Pony Club Fun in the Sun

They say timing is everything, well for the pony club, the timing has been perfect for the club to host two of its biggest events of the year; the mini ODE in January and the Open Show jumping day in February

Anna Jones, the president of the pony club says “these events are a fabulous way for us to bring the equestrian community together and give our riders the opportunity to test their skills. They are also critical to our fundraising activities so that we can invest back in our riders and facilities. We have been very fortunate for everything to come together so we can run these events.”

One of the highlights of the events this season has been the support and help we have had from the team at Bayleys who are the platinum sponsors of the club. They have been at our grounds at the crack of dawn helping with parking as well as providing much needed gazebos to keep our volunteers in the shade, spot prizes and raffles. The Club is very lucky to have such a supportive community, and our visitors were very impressed to see the Bayleys team welcoming them at the gate!

This year the Pony club has started its Riders Without Horses programme. This is a 10-week programme to introduce those horse crazy enthusiasts to the world of horse ownership, where they learn all about horse management, and the principles of horse ownership and how to look after a pony. It’s been great to see so much interest in this course within the local community, especially as we haven’t been able to run it the past few years because of Covid restrictions.

The Pony Club season is over half-way through with only a handful of rallies left (until the end of daylight savings) and in that time there’s so much to do! So the club is crossing all its fingers and toes that the weather plays ball and the members can enjoy the last few weeks. As usual the season will finish with our Easterthemed rally, with lots of fun and games and of course plenty of chocolate treats!

The local equestrian community has been deeply shocked by the devastation following cyclone Gabrielle and the tragic death of Dave from Vets North. Dave was a fabulous equine vet, very knowledgeable, reassuring and calm in a crisis, and he had a great sense of humour. He will be missed.

It’s been heart-breaking to hear of so many people in the Hawkes Bay losing their horses and livelihood. The next event that we will run will be called the Taste of HOY to pay our respects and will be fundraising this time for Hawkes Bay relief fund. We hope the local community comes out to support us.

By Zoe Chamel