being a member of my riding club.
 
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Riding clubs.....? We steer clear of them now! My daughter joined one of our local riding clubs about five years ago with her 14.1hh Welsh Section D. A total newcomer to the club, she wiped them out! Kept winning, and in her first season with them walked away with the Junior Showjumper of the Year award......following season, they were so horrible to her that after just two shows we vowed never to return! Felt that just because we weren't in with the "in crowd", and, as a new member she'd been unstoppable on her pony, they basically didn't want us! Having a go at eventing now on her 17.1hh!

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not all of them are horrible,promise!

I felt a bit worried before i joined mine but since i've never looked back,we all fully support each other whatever level your at,they truly are very supportive and helpful.I can only speak about the one i'm in though,i'm sure there are some not so friendly clubs out there that are 'clicky'.
 
I hear what you say, but why was it that one of the "in crowd" kept winning all the showing classes with her disgusting looking coloured mare? Now, I happen to quite like coloured horses, but this one.......no way was it a winner! Could it have been because the owner's mother was on the committee?????
 
Maybe one way to stop this is by offering to help, if someone joins any club, just turns up for comps whether they win or not , prople will feel a bit put out. After all just about all the horse things are almost all in existance becaouse of the colunteers.
 
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...no way was it a winner! Could it have been because the owner's mother was on the committee?????

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Ahhh politics, cant even get away from it around horses
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Sorry for my presumption keeperscottage
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I think you must just have got a duff club then. I think ours is better because a lot of us are "ladies" lol in our 30's 40's and 50's, mostly got beyond it!
 
I'm in one riding club that has Hunter Trials, Regular shows in the summer allsorts and they are all very friendly all willing to help you out. The show ground is lovely and it is a really nice club. I know though some are hell, with the regulars on their horrible ponies that gallop round the same courses year in year out, trying to prove they are someting. For example one girls competes hoys and poys every year has a string of showjumpers shows off about how high and how much and how fast with their HOYS winner rungs on. I cant help but think if they are that good are you doing riding club stuff.....
it truly boggles me?!?!
 
TBH any club can be cliquey. But I know what you mean. Although some Pony Clubs are similar!
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OP Look for websites of clubs and see what they offer. They might offer training/schooling, competitions etc but different clubs have different strengths/weaknesses so you have to find one that suits your needs. IMO RC are mainly suited to amateurs.
 
I agree with your final sentence! Although we're certainly not professionals, I really can't stand the riding club "cliquey-ness". About three of four years ago, daughter won two consecutive classes at a riding club she was not a member of and we were met with "unfriendly" comments by the secretary; the following weekend, at the same riding club (cross country this time) she won...yes...two consecutive classes......this really DID NOT go down well! Why? My daughter was only 13 or 14 then and was so determined - why should they be so unwelcoming when a young person is trying so hard?
 
Great insight everyone! I couldn't imagine anything horse related not to be cliquey or have its hierarchy within the members!
Im really just looking for something to get the greenie exposed to the outside world before I affiliate her. Mainly because I have never competed in the UK (except for a small local show), and as I evented in the US I'm expecting to have to do a lot of adjusting and I thought this would be a good idea for the both of us!
 
I completely agree with your penultimate sentence! Very many years ago when my 18 year old daughter was only about 7 or 8, she completed in a Peter Pan jumping class and was amongst the leaders until two girls used the class as a "warm up" and walked away with 1st and 2nd place on their Prince Philip Cup ponies......
 
H'mm.. I was at an RC show a while ago & a very stuck up dad was telling someone how he paid a 5 fig sum, think it was £12.5k, for his daughter's pony, & how they only come to these 'potty little shows' to warm up for the proper stuff... Whereupon said £12.5k pony kicked him pretty hard. O/h & I were most amused.
 
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H'mm.. I was at an RC show a while ago & a very stuck up dad was telling someone how he paid a 5 fig sum, think it was £12.5k, for his daughter's pony, & how they only come to these 'potty little shows' to warm up for the proper stuff... Whereupon said £12.5k pony kicked him pretty hard. O/h & I were most amused.

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PSML sounds like my old YOs
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They 'bought' their way up the PC ladder (their daughter showjumped) and their way up the RC ladder. Rubbish riders the lot of them (and I mean rubbish) but sadly money talks. I had my horse at that yard for 18 months and in that time they spent abt 40k on three horses that could do it all so they just needed to sit there.

OP - if u can ask at ur local equine shops (if they r anything like the ones round here they can be affiliated with them btw) and get as many opinions as poss. Some clubs are fab - I was a member of one for several years which was perfect had loads of clinics, training days, competitions etc and they were all friendly and sporting. Others are cliquey, stuck up and focused more on winning than promoting good horsemanship.
 
I know of 3 round me that all vary as to what they do.
One is BRC affiliated, does lots of dressage, showjumping and hunter trials, does very well at BRC competitions. they do shows in summer, they are very friendly and very welcoming, although helping with setting up will get you IN with the crowd faster.
One is a club that only has shows in summer, they have about 12 shows with showing, working hunter and showjumping. They run the odd WPCS, SPBS, VHS and CHAPS show, some people call it cliquey but ive never found it so.

Anouther club round me started as showing only, but got soooo cliquey that membership dived after its first year, one girl who went normaly had a string of 3 HOYS ponies who went in every class and won everything and judges were always the same and favoured people on thier yards. They have had to add showjumping to the schedule to keep up entries, but it is soo cliquey.

So it all depends on the the club.
 
I havent felt anything cliqey about the Sports Endurance club which I joined last year, up to now everyone been friendly from the start, been on quite a few organised rides and enjoyed them all.
Maybe it's where kids are involved that queers the pitch, parents seem to get funny about competition whether it's football swimming or whatever, I dont think it's particularly a horse thing.
 
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I hear what you say, but why was it that one of the "in crowd" kept winning all the showing classes with her disgusting looking coloured mare? Now, I happen to quite like coloured horses, but this one.......no way was it a winner! Could it have been because the owner's mother was on the committee?????

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Ha ha I'm on the commitee and I didn't get one first in 2007!
 
In my experience with long and active membership of two riding clubs, like many things in life you get out of it what you are prepared to put in. So many people forget that Clubs are usually run by amatuers in their "spare" (!) time, and are all too quick to complain when they are not happy with something rather than offering to help. I too think that they are best suited to amateurs, and that most provide a sound base for working riders to get good quality instruction at a reasonable price, along with competitions etc that are suited to varying levels of ability. The sub for our club is only £18 for a year, not a lot in the overall scheme of things, so why not try it and see how you get on?
 
Agree with Tass. Competitors don't realise that most of the people on RC Committees actually have to work for a living and help run the Club as a hobby, and no doubt like other Clubs we often struggle to get the help we need to run Competitions and then you get the same old people that moan.

The Club I belong to caters for all levels from beginners to people doing BE/BD/BSJA.

We hire in good registered instructors for clinics plus use mostly listed judges for our dressage comps.

We're lucky that we can afford that as a lot of Clubs can't.

People often say they'd like to join but are worried that they're not good enough or people are cliquey. There's always some that are cliquey, but most of us aren't and everyone is welcome to take part in any Area Qualifiers they want whether they can do the 3ft 6" Open or will get eliminated at the first jump in the 2ft 9". It doesn't matter.

I've belonged to mine for 11yrs now and love it.
 
I have done a couple of seasons at the riding club attached to the riding school I ride at as it is the only way to compete on a riding school horse. Some people are lovely but I agree that there are some who are awful, never an encouraging word but lots of disparaging looks at those of us sitting on unglamorous cobs. I get very sick of the trophy hunters too those who do affiliated novice/elementary dressage entering unaff prelim tests etc And judges who are so easily swayed by a big moving expensive warmblood that they mark it highly even when poorly ridden, very disappointing when you are riding your heart out on a horse that isn't really built for the job but is trying hard.
 
Ive joined an RC after PC. Its sort of the adult version! A lot of people are in them to make friends etc. I joined because it offers me access to cheaper (subsidised) training, cheaper entries for RC events and the opportunity to compete on teams which is what I like the most.

I also do BSJA and BE alongside RC.
 
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