Susanna Rodell is a professional journalist, a member of the USPC National Communications Committee, a former Pony Club District Commissioner, and perhaps most importantly a Pony Club mom. Susanna recently contacted us about writing a series of articles about Pony Club. I thought it was a great idea and I am very excited to present the first post in the series. Before I turn the floor over to Susanna, let me just say that in my experience not all Pony Clubs are created equal. There is nothing better than a good Pony Club and the contributions of Pony Club that Susanna is about to discuss are unquestionable, but I was not in Pony Club growing up because my local Pony Club at the time was very political and the coach couldn’t have cared less about eventing. As with anything, do your research and talk with people who are experienced with the organizations in your area before choosing the best path. Now, without further ado, thanks for writing this Susanna and thank you for reading.
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From Susanna:
Sometimes when I’m trying to explain to the sane people in my life – i.e. the ones who are not involved with horses – what Pony Club is, I tell them it’s the nursery for future Olympians. That usually gets their attention, and it has two advantages: one, it’s true. Look at the people who have represented us in international competition on the back of a horse, and it’s totally likely that they are former Pony Clubbers. A VERY abbreviated list: Gina Miles, Amy Tryon, both O’Connors, Stephen Bradley, Bruce Davidson, Becky Holder, Phillip Dutton, Phyllis Dawson … the second advantage is that it cuts off the inevitable question about why it’s called Pony Club, and can you belong if you have a horse? The Brits started it, OK? We just inherited the name from people who affectionately refer to any kid’s mount as a pony.
Most eventing freaks, when you ask them to defend their choice of this ridiculous sport, will cite the thrill of cross-country, the Ultimate Test of the Horse, etc. – but somewhere in there they will usually start talking about Values. Especially those who have experienced certain Other Disciplines, in which a person can compete by getting a trainer to do all the work and then jump on at the last minute, ride into the arena and get all the glory.
Or those whose kids have competed in those Other Disciplines and watched parents and trainers hovering at ringside, or have been told their 10-year-old will never be competitive without a $50,000 horse and a $5,000 saddle.
My kid – a Pony Clubber from the age of 7 (see above) – went off to college last year, got on the school’s riding team and met kids from some of those Other Disciplines who had never tacked up their own horse. “Mama,” she told me breathlessly over the phone, “They wear pearls to their riding lessons!” The coach (a former eventer herself), bless her heart, made those kids learn how to wield a currycomb. “I love Pony Clubbers,” she told me when we first visited the college. “They know so much.”
One thing they know is how to compete as a member of a team, something that comes in really handy, as Gina Miles (graduate of Panache Pony Club) has pointed out, when you get to international competition. I still remember my kid’s first show jumping rally. She was 9, it was 105 in the shade, and it was my first experience of the Pony Club rules: parents drop their kids & ponies off at the barn and then it’s Good-bye Mama. We were not allowed to SPEAK to our kids, much less hover around the barn. But they had their team-mates, and a cadre of older kids and adults who kept their eye on them to make sure everyone was safe.
Looking after the ponies in the barns, grooming, tacking up, appearing at the right time for their rounds – it was all up to the kids. And guess what? They did it. Here was the result:
Woo-hoo — two clean rounds, for the glory of the team. Meanwhile, one of her teammates was eliminated, and spent the rest of the rally helping the other kids. Over the course of the day she spotted a pony who looked distressed and raised the alarm. Turned out it was dehydrated. They gave her a special award for that — I think they made it up on the spot.
Meanwhile, the horse management judges patrolled the barns. In a Pony Club rally, you can be the best rider on the day, but if you leave your pony without water, or your tack room is a mess and you don’t have a proper First Aid kit on hand, you lose. You get penalty points for that stuff. Each team has a non-riding member, a Stable Manager – kind of a chef d’equipe – who helps with the logistics. These kids can make or break a team. Sound familiar?
Call me prejudiced, but I reckon it’s no accident that so many of our international competitors started as Pony Clubbers. Speaking of which, have a look at the recently announced Pan Am short list, on which most of the inhabitants have Pony Club in their resumes:
Emily Beshear
Hannah Sue Burnett: Long Run Pony Club
Anna Collier: Columbia Winds Pony Club
Bruce Davidson Jr.: Mr. Stewart’s Cheshire Foxhounds Pony Club
Jonathan Holling: Racine County Pony Club
Shannon Lilley
Boyd Martin: Forest Hills Pony Club (Australia)
Maxance McManamy: CURRENT MEMBER, Black Oaks Pony Club
Michael Pollard: Greenville Foothills Pony Club
Kristin Schmolze
Alexandra Slusher: Sierra Gold Pony Club
Tamra Smith: Pony Club mom!
Lynn Symansky: Difficult Run Pony Club
Jolie Wentworth
Sharon White
Ranked Substitutes as of Aug. 15, 2011:
1. Kevin Keane
2. Jennifer Taxay Kelly
3. Matt Flynn: Seneca Valley Pony Club
By the way, Boyd Martin’s mount, Cold Harbor, is owned by Manny and Dana Diemer, who are longtime Pony Club parents, officers and supporters.
If I’ve missed anyone, I apologize – this is the latest info I could get. But you get the point. Somewhere down the road I’ll produce a similar list of Rolex contenders.
Know a kid with Rolex dreams? Sign ’em up for Pony Club.
Go Pony Club and Go Eventing!!!!!
