IN THE SADDLE

This month Chipping Pony Club sees two of its members qualify for the National Triathlon Championships and other members embark on a trip to the Isle of Man, writes Megan Conlon. Photography: Diane Marsden and IOM Equine

2019 is a landmark year for the Pony Club as it is celebrating 90 years since it was founded in 1929. To mark this momentous anniversary, the Pony Club have launched themes for each month and this month is all about opportunities.

Chipping Pony Club certainly took this theme and dressed it up like a child on their birthday! The club had a fabulous trip to the Isle of Man (without horses) to participate in the Area Horse and Pony Care and the Area Quiz competitions. It was a brilliant experience for everyone – from the revision and knowledge to gymnastics on the top of the ferry, club members did it all! On the Saturday, in the Horse and Pony Care competition, the junior teams worked diligently with precision and exemplary teamwork. They must have impressed because one of our teams walked away with second place and another team got the prize for Best Teamwork! They really did the club proud and all of their hard work was worth it.

The Saturday afternoon saw a fun-filled trip to the cinema and shopping! After this relaxation, they all had to knuckle down and revise for the competition the next day, when they walked in with heads crammed full of knowledge about all the various horse-related quiz rounds. Chipping members walked out with fifth place! The ferry journey home consisted of a lot of snoozing as they were all thoroughly worn out. In the end, all of the hard work and practices of the past few months really paid off and they couldn’t be happier with the results!

The opportunities theme continued as members travelled to Liverpool to compete in the Area Triathlon. Excellent shooting, swimming and running saw Oliver and Erin qualify for the National Triathlon Championships to be held in Milton Keynes next month. These competitions, as well as achievement badge days, are a great reason to subscribe to Chipping Pony Club as a non-riding member – a new membership that has been introduced nationally this year. Great for those with an interest in horses but not got one to ride.

The horses didn’t get much time off this month as members saddled up for a working rally and a show jumping competition – the effective coaching at the rally paid dividends for all members at the show jumping competition with Olivia taking fourth place out of 72 competitors. More opportunities were offered when some of the members went to ride a mechanical horse based at Midgeland Equestrian Centre, Blackpool. This allowed everyone to perfect their position without having to worry about controlling a horse!

This busy month has provided so many opportunities for Chipping Pony Club and these will definitely continue, whatever the themes are for the following months!

Anyone with a love of horses can have a taster day at any of Chipping’s rallies or just go along and watch.

Contact Chipping’s DC Joanne Conlon 07739 687972 for more details
www.pcuk.org

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