What do you look for in a riding club?

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Annagain

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I am on the committee of my riding club and attendance at our events this year has been down so we're looking at ways we can improve things. We've asked for feedback and all we get is the people who attend events telling us they like them. The ones who don't come don't tell us why!

We offer regular lessons with a good local instructor, and at least one event a month, whether straight show jumping or dressage, a one day event, or more innovative stuff like indoor xc and a derby competition. We also have an adult camp, a junior camp and an adults' hacking weekend. We see the same people at all these things.

We've tried social events and visits and sometimes they're well supported and sometimes not, there doesn't seem to be a pattern behind it and we're a bit flummoxed.

So, as our members won't tell us what they want. I was hoping some of you could give me some ideas please?
 
I am a member of a RC and I don't go to events often. I would like to go to more but I can only go to the ones that my YO goes to as I can't get horse transport otherwise. I don't really think that there's a lot my riding club could do about this but hey...
 
I am on the committee of our riding club and we have the same issues, we can only put it down to the 'credit crunch' we have never had such low numbers at shows/events before :(

We just hope it gets better next year.
 
like kiritiger i have no transport myself - i have to ask for a lift from a friend. fortunately this year i've been able to get to things and last year my RI took me to things with a loan horse.
i think RCs could suggest people who could have a spare space in a box to those that lack transport - then i'm not talking for everyone, but i would certainly pay the fuel costs of someone giving me a lift even though they are going to the event anyway.
another major thing, is use facilities that are well known to people outside the riding club - our local one has been offered different facilities this year and the increase in numbers has been great!
another thing is to plan competitions that don't clash with other well known places. and soemthing i've noticed my RC do, is they advertise other competitions that clash with their own! :eek:
 
Thanks. Our website allows members to advertise that they want lifts etc and we try to put people on touch with each other. Unfortunately we have one fairly big venue near us that has some thing on EVERY weekend which doesn't help. Although apparently they are struggling for numbers too. Maybe it us just the credit crunch:confused:
 
Another RC committee member here, we find that it is the same group or people who attend the smaller events. We do a children's show, a fun show and an annual show, which do reasonably well, but things that are exclusively members only don't do as well. This is a problem as it is always the same people who help to organise. It also tends to mean that the committee have difficulty entering as people seem to think that the big shows should happen without their input!
One of our suggestions for next year is to do more social rides and fewer points type shows.
 
I'm looking to join a riding club and am on the border for 3. One has a great website and I can see exactly what they are doing and where, one other has only a single page and the third has nothing. I'm more likely to go with the one where I can see whats going on as no idea what the other 2 offer!
I have limited access to transport so a lift share would definetly make it easier for me to go to events.
 
Thanks for your replies. We found that members only events weren't well suported so opened them up and members complainedd there was no point in joining as they could enter without being a member (forgetting about the lessons and camps which are members only). A lot of people do this so that they don't have to fulfill their membership obligation to help at at least one event per year. It's a no win situation!
 
Vodkagirly's point about the website is important.

Our nearest RC events are always open, but another £1.00 to non-members - so that mounts up.

A lot of adults round us say they wish they'd ridden as a kid so they would have done PC games and handy pony, so we thought of organising an end of year "silly show! for members with fancy dress and dog agility (and alcohol!!) etc.

I found that our RC can be extremely cliquey. Its put many people off. Rules seem to be bent for committee members to enter novice classes, or get put on the camp lists before it goes inthe newsletter or website etc.

From your OP it sounds like a very good RC that tries very hard. Horsey people can be fickle!
 
Monthly events and clinics. Clinics at diff venues though and diff instructors (not everyone likes every instructor) and on diff days too. Not everyone can do Sundays!

Teams that include everone, not just those friends with the committee!!

I'm not a member of one in the area I'm in now. I was spoilt the one where I was before was brilliant. Did loads, were friendly and all inclusive. The ones near me.... They don't hold many comps and are quite "who you know". I do know people on one committee, but that's not the point. They also do nearly everything on a Sun which I can't do.

I went to one of their shows this summer and the entries were horrifically low. Last year they were bursting at the seams....
 
I echo the person who said have a good website, it helps attract new members and also makes it easier for existing members to see what is going on.

A page for advertising lift shares is a great idea.

Our RC has its shows open to non-members but entry fees are higher (and it used to be the case that dressage was strictly members only).

Can you try some different venues so that different people are within hacking distance?

Why not send a questionnaire (you could use survey monkey online) to all members and former members asking for their input. Ask them why they don't attend events, what would make them get involved and what they would like to see.
 
Can I just say that the reason the committee members are probably on the list before other members is that they are organising the camps! There are no perks to being a committee member, believe me, spending the day before a show setting it up (never mind organising the rings, ordering the rosettes, persuading judges to attend etc,etc,) is not anyones idea of a favourite pasttime. I am beginning to think that many riders think that riding clubs are like private companies, they are not, I dread to think how much the woman hours spent by our committee would add up to if we charged a going rate for our time.
 
For me it would be about variety and opportunity.

I'd love lessons and shows that cater for all abilities, up to at least 1.10m. Lots of RC things seem to be targeted to up to 2ft9, which I would find a bit dull, particularly if I had a good horse.

Lots of team events, and different things would also attract me - and as others have said, good website communication is a big one. Being able to see what is on, when and where is really useful.
 
Your RC sounds good. Only real downsides of mine are that they stop come September and don't start again until May. Such a shame but I guess it's because alot of people don't have transport. I've always thought it would be a nice idea to ask if anyone is willing to box share occasionally (although I can understand the legal implications of this). I for one don't have transport so have to rely on hacking my mare across a very busy A road and a long way to the field. This year I have been put off my club due to very hard ground and mostly jumping events (not their fault at all just a reason). Even if we just had "socials" in the winter I think that may encourage more people to come to events in the summer once they've met a few people. Evening vet talks seem to go down well.
 
I know that all too well YorksG from being on the committee myself! Thats how I know that the camp is filled up 75% before it goes in the newsletter, and that the teams are filled - it never even makes it to the newsletter. I'm friends with the lady who organises camp,and she's put me on the list for next year "in the hope that i join again next year! I ended up leaving in the end. I went on the committee to try and help as they were always complaining that it was the same people doing all the jobs, but it was such a closed shop, and so resistant to change that it was pointless for new folk to try and help, in reality they wanted things just the same. Nowadays I find it easier to pick and choose what events I want to do -afiliated and rc without getting hooked up in the politics.
 
yorksG said:
Can I just say that the reason the committee members are probably on the list before other members is that they are organising the camps! There are no perks to being a committee member, believe me, spending the day before a show setting it up (never mind organising the rings, ordering the rosettes, persuading judges to attend etc,etc,) is not anyones idea of a favourite pasttime. I am beginning to think that many riders think that riding clubs are like private companies, they are not, I dread to think how much the woman hours spent by our committee would add up to if we charged a going rate for our time.
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I couldn't agree with you more! A lot of people seem to think that shows just 'happen' and never give a thought to all the hard work the committee has put in. We have run 7 dressage shows, a showing show, quiz night and a couple of SJ this year and are heartily looking forward to a couple of months off after our dressage final next month.
To go back to OP - we have found numbers have been down a bit this year but not horrendously. What works for us is having a dressage league - open to members and non members but non members pay significantly more so it is well worth joining. We are lucky though that we have an excellent venue we hire that people seem to like. There does seem to be a lot more unaffiliated dressage taking place though some venues charge silly prices for entries - we have held our entry fees for the last few years. We also run schooling sessions ( at a different venue) which are also very popular and have encouraged new members to join. We have found social events generally to be poorly attended except for the quiz (when we changed from purely a horsey quiz to general knowledge attendance shot up!). Our main problem is getting people to join the committee!
Hope this helps.
 
I am on the border of three Riding Clubs and again the one with the better website certainly attracts my attention. I I keep fluttering between joining or not as 3 things
1) I simply can't do weekends - I am an instructor myself and own a R/S and there is no hope of sneaky off !
2) I am more interested in the dressage - this one particular club has a strong dressage team but always uses the same three instructors and there is NO WAY that I will join a training session with one particular person as I could teach her more than she could me - waste of time and money. but they usr her a lot!
3) Although I am more than willing to help out and do my bit - my work has to come first and I feel that I couldn't be reliable enough. I teach all weekend and Tues - Fri till 9pm in the evening. Which I couldn't do my bit it's not fair on everyone else. I would however be willing to pay an extra sub to help fund to pay for extra staff in my place.
 
As many of the people on here have said they don't have transport, so I chose my RC based purely on location! Try going to all the yards in 'hacking distance' of where your club holds events and put up some flyers!
Also the lady on our yard with transport has picked a RC over an hour away when there are 3+ a lot nearer, this is for a few reasons: firstly you don't have to do a volunteering day per year, maybe perks/reduced rates for people who do a day rather than making it compulsory? secondly there is a lot of different classes and the workers and showing are BOTH competitive, plenty of RCs are strongly focused on one thing and leave the others e.g. very showy with rubbish SJ. Maybe try and improve on the weaker rings?
These are just some suggestions anyway! hope they are helpful!
 
My mum's looking to join a riding club, and she says she'd like there to be Flatwork, SJ and XC on the same day, like in the pony club!
 
We had been going to RC shows for a few years now but didn't join as all they did was shows and nothing else. However the committee changed last year and now they do loads more, 2 lessons a month, one SJ and one flatwork, both respectable RIs. Lots of social events and plan to do lessons of the winter. So I voted with my money and joined, their numbers have increased this year and have been able to plough more money into the clubs facilities.
Good luck with your club it sounds great, it may just been the crunch as others have said.

Liz
 
Thanks for all your ideas... it seems we're doing a lot of of them already (including the dog show with agility, bbq and camp night where we camp in the club field) and a few other silly things.) We don't struggle for members, just getting them to our events. They seem to join and then not turn up. We've done a questionnaire and just had answers from the people who do attend telling us they like everything, not the people who don't telling us why not! We've also encouraged people to e-mail or phone one member of the committe (me) with ideas and feedback - again, nothing.

For the last two years we've produced a yearbook with all the dates for the year and all the inof people need about the club in there. There are pull out forms for registering interest for the teams in there so everybody has an equal chance and we have always said we will enter as many teams as we have intererest for - we normally manage 2 senior teams and 1 or 2 junior for most competitions and they ususally do pretty well. I think this is part of our problem as other clubs in the area resent us for this so maybe don't supoprt our events in the same way that we would theirs?

Forms for camp and weekends away are also in there, everybody gets them at the same time so all the club has an equal chance, we still get the same people. We try very hard not to be cliquey but I think there's always an element of this just because you see some people more than others.

Maybe we'd be better off not doing the yearbook (it's a lot of time and money) and making our newsletters more frequent?

I'm quite encouraged from your answers that we are doing the right things and we maybe just need to communicate them a bit differently.
 
Another idea- have you got a facebook page? The riding club i'm in does and its a good way to send event reminders out and means people who are attending can say and this is usually posted on their wall so their friends will know etc. Have info on your website still but it gives another branch of communication
 
Annagain, it sounds a great club! Where abouts is it? Personally I like having the yearbook/schedule thing. Our RC leaves it in local tack shops so that non-members can pick them up.

For some reason, all clubs seem to get people that join and don't get involved at all. I guess you can't really do anymore than you are..
 
We're in Cardiff. I think the yearbook sounds like a good idea but in reality the members get it in January, put it one side and forget about it. We're thinking of abandoning it in favour of more regular newsletters. We 'sell' advertising in it to pay for the costs - local feed shops, stallions at stud, farriers etc but it's still an expensive thing to do properly.

Facebook page is a great idea, I'm know loads of members use it as I've had loads of friends requests from them!
 
We've just started a riding club as I was fed up with the local ones. It seems in this area that as soon as you get to October, all the riding clubs shut down, only starting up again come May. Our riding club has scheduled a full season of events running through the winter, we are having a dressage and showjumping league, lectures, demos, clinics, socials etc. Our events are cheaper for members, and membership does not cost a fortune. OH is also offering a 5% discount (sometimes more) off of feed, hay and bedding for riding club members, so a lot of his customers have joined just to get the benefit of that, and are now coming along to shows too. The riding club funds are subsidising venue hire for the winter so that our members are not charged the earth for the luxury of riding indoors.

I have just updated the website, based on what club members wanted - we have a classifieds page, an events page and an up to date list of our venues, and directions and maps of how to get there (link in my profile page).

We held an open evening and asked people what they wanted - we are trying to implement everything suggested.
 
I am in an area with a few riding clubs and have been a member of two. The one I joined last year had clinics with lots of very well respected instructors and entered all the official riding club competitions. Even though it is only a 5 minute journey for me I didn't bother re-joining this year. Personally my aim when joing a riding club is to have fun and learn along the way. I felt that this club was a little too serious amd aimed at better riders who wanted to compete professionally.

This year I have joined a club which is a little further to travel but I absolutely love it. The emphasis is on having fun and making friends. I have done various XC and SJ clinics, competed at dressage and my first ever SJ and I always feel like evryone there is very supportive. I fence judged at their hunter trial and it was such a lovely event, you couldn't be eliminated and were alowed up to 3 refusals at every fence before moving on, which I felt gave the more novicey partnerships a great experience.

Membership is only £13 and for every class/clinic I have entered it has been between £2-£5 cheaper because I'm a member which makes it really worthwhile.

We get a monthly news letter with details of everything that is going on and classified adverts from members, which is a good way of keeping up to date.
 
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