HORSEPLAY: Peninsula pony clubs hold first trail event

I’M PUTTING THIS in my “learn something new every day” file: Over the weekend, I learned U.S. Pony Club has added Western Trail and Western Dressage to its previously all-English-style riding disciplines, including the most popular classic styles of Dressage and Hunter Seat Equitation.

I learned it Sunday afternoon while catching the tail end of Equitese Pony Club’s Trail Rally, held at Jeffco Fairgrounds. Club leader Emma Hopkins confirmed Pony Club has extended its disciplines to include Western Trail and Dressage tracks. She said a “Track is the path that you’re on for moving up the levels.”

As a Northwest Region district commissioner and Equitese Club leader, Hopkins, who, after gaining permission for her club to host either a Dressage or Trail Rally, choose Trail. From there, she began organizing the event by first going to the Pony Club website to view a step-by-step process of what she needed to do.

“I went to the website and made a Google form for people to sign up, figured out pricing, found a judge, found a clinician, found an announcer and the venue,” she said.

USPC competitions are known as Rallies. They provide members with the opportunity to showcase their expertise in both Horse Management and riding. Participants are organized into teams that can include members of varying ages and skill levels and clubs to compete collectively in all disciplines. A team typically consists of three or four mounted members and one stable manager who assists in various aspects of the competition.

Hopkins, who owns Bay Acres Horse Boarding and Training Facility in Chimacum, said the weekend’s event had a good turnout, with 22 riders attending the open-to-all-riders trail clinic, and the club members-only Rally had four teams of five members competing — 16 horses total, plus one stable manager.

Maplewood club leader Krista Winslow told me the weekend was exciting, in that it was, “the first ever Trail Rally that Pony Club put on in this region (Northwest).” Her daughter Emily Winslow shared the entire weekend was “tiring, but very fun.”

I’ll bet she was tired after camping at the fairgrounds, participating in the rally and the previous day’s trail clinic, which included familiarizing horse and rider with going through, over and around obstacles that might be encountered on a working ranch; opening and closing gates, going over bridges, walking through water (or walking calmly over a blue tarp), wood poles either raised or on the ground, a backing obstacle and other tasks.

Pony clubs are focused on continually gaining greater horsemanship knowledge and skills, as well as working as a team to achieve goals. To receive a certification at a new level, the member must showcase their knowledge, based on the standards of proficiency for that level, for both horse management and riding. Hopkins said everyone new starts off unrated, and as their skills grow, riders can move up levels of certification. Levels of certification start at the D level (beginner), progress to the C level (intermediate), then to the B level, and the A level indicates you are an advanced equestrian.

I don’t know nearly as much about Pony Club as I should, so I highly recommend going to the US Pony Club website for more information about all the riding styles and everything Pony Club offers at www.ponyclub.org.

Participating Pony Clubs were: Equitese (Port Townsend, Jefferson County), Woodbrook Hunt (Lakewood, Pierce County), Emerald Hills (Bellevue and Vicinity), Maplewood (Enumclaw, King County) and Ranahan (Port Angeles, Clallam County).

Trail rally team awards:

1st — Emerald Hills/Woodbrook Hunt Seniors

2nd — Maplewood/Ranahan/Woodbrook Hunt Juniors

3rd — Equitese/Maplewood Seniors

4th — Equitese Juniors

For more information, visit https://northwest.ponyclub.org

On Aug. 8-10, be sure to attend JeffCo Fair to see 4-H and pony club members compete in horse events.

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Karen Griffiths’ column, Peninsula Horseplay, appears the second and fourth Saturday of each month.

If you have a horse event, clinic or seminar you would like listed, email Griffiths at kbg@olympus.net at least two weeks in advance. You can also call her at 360-460-6299.