Were you/ your children in the Pony Club, and why/ why not?

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Lolo

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Inspired by a comment on a different thread!

I was an avid PC member from when I was 9 through to when I was 15 or so. I started in one branch, and when I turned 13 we moved to a different one in the same area due to a difference of opinions between my mum and the DC. That move meant I didn't enjoy the last 2 years I spent as much- it was a bit cliquey and I was shy and on a tearaway pony, and had had to leave a group of good friends behind. But it did shape my attitude to competing and to how to be taught and I got quite a lot from things like camp on naughty ponies- a week looking at coping mechanisms boosted my confidence!

Now, I'm still involved in the 2nd branch. I am a stable manager at camp each year and love being involved :) I think things have changed a lot- we see more children making the same switch we made, and being welcomed with open arms into the fold and having a blast.

Al is an keen member, taken her B test and hoping to do her PC coaching so she can teach too :) She's been a member since she was 6, and is now 18 and just as pony-mad :D The instruction is great (especially now everyone's twigged Reg isn't crazy...) and she's had some fantatsic experiences she would never have been able to have without the support of her branch. And she is also stable managing at camp, having attended almost every year for the past 12 years!

But it gets lots of negative press about a variety of things, such as the type of rider it turns out, the snobbery (which I do get to a point, but our branch is mostly state school kids on whatever's going free!) and other things... What do you think?
 
Our local pony club (and the only one within reasonable travelling distance) conformed to every negative 'PC' stereotype there is so no. Local RC was much, much better :)
 
I never did pony club, partly because of its reputation, partly because my parents were desperately trying to stop my attachment to ponies (that failed obviously :rolleyes:) :D
I think it very much depends on the branch, there are some brilliant ones out there and some that are your stereotypical PC.
 
rhino said:
Our local pony club (and the only one within reasonable travelling distance) conformed to every negative 'PC' stereotype there is so no. Local RC was much, much better :)
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Please may you elaborate on the negative stereotypes- was it just the money buys everything thing?

Our local RC is much worse I've found- so many bitchy women! I run the league and people are rude and demanding and aggressive and never say thank you...
 
Our PC had/still has a reputation of snobbery and a money buys itall attitude. Certainly among other south east branches. However, i had a fab group of friends from school/other connections that i did everything with and never felt excluded or that it was cliquey. I did all my PC on borrowed ponies initially and then my 14.2 cob from the ages of 12-18 when i left for uni, so certainly didnt fit the stereotype. I didn't have horsey parents either which was also unusual for our branch i think.

I adored PC and a number of my best childhood memories are from competitions/camps/rallies etc. I made some friends i still have whilst i was there and learnt a huge huge amount, a lot of my base knowledge i put down to my stable management days there. I got as far as my B riding test and H SM test.

I can't wait for my my daughter to go (assuming she wants to ride, hehe!!)
 
I was run out of my local PC! In fairness it has a great reputation, but the deal with my parents was that if I got a pony they didn't have to be involved in any part of it. The day they had to do something, was the day I lost the pony (he was on loan). I would hack to rallies, cycle to tetrathlon stuff etc - one day one of the mothers came up to me and said it was my mum's turn to do the teas. I politely explained the deal, and got told that if she didn't do them I'd have to do them myself. I HACKED to rallies - how on earth was I supposed to do the teas?! Numerous times people on the same rally, with space in the trailer, went past me hacking to the rally, and past where I kept the pony. I just felt totally unwelcome - not once did any of them offer me a lift anywhere.

It made me swear that when I could afford a horse again, I wouldn't do it until I could afford transport as I never wanted to be in that situation again. It was miserable!

In hindsight, as an adult, I can see that one mother not being seen to do her share was probably quite a pain for them, but the way they expressed it to me was pretty brutal!
 
Both OH and I were in the Pony Club as kids (different branches). Both of us were from non-horsey, low budget families (and we both went to state school). When I first joined I had no pony at all (just went to unmounted fixtures) and OH was on borrowed ponies. Both branches made us really welcome, and opened up a world of opportunities to us.

So it was natural that our daughter would join the local Pony Club and she has gained so much from it in so many ways - friendships, tuition, competing opportunities etc. We are lucky to be in an excellent branch and can get access to tuition from fantastic trainers (BE, BS accredited etc) for often as little as £12 a session. There is no way we could have been able to afford the standard of tuition she has received without going through the Pony Club.

Yes, you do get the odd stereotypical, pushy, over-competitive mother, but ignoring these is a small price to pay for the other benefits. And to be honest, the majority of parents in the branch are down to earth and supportive of each other.
 
i grew up in pony club had no choice not to really seeing as I grew up on a small island where everything was organised either by the BSJA, RC (which was 17+ only) or PC! ;) Only one choice of branch as well!

Lots of stereotypes abundant and thankfully some normal parents/members as well. Some DCs/instructors I got on with some I didn't, I kept my distance from those I didn't :p . I ultimately ended up staying a member until I was too old, even got as far as passing my A care and well attempting my A ;) if home I will even help out. My mum is actually still a committee member now even though it is a good few years since I left now!!
 
I loved PC! I was in the Hursley branch, and really didn't fit the stereotype at all - non-horsey parents, dodgy ponies, hacked to rallies etc. My first pony never had any rugs, and I remember turning up to rallies and seeing these smart ponies come out of their trailers with smart wool rugs on.... so I made my pony a hideous yellow rug out of an ancient nasty crochet blanket, complete with hand stitched name down one side *cringe*!!

All of the above didn't stop me having an amazing time, joining in with teams etc. If my kids turn out to be horsey then they will most definitely be Pony Clubbers!
 
I think our experience of PC is a lot different to many others. Daughter started off in a pc centre using the riding school ponies, then at age 8yrs joined our local branch with her pony.

The branch is extremely small - now having 32 members & only run 6 all day rallies a year where all the members attend. This is lovely for us as everyone knows everyone else. There are no stereotype pc pushy parents, most work 9-5 in a range of jobs from nurses to bus drivers & only about 4 members are out regularly competing.

The recession has hit our area very hard & most members struggle to even attend any team events as they are always a good few hours away from us.

Saying that, they are the most dedicated bunch of people I know, who will do all they can to help keep the club running for the kids. My daughter has made so many of her best friends at pc even though we are actually 30 miles away from where the branch is based & she rarely sees them.

I don't think she would have settled in a larger, more well off club as she was very shy & sometimes embarrassed by the tatty trailer & car we have. But no-one judged her there, or me, as I was never "horsey" & have had to learn everything with my daughter.

I am now actually branch secretary after being involved with the club for nearly 9yrs & I love seeing the kids enjoying themselves. I am very proud when I see them join as little kids & then in what seems like no time they are wearing their B test felts!!
 
Didn't as a child (grew up on a council estate where ost pony owners bought NFs from the sales, tethered them on the common & rode them in headcollars). My children do it ATM but I'm having a major rethink as I'm really not enjoying it.
 
I was in pony club from about the age of 8/9 till I was about 14. It was a fairly low key branch and I had lots of fun on the all day rallies and numerous lessons. The branch has got a lot bigger since I left and they are often doing well as nationals so I'm not sure how I would fare now. But there are still a lot of kids in it who are training their own ponies up through the levels and of course the ones which buy 'been there done it types'. I still go to their events and the committee still remember me and are friendly and I still see all the people who I went to pony club with.

The reason why I left was that I felt I was outgrowing it slightly. I was on an older horse so was having to go on lessons with younger kids. Then I got a younger, bit more difficult horse and felt there wasn't really a place for us :)

I'm in my riding club now (always been in it but not really an active member) and go to all their clinics and events. They are a really lovely bunch of people and really encouraging. I feel like its a bit more of a 'grown up' version of ponyclub!
 
^as IME said^ this is just what we were like when we joined pc! Had a 12hh pony that had been bought off a mate for £50 & we kept him on an allotment in the middle of the estate!

Never felt more at home at our pc branch though!! :D
 
lme said:
Didn't as a child (grew up on a council estate where ost pony owners bought NFs from the sales, tethered them on the common & rode them in headcollars). My children do it ATM but I'm having a major rethink as I'm really not enjoying it.
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We struggled in our first branch. We had freebie, naughty ponies and we stood out a mile from the posh ponies there. Although we have good manners and everything, our upbringing was quite casual (as in, state schools, no pressure, lots of fun...) and we'd learnt to ride in the local RS fairly recently. To put it in perspective, we guessed that last year's intermediate PC team horses for that branch would have cost in the region of £40k in total...

Moved branch and never looked back :D
 
I wasnt in Pony Club, my parents could not afford to buy me a pony, so I made with with riding schools and mates ponies. Mini TX on the other hand has been extremely involved with PC, doing the whole camp, rallies, Area and National Championships thing - even winning at Open Dressage 2 years ago and coming 3rd the year before. I have to say she has enjoyed every minute of it.

However, I do agree there are lets just say certain aspects of PC that do make me go 'Hmmmm' sometimes. I am a branch secretary, have been for the last couple of years as well. I dont really have the time for it, as have huge work commitments, horses, plus sit on another couple of committees associated with my profession. However, its my way of putting something back, and benefitting the children, and I do as much as I am able to, ably assisted by my PA in the office, who loves reading all about our branch, being a horse owner herself as well.

Yes, PC has its issues, there can be an element of all money no idea, mothers who feel their little darlings are better than they are, etc, etc, but it does teach children, respect for another living creature, responsibility and discipline, plus it allows them good old safe fun. I for one will never forget standing at the Nationals watching my daughter receive her winners sash with the rest of her team at Open dressage 2 years ago, with tears rolling down my face etc. Its times like that that makes it all worthwhile - even that 4 hour trip to Derby to compete there!
 
I was a very keen PC member when I was younger, my mum was a committee member etc and so it was natural for me to be involved. My local PC was a large branch and I did a bit of everything and loved every second of it. I wouldn't hesitate to join my hypothetical children (crikey) up to it too, but I understand that a lot of people have very different opinions of it.
 
I have done PC since I was 10 and am not going to be leaving soon! When I started I went to PC camp and fell off 7 times thanks to my naughty hairy pony Sprout, and was just generally a bit hopeless, but went to the Open Eventing Champs last year 6 years on, and so have to say PC has been the making of me.

I think the best thing is that you have group lessons with kids your own age who egg you on to be braver than you are on your own, and with excellent instructors too its fab.

Our PC has 63 members and my Mum is secretary, and I am proud to say I probably know every member of our PC whatever the age group :) My Mum has never really ridden competitively just hacking our old cob around and is not your stereotypical PC Mum, and I think there are very few of those in our PC.

I love PC, it's fab and has meant I always have a special group of friends who don't go to my school who I can have over or go camping with when I get bored of school friends!! :)
 
Yes and I loved almost every minute of it! Started when I was 7 on my £250 18year old pony, we were proof that money doesn't matter- qualified for the area dressage at Sansaw a few years on beating a european PT combo! Our branch started small, there was 20 of us at senior camp compared to 60 of the other branches in the area.

It did change later on, everything was focused on area comps, half the kids wouldn't go to camp/ rallies as they saw themselves above it. Had loads of pressure to do BE in prep for area comps etc.

I wouldn't change any of it, yes there were stereotypes - pushy parents, too much focus on comps rather than enjoyment but it gave me the chance to do my AH, teaching the minis at camp and some really great memories!
 
No Pc for me - didn't have a pony and there was no effort to recruit kids riding at RS's in our area. Never really saw it as being an option. Shame really as I do think the PC is a great organisation, the problem is some of the people it attracts.

Incidentally the RS is now a PC center.
 
Yes, I was a member as a child in what was a relatively cliquey branch. I still had great fun and made good friends though. Until I had second son I was Assistant DC of a small more local branch.

My two boys are very active PC members, the younger one winning his ride at camp last year and enjoying the fun elements. A won Open area SJ last year and the team were 2nd at the Champs, so a great experience. There are aspects that can be frustrating but organising events for over 100 members that run as everyone would want them for their children is impossible, and I hugely appreciate the work that is done by our very busy DC and committee.

It is a great institution and can offer lots of fun and friendship to children. Definitely worth giving them exposure to it.
 
Wasn't allowed, the pony I rode had been banished from pony club twice. Also I was always a bit scared of the local pony club girls my age they were all more stylish riders and had well schooled horses. At one show apparently I had a bad fall off the cheeky pony I was riding, the first bit of that day I remeber if lieing in a lot of pain and the pc girls laughing, made me terrified of pc!
 
I was a member from 4-13 ( 3 different branches!) , when I started driving and joined young drivers and wasn't allowed to be a member anymore.

I've just rejoined at 20 (another new branch!) now I can use my student loan to fund it and drive myself there :o
 
Yes did pony club between the ages of 14 and 17... left under bad circumstances.

Had an amazing first two years, learnt so much, got on with everyone so well etc etc.

Come main camp of my last year and it was living hell. The 'elite ride' (I still think this is an awful label to give them as it makes other rides seem inadequate) as they were then were (mostly) horrific and I had the most horrible instructor who made me feel useless. Unfortunatly it was enough to make me leave.

I actually went to the PC that Lolo is still helping at.... and I don't dislike it at all generally. Think I just hit a really sh**ty year and an all time low with my confidence and it made me hate it enough to leave!!

However, my boyfriend has been involved with his pc forever and they're all so, so lovely and I wish I'd had the same experience!
 
I went to pony club when I was a teenager and absolutely hated it! It was me who wanted to join, my mum was quite against it - and I soon understood why! I liked the idea of it (cheap lessons, lots of opportunities and fun things etc) but the other members were all so cliquey and bitchy - couldn't stand it! They were always having a laugh at me and my nightmare pony because he wouldn't do anything I asked him to (bloody thing!) - not at all supportive, they just looked down on me from their expensive ponies and snapped sarcastic comments. If I had a pound for every time I heard "I don't understand why your mum doesn't buy you a pony that does what you tell him to!" I'd be rich!! The instructors were great but I never made any friends there because I'm not the bitchy type, I didn't want to be pals with people who talked behind other peoples backs and who said mean things about my pony.

Sure there are much nicer pony clubs around though!
 
I joined my PC because it was the one my Mum had been in as a child and a friend could give me lifts. This was when I was loaning a pony for a couple of days a week. Mostly I had a great time, particularly when I got my own pony. I always had one of the least posh ponies but it never bothered me too much and it really helped my riding. Mum just really wanted me to have a fun time with ponies and it was great having such cheap tuition from really good instructors.
I left when I was about 16/17 and it was simply due to either a lack of a suitable horse or a lack of suitable rallies, whichever way you look at it. I stopped jumping at 15 and then did dressage for the PC for a couple of years but when I got my welshie there just wasn't anything suitable for him in my agegroup so I never got back into jumping. His dressage isn't great and all the rallies for people my age required a much more established horse. It was a shame but we've done fine without the PC.
My PC did have a bit of a reputation for being a rich girls club and in a sense that was true, but I still got on the teams (we weren't poor, just not rich in comparison to most of the other girls) and had a great time. Camp was always very cliquey and bitchy I remember though.
 
I joined when I was 12, did two years of PC, left because we had no transport at that point, then rejoined at 16 when there was a change of DC, only left at 19 as I went off to uni... I even spent my 17th birthday at pony camp bombing around on a 13.2hh :D

I really enjoyed it, didn't find it cliquey, training was generally good (I think I went to one rally when I though 'this person has no idea how to help someone with a youngster' and the rest were all positive :)) and do wish I'd been able to do more with the PC, especially areas as I never got to do those - think they were cursed for me; something always went majorly wrong beforehand! :o

Eta: with the 'nightmare' pony, Bronts could be a right terror (his last rally was spent mainly on two back legs :p) but I think after a while people got to know him (& me!) and knew that he wasn't really dangerous and I wasn't going to fall off, he was just quite opinionated! Before him I rode an 11hh who used to deck me every time I tried to jump him, and whilst Bronts was injured I took the CrazyCob to a few things, and then Wilby went to his first rally having seen poles twice... I think the only sane one out of the lot was Gin (the 13.2hh) - and she wasn't even mine!
 
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I was in the PC, it was one of the things I was desperate to be part of as a child. I loved it, after my first camp I couldn't stop crying for ages 'cause it was over! I was in a small, non-posh PC. Most members who were fairly posh and competetive moved to another branch after a while.

My children are not in the PC. I feel it's too much money to spend for the little they will get out of it at their current age, but if they are keen when they are older they will be allowed to join. If and when the time comes I will be choosing the more 'working class' of our local branches!
 
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