Pony Club Mounted Games. Photo by Leslie Wylie.
Turns out it’s true: Once a Pony Clubber always a Pony Clubber. Joining Pony Club is like inserting a few specific neuroses straight into your DNA. Did you have a visceral reaction to our first post, Six Signs You’re A Pony Club Graduate? Congratulations! You’re in an elite club.
Status courtesy of Stephanie Jones .
And turns out, so many of these telltale indicators are so ingrained that I didn’t even realize they were all thanks to my Pony Club roots. Shout out to Hilltoppers Pony Club, South Region! Here’s eight more signs that are a dead giveaway:
1.“There’s the right way, the wrong way, and the Pony Club way.” — Jessie Wade
2. “You’re one of a select few who know what a ‘turn back’ is.” — Eileen Phethean
3. “Being nicely turned out for every event or clinic. Everything freshly cleaned — tack shiny, even the metal polished. Polishing my boots. Proper standing wraps – lots of padding. Horse spotless and shiny.” — Julia Davies
4. “The way you must twist the reins and secure them with the throat latch to lunge.” — Leslie Stoffel
5. “You see someone sitting down and holding a horse and *shudder*” — Heather MacKenzie
6. “Breakaway, breakaway, breakaway. It’s a wonder we don’t have loose horses all the time but everything we tie to has some element of a breakaway string.” — Trish Morgan
7. “If you pass a trailer on the highway with a little loop of bailing twine blowing in the breeze on the ties, you know you just passed a pony clubber!!” — Jennifer Steadman Galbraith
8. “When you have to wear a belt to the barn, even when you’re just visiting, just in case somebody gets loose.” — Jennifer Mayfield
Nancy Toby also kindly reminded us in the comments that Pony Club is no longer just for those Under 25! For more information on the Horsemasters Program, or to find a club near you, click here.
Go Pony Club!
