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, based on the scores from SVPC Dressage Day (normally held in the spring) and participation in SVPC activities.

Show Jumping
Teams for the Regional Show Jumping Rally will be selected by the club’s rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner, based on the scores from SVPC Show Jumping Day and participation in SVPC activities.

Combined Training
Teams for the D1/D2 and D3-C2 Regional Combined Training Rallies will be selected by the rally coordinator, together with the District Commissioner, based on performance at Camp, the Bittersweet Bowl held during the Spring Horse Trials and participation in SVPC activities.

Quiz
Another fun and educational rally is Know-Down. 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.