Seneca Valley Pony Club
Seneca Valley Pony Club is an educational organization, dedicated to its members: the Pony Clubbers and the Pony Club Ponies and Horses. Our hope, as parents, volunteers and believers, is that through the club, our children will learn and grow together in the common experience of horsemanship, team spirit, cooperation, and in their mutual love for the loyal, admirable friend to us all, the horse.
Seneca Valley Pony Club has over 30 members and over 75 parents as sponsors and volunteers. The members come from many areas around the Washington, D.C.. vicinity in (but not limited to) Montgomery County, Maryland. We are grateful for the parents that help to make the logistics of our Pony Club work. Through their dedication of time and effort, the children go to events, lessons, rallies and through their hard work on the field we are able hold our yearly spring and fall trials.
Seneca Valley Pony Club is a member of the local region called the Capital Region and are also members of our parent club the United States Pony Club. The USPC purports the principles, beliefs and policy frameworks with which we direct our Club's activities.
SVPC participates in competitions with the other Pony Clubs within the Capital Region. These competitions are called rallies, each with its own focus, be it dressage, show jumping, games, eventing, tetrathlon, polocrosse and quiz. Once a year, at the United States Pony Club National Rally, the pony clubbers that qualify from the local regions, form teams and compete in the national competition. This is a very exciting event!
Seneca Valley Pony Club has been graciously allowed to use Bittersweet Field in Poolesville Md., the property of the Knight Kiplinger family. The Seneca Valley pony clubbers cross country school at Bittersweet. We also sponsor two main events each spring and fall at Bittersweet Field. These events are open to the public and are called the Seneca Valley Horse Trials.They help fund our pony club.
Also included in the SVPC year events are lessons for members. The lessons are offered with great trainers, dedicated to the "philosophy of pony club". We are ever grateful to these instructors who give of their time to promote the sense of accomplishment and well being that horsemanship brings.
These pages are meant to host information for our pony clubbers, the parents, the region, and first time visitors wondering what a pony club is all about.
Seneca Valley Pony Club has over 30 members and over 75 parents as sponsors and volunteers. The members come from many areas around the Washington, D.C.. vicinity in (but not limited to) Montgomery County, Maryland. We are grateful for the parents that help to make the logistics of our Pony Club work. Through their dedication of time and effort, the children go to events, lessons, rallies and through their hard work on the field we are able hold our yearly spring and fall trials.
Seneca Valley Pony Club is a member of the local region called the Capital Region and are also members of our parent club the United States Pony Club. The USPC purports the principles, beliefs and policy frameworks with which we direct our Club's activities.
SVPC participates in competitions with the other Pony Clubs within the Capital Region. These competitions are called rallies, each with its own focus, be it dressage, show jumping, games, eventing, tetrathlon, polocrosse and quiz. Once a year, at the United States Pony Club National Rally, the pony clubbers that qualify from the local regions, form teams and compete in the national competition. This is a very exciting event!
Seneca Valley Pony Club has been graciously allowed to use Bittersweet Field in Poolesville Md., the property of the Knight Kiplinger family. The Seneca Valley pony clubbers cross country school at Bittersweet. We also sponsor two main events each spring and fall at Bittersweet Field. These events are open to the public and are called the Seneca Valley Horse Trials.They help fund our pony club.
Also included in the SVPC year events are lessons for members. The lessons are offered with great trainers, dedicated to the "philosophy of pony club". We are ever grateful to these instructors who give of their time to promote the sense of accomplishment and well being that horsemanship brings.
These pages are meant to host information for our pony clubbers, the parents, the region, and first time visitors wondering what a pony club is all about.
Here’s a great article about Pony Club from USEventing magazine!
Do you only use ponies?
"Pony" is only a figure of speech and actually refers to the size and age of the members not the size of the mounts. Ponies and horses of any size are equally welcome. However, no stallions please and no mounts younger than 5 years.
Do you have to own your own pony?
No, you don’t have to own a pony to join pony club. However, to take full advantage of pony club activities, it is recommended that you have access to a pony/horse. This means if a member can beg, borrow, or lease a mount and somehow get it to the mounted activities, the member can participate in all of our mounted activities, lessons, clinics, and competitions.
Note: If you do have access to a borrowed pony or free leased pony, be sure and show your appreciation to the owner. Keeping ponies is an expense activity and any owner would appreciate being given some $$$ to help pay for the vet, the farrier, the feed and hay man, etc. Offering to help clip, groom, or wash the pony, clean stalls, or feed while the owner is away, etc. are also good ways to show your appreciation.
What do parents do?
Basically everything pony club is a volunteer organization and without our parents volunteering we would not have a pony club. Now that does not mean parents have to know something about ponies. There are lots of families where the kids know more about horse care and horsemanship than the parents. There are plenty of things non-horsy parents can do to help out at the local club. Can you paint a jump, flip a hamburger, provide food for a food booth, sell items for fundraisers, chaperone a team????? the list is endless. Just ask your DC or other club officers what needs to be done. After they recovered from the shock of being asked, I am sure they can come up with a list that has a task you would be interested in doing. Don’t wait for the DC to ask you be PRO-ACTIVE!!!! Volunteering can be fun. Pony Club people are the best and most interesting people around. Getting involved in your kid’s pony club can be just as rewarding for the parent as the kids.
The Goals of Pony Club
Lest we forget in the emotional excitement of competitions or in the trauma of A and B testing just what Pony Club is all about, let me remind you that it is not to make Olympic riders, though we will take great pride in any Pony Club member who can reach that height; it is not to turn out highly polished riders mounted on expensive horses, though we all admire the picture when treated to it; it is not to turn every child into an A rider or even a B. It is to provide every child with a backyard horse or pony the opportunity to develop his skill in riding and horse-care to the point where he is a proficient C. It is to instill in him a love for horses and an ability to care for and enjoy horses for the rest of his life and through this contribute to his development as a well-rounded, self-disciplined and responsible citizen. If we have done these things, we will have done our job. Comments on the goals of Pony Club by Rufus Wesson, USPC President from 1970-1972:
Rallies are competition among the various clubs that constitute the Capital Region. The SVPC participates in dressage, show jumping, combined training and games rallies each year. Significantly, teams from each club, rather than individuals, compete against each other. The SVPC encourages participation by all members at rallies.
Games
One of the most interesting and fun rallies in which the club participates is the annual games rally. These games consist of a series of events that emphasize control of horses and ponies, as well as athletic abilities of riders. Teams are selected by the games coaches.
Dressage
Teams for the Regional Dressage Rally will be selected by the club’s rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner.
Show Jumping
Teams for the Regional Show Jumping Rally will be selected by the club’s rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner.
Eventing
Teams for the Regional Eventing Rally will be selected by the club's rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner.
Quiz
Another fun and educational rally is Quiz rally. Here knowledge obtained from club Quiz prep sessions, guest speakers and other sources is applied in a rally setting. Teams are arranged by rating level, and by the rally coordinator and the District Commissioner.
Polocrosse
Teams of 3 riders and their mounts are tested in a game of horsemanship and ball handling skills.
Tetrathlon
A multi-discipline event consisting of : Show Jumping, swimming, cross country running and shooting.
Do you only use ponies?
"Pony" is only a figure of speech and actually refers to the size and age of the members not the size of the mounts. Ponies and horses of any size are equally welcome. However, no stallions please and no mounts younger than 5 years.
Do you have to own your own pony?
No, you don’t have to own a pony to join pony club. However, to take full advantage of pony club activities, it is recommended that you have access to a pony/horse. This means if a member can beg, borrow, or lease a mount and somehow get it to the mounted activities, the member can participate in all of our mounted activities, lessons, clinics, and competitions.
Note: If you do have access to a borrowed pony or free leased pony, be sure and show your appreciation to the owner. Keeping ponies is an expense activity and any owner would appreciate being given some $$$ to help pay for the vet, the farrier, the feed and hay man, etc. Offering to help clip, groom, or wash the pony, clean stalls, or feed while the owner is away, etc. are also good ways to show your appreciation.
What do parents do?
Basically everything pony club is a volunteer organization and without our parents volunteering we would not have a pony club. Now that does not mean parents have to know something about ponies. There are lots of families where the kids know more about horse care and horsemanship than the parents. There are plenty of things non-horsy parents can do to help out at the local club. Can you paint a jump, flip a hamburger, provide food for a food booth, sell items for fundraisers, chaperone a team????? the list is endless. Just ask your DC or other club officers what needs to be done. After they recovered from the shock of being asked, I am sure they can come up with a list that has a task you would be interested in doing. Don’t wait for the DC to ask you be PRO-ACTIVE!!!! Volunteering can be fun. Pony Club people are the best and most interesting people around. Getting involved in your kid’s pony club can be just as rewarding for the parent as the kids.
The Goals of Pony Club
Lest we forget in the emotional excitement of competitions or in the trauma of A and B testing just what Pony Club is all about, let me remind you that it is not to make Olympic riders, though we will take great pride in any Pony Club member who can reach that height; it is not to turn out highly polished riders mounted on expensive horses, though we all admire the picture when treated to it; it is not to turn every child into an A rider or even a B. It is to provide every child with a backyard horse or pony the opportunity to develop his skill in riding and horse-care to the point where he is a proficient C. It is to instill in him a love for horses and an ability to care for and enjoy horses for the rest of his life and through this contribute to his development as a well-rounded, self-disciplined and responsible citizen. If we have done these things, we will have done our job. Comments on the goals of Pony Club by Rufus Wesson, USPC President from 1970-1972:
Rallies are competition among the various clubs that constitute the Capital Region. The SVPC participates in dressage, show jumping, combined training and games rallies each year. Significantly, teams from each club, rather than individuals, compete against each other. The SVPC encourages participation by all members at rallies.
Games
One of the most interesting and fun rallies in which the club participates is the annual games rally. These games consist of a series of events that emphasize control of horses and ponies, as well as athletic abilities of riders. Teams are selected by the games coaches.
Dressage
Teams for the Regional Dressage Rally will be selected by the club’s rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner.
Show Jumping
Teams for the Regional Show Jumping Rally will be selected by the club’s rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner.
Eventing
Teams for the Regional Eventing Rally will be selected by the club's rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner.
Quiz
Another fun and educational rally is Quiz rally. Here knowledge obtained from club Quiz prep sessions, guest speakers and other sources is applied in a rally setting. Teams are arranged by rating level, and by the rally coordinator and the District Commissioner.
Polocrosse
Teams of 3 riders and their mounts are tested in a game of horsemanship and ball handling skills.
Tetrathlon
A multi-discipline event consisting of : Show Jumping, swimming, cross country running and shooting.