What's involved in a family pony class?

[little_critter]

I'm hoping to take my mare to our first show in a few weeks. I suspect she'd be good in the family pony class; she's 14.1hh, very good natured, good to handle, good to ride but not a 'plod'.
What's usually required in a family pony/horse class? (the schedule says rider can be any age so I don't need to kidnap a child!)

 

[Molly'sMama]

Well depends i think..some just want walk , trot , canter ,individual show , like a normal ridden class, others a small x pole to jump .some want you to walk past a plastic bag or pick up a cup and give it to a steward.
And yes these were all family pony , im not getting it confused with handy pony !

 

[little_critter]

Ok - so this really would be my first show - what would you usually do in an individual show? Is it walk away, trot back past judge then show trot & canter on both reins?

Was also thinking of doing CR jumping for a laugh, my girly is a real tryer and will get me over practically anything up to 3' but I'm very disorganised between jumps so there might be a lot of trotting around looking lost!

The other week my instructor said "you've not jumped a course for a while have you?" Obviously it shows!

 

[hayinamanger]

I've seen ponies in this class ridden by both adults and children, swapping in the line-up. As part of their individual show, some riders will dismount, pick up pony's feet, swing on his tail, crawl underneath his belly (probably against health & safety regs these days) mount on the off side, round the world...that sort of thing.

 

[MissSBird]

When judging this class I've asked riders to do the following, though not all within the same class. I tend to tailor exactly what I'm going to ask riders to do to the horses and riders presented on the day. The last one I need was an adult and 2 older teens, so I had no concerns asking them for a gallop. Prior to that the class had a just off lead rein child, so I selected the tasks I felt a child of that age could manage.

Be prepared for anything though!

Tasks:

Personal show with a little walk, then trot and canter on the same reins. No real need for walk away trot back as conformation/paces arn't being judged in family pony.

An extension - just want to see obedient go forward and come back

A gallop - want to see the pony can gallop and come back when asked

Dismount/remount on the wrong side - I don't fuss whether they remount from ground, steps or a leg up. I just want to see the pony stands still.

Pick up a foot - want to see obliging well trained horse

Tighten the girth - again, want to see a nice horse that doesn't pull faces/threaten to bite

Halt infront of a white trotting pole, then walk over it - test for white markings and junction behaviour on roads

Trot between two traffic cones - testing road safety