Season's Greetings!

RVPC is in a slow time of year right now, but it won't be long before we're meeting weekly to practice for Quiz Rally! Cathy and Ellen are meeting within the next week to set the calendar for 2010 so watch this space and our calendar for updates as soon as the dates are set. We hope to start Quiz practice the first week in January.

Also, we will have our club's annual Awards Potluck and Annual Meeting in January - date, time, and location TBA soon!

Meanwhile, I hope all of you will be able to spend lots of time with your ponies and horses while you're off from school for the holidays. Here's hoping the weather cooperates!

Rating Success

Major congratulations to our newest C2 members: Stephanie Schirmer and Laurel Gates! Their hard work and practice paid off and we are proud of them for their efforts! Look for them to be even more active as member-leaders in our club in the years to come. Way to go, girls!

Special Announcement

Guess what?!? The Gaebes (at least Kathleen and Paige) are returning to America! We are so excited to have them back with us (joining Monica) as active sponsor and members of our club. We will have to celebrate their return with some sort of festive occasion... Welcome back, Paige and Kathleen!

Upcoming Events for RVPC

Hi All! We've got several things going on for our club over the next two weeks, and they can all be found in the calendar to the left. But it might be helpful to see it in a list:

Saturday, October 24: Annual Sponsors Meeting & Unmounted Meeting with Monica (GHPEC)
Sunday, October 25: Halloween Fun Show (GHPEC)
Sunday, October 25, 1 - 3 PM: Bandaging Clinic with Kaelin (GHPEC - last barn)
Saturday, October 31: Ratings - Knowledge & Record Books (Ellen's house; times TBD)
Sunday, November 1, 9 AM - 5 PM: Ratings - Riding/Longeing portion (GHPEC)
Saturday, November 7: Annual Regional Council Meeting (VHC)
Sunday, November 15: Mounted Meeting with Jen (GHPEC)
Sunday, November 22: Mounted Meeting with Stacey (GHPEC)

And that will do it for the year for our club! Cathy and Ellen will put our heads together in December to map out the calendar for 2010 and let you know when the January Sponsors Meeting will be, and when and where the UMMs will be held.

October 11 BREA/RVPC Jumper Show & Hylton Classic XC Derby

We had a wonderful day at our inaugural BREA/RVPC Jumper Show & Hylton Classic XC Derby! The weather cooperated and everyone seemed to have a really good day. We learned a lot about this type of show - we'd never run one before - and are ready to do it again next year if BREA is interested. Follow the link to find the show results.

New Show: Jumper Show & XC Derby on October 11

RVPC has agreed to co-sponsor (with BREA) a new show format at GHEPC on Sunday, October 11. It will be a jumper show, with classes sanctioned by BRHF, with Stakes classes with cash prizes for winners! There will also be a Cross Country Derby that will include stadium and cross country fences together on the same course. It sounds like a lot of fun! And RVPC will split the proceeds with BREA. We will need volunteers to help out at this show, so let Ellen know if you can help out! You can also help set up before-hand, and plan to ride in the show that day.

For details on this show and an entry form, click here.

Weekend Clinics Report

Hi Everyone!

Last weekend RVPC hosted a regional Standards & Ratings Clinic on Saturday at Green Hill. It was quite well attended and I think a lot was learned. Thank you so much to Sarah Morgan for teaching the clinic, and especially to Emily Hairfield for teaching the demo riders! And a special thank you to all those demo riders - it was a hot day and lots of people were watching you ride and learn and I know that is not the easiest of situations. We could not have done it without you, and we all really appreciate your help with this clinic.

On Sunday, RVPC sponsored a C1/C2 Rating Prep Clinic, also at Green Hill, and also taught by Sarah Morgan. We had 5 C1 candidates and 2 mounted C2 candidates and 1 unmounted C2 candidate (her borrowed horse got sold, sadly), and Sarah gave those candidates a wonderful day of mounted and longeing instruction. Kaelin C., local B-rated pony clubber, came in to teach bandaging and go over record books. She also brought her young horse and gave a very informative longeing demonstration, while Sarah discussed what we were all seeing. These candidates now have a strong indication of where they are in the rating range and what they need to do to be ready for their next rating. Thank you to all the parents who helped make this day happen with hard work setting up and putting away jumps! We hope to do another clinic like this in the spring.

Standards & Rating Clinic

RVPC invites all instructors and examiners for Pony Club to attend the upcoming Standards & Ratings Clinic at GHPEC on September 12. This clinic is offered every few years to keep parents, members, and instructors up to date on the riding Standards of each rating level. It is a very informative clinic.

The information and registration form for this clinic can be found here.

Members of RVPC are expected to participate as demo riders, and parents of RVPC members are expected to help host the clinic.

RVPC Benefit Show - July 19!

Our show was a success! Thank you so much to all the pony clubbers and their parents and friends who worked so hard to make this show happen, especially Adele and Stephanie. And a huge thank you to the competitors who came out to support us! We would love to hear from you if you have any suggestions for how we can improve this show for next year.

We will post show results soon right here!

Show Jumping Rally Results

Wow! Our club rocked at Show Jumping Rally at the Virginia Horse Center on June 13-14! Our club fielded two teams: RVPC Blue was Cat, Cayse S., Alyssa, and Erin, with Casey K. as Stable Manager; and RVPC Red was Monica, Paige, Stephanie, and Laurel, with Anna as SM. There were 17 teams there and our members really shined. Jen and Holly did wonderful coaching jobs, and a good time was had by all.

Team Results:
Team Horse Management: RVPC Red came in 12th and RVPC Blue came in 9th!
Team Overall: RVPC Blue came in 5th, and RVPC Red came in 1st!!! Woo hoo!

Individual Results:
2'3" - 2'6": Laurel was third!
DHR (2'9" - 3'0"): Cayse was first, Cat was second, and Stephanie was fourth!
Horse 2 (3'0" - 3'6"): Paige was first!
Horse 3 (3'3" - 3'9"): Monica came in first!
Equitation: Stephanie won her division, Paige won her division, and Monica won hers!

Click here to see the entire rally results. Way to go everyone for a job well done!!

Work Day at GHPEC

There will be a work day at Green Hill Park Equestrian Center on Thursday, July 16, at 5:30 PM. We will be clearing out the jump area, throwing away broken pieces and loading the single standards onto our newest jump trailer! We will work for an hour or two, so if folks want to stay for a pot luck after we work, bring a dish to share. We could even probably set up some sort of Mounted Meeting before the work day if there is enough interest, so email Ellen if this appeals to you and she will work on setting something up!

Event Rally Results Announced

Congratulations to the RVPC/DRPC team who won FIRST place in Horse Management at Event Rally! This team of Cat, Laurel, Erin (DRPC), and Cayse as SM triumphed over 16 other teams to take this honor. We are very proud of them, and Cayse won the coveted Dorothy Renfro Horse Management Trophy, awarded every year at Event Rally to the SM of the winning team. What is even more gratifying is that this is the second year in a row that a member of RVPC has won this trophy (Stephanie won it last year)! Something to be proud of, indeed!

Stephanie was the SM for the second-placed team, so RVPC apparently rocks in SM these days!

In addition, the RVPC/DRPC team came in 4th in the Overall placings, which includes the riding scores. (Stephanie's team won.) Woo hoo!

Both Laurel and Cat qualified for Championships. Laurel plans to attend as a rider, and Cat will go as Laurel's team's SM. We will anticipate a wonderful experience for both girls!

Event Rally

Well, we don't know all the final results yet (there was a scoring glitch and they finally just sent us all home and said they'd email us), but we think our team (Laurel, Cat, Cayse as the SM, and Erin from Difficult Run PC) came in 6th out of 17 teams in overall scoring. So we're pretty proud of that! We're still waiting on the official team HM results; we think we're pretty high up there but don't know for sure yet. I'll post official results here as soon as I have them.

Our club and parents showed their pride with their new RVPC ball caps! I can order them in batches of 6 so let me know if you want one (they're $12 each). They're white with a navy "sandwich" bill, with "RVPC" in navy on the front. Snazzy!

And Stephanie was the SM for the 1st-placed overall team - go Steph! Keeping up her rep as an incredible SM!

Today's MM is Canceled

Due to too much rain, we have canceled the Mounted Meeting scheduled for today, May 9. Maybe someday the rain will stop and we can go out to play again. It sure is good for growing hay, though!

Rating Day Results

Congratulations to Leah and Shannon for earning their D1 ratings today! And to Erin, Anna, and Emmalee for earning both their D1s and their D2s today! Everyone did a wonderful job and worked very hard, including the parents putting away all the jumps! And a big thank you to Monica, Cat, and Cayse S. for their efforts as examiners. I was proud of our club today!

Rating Today is ON!

We are going to dodge the rain drops and go ahead with the rating! See you at GHPEC at 1 PM!

Mounted Meeting and Rating Today

Well, we've canceled today's mounted meeting due to this morning's weather, but we have not canceled the rating. We will wait until 11 AM to make a final call on that based on what the weather radar looks like. We're planning on doing it even if we have scattered showers, but we are trying to avoid thunderstorms! So - update at 11 AM!

Spring Frolic Report

Hi Everyone!

This year's Spring Frolic was the best yet! All of our competitors were so cheerful and positive throughout the day and expressed their appreciation at our hard work and well-run show. Thank you to all RVPC members and parents for everything you did to make this fundraiser so successful. I would especially like to thank Kathleen for her amazing secretary skills and Cathy for her fantastic management abilities!

The results of the show can be found just below this note.

Attention Spring Frolic Competitors!

Hi Everyone! A link to this year's ride times for the Spring Frolic is posted to the left. Please check it out to find out when you (or your friend, or student, or child, or parent) rides this Saturday.

It looks like the weather will cooperate with us with hopefully no rain and just a few clouds.

Combined Test competitors, make sure to figure out when to walk your stadium course as it may need to be before you do your dressage test. The course will be open for walking before the jumping starts at 9 AM and between each division during the course change period.

When you enter the ring for stadium jumping, be sure to tell the judge and scribe your number. If you have also entered the extra Clear Round Jumping rounds, your first round will count as your Combined Test round, and the second time you jump the course will be your extra round. You may jump in any order any time during your division's alloted time in the stadium ring. Just be sure to tell the judge and scribe your number.

Thanks to all of your for your support of Roanoke Valley Pony Club! See you Saturday!

Looking for something to do with your equine partner?

Check out the "Helpful Links" section below - lots of these links feature calendars of equestrian happenings - competitions, clinics, etc. Have fun!

Dressage Tests

Hi Guys!

I have now added links to the Dressage tests under "Forms" on the left-hand side of this page under the calendar. Thanks to Emmalee for pointing out that I needed to include them here!

If you have trouble with any of the links, please let me know. On some of them you might have to scroll down to find the download that you are looking for.

Have a great ride!
~Ellen

Note from Ellen

Hi Guys!

The Mounted Meeting today was great! We also had several people stop by who were interested in joining our Pony Club, and I appreciate everyone's friendliness and willingness to answer questions. You all represented RVPC very well! Thanks to Emmy H. and Casey K. for teaching.

Check out "In the Spotlight" to the left of this note. The pictures from today's MM are there.

Reminders:

1. If you would like to attend Highlands Pony Club's MM next Sunday, March 29, please RSVP as soon as you can to Debbie W. (dewilso2@vt.edu) and Lennie A. (ricanderton@msn.com) and let them know what your rating level is. Directions to Bedlam Manor Farm (where they hold their meetings) are on our calendar to the left if you click on this item on March 29.

2. There will be a Rating Prep at our next MM (April 5) for our new members who have never rated before. Margaux L. will teach and she will help you know what to expect and make sure you're on track to be ready. She will work with you around your ride time for the Ride-A-Test, so don't forget to RSVP to Laura and Cathy so you can be sure to get a ride time with the dressage judge.

RVPC Open House: March 22

Please plan to attend our Open House on Sunday, March 22, at Green Hill Park Equestrian Center. We'll start at noon for a pot luck meal and then start our Mounted Meeting at 1 PM. Members should be dressed appropriately and ready to meet new folks and answer any questions anyone might have for them. People interested in our club, please feel welcome to come and share a meal and ask questions and meet people and watch a lesson or two!

Of course it's still iffy weather out there, so we'll make the call by Saturday afternoon if we need to cancel this meeting. If so, the make-up date will be April 5, same time and location. I'll post here if the meeting does get canceled.

Members, be sure to RSVP to both Laura and Cathy THIS WEEK for this meeting!

Quiz Rally Results

Way to go RVPCers! Our Rising Stars team (Shannon and Leah scrambled with two members of Oakside Stables) came in second in their division, and our Senior D team (Emmalee, Erin, and Anna scrambled with one member of Oakside Stables) came in 10th in their division. We are so proud of all of you - it was everyone's first time at any Rally, and you guys represented our club quite well!

Dressage Rally, Anyone?

Hi guys! It's time to decide whether or not you want to attend Dressage Rally. It's April 18-19 at the Virginia Horse Center (VHC) and the deadline to get your rally paperwork to Adele is March 13. To get your paperwork, look below the calendar on the left side of this page under "Forms" and click on "All Rally Information". This will take you to the regional rally page and all the forms you need are there.

This is a great rally for all pony clubbers - they do have a Rising Stars division, so every single one of you can attend if you want! And each team will need a stable manager, so if you have been to at least one rally before, do think about being SM for our team(s).

Any questions? Email Cathy or Adele. Have fun!

Roanoke Valley Pony Club

Welcome to RVPC's new web site! It's a work in progress at this point, so suggestions from club members are welcome. Have a look around the page and let me know what you think!

~Ellen

Kudos To...

*Stephanie, Laurel, and Julia for 1st place overall team and 2nd place HM team placings in their Beginner Novice division at the Carolina Region Event Rally!

*Leah for 2nd place HM team in the Rising Star division at Dressage Rally!

*Stephanie, Laurel, Julia, and Cayse (SM) for 10th place HM team at Dressage Rally!

* Alyssa, Erin, Molly, and Paige (SM) for 9th place HM team at Dressage Rally!

*Leah for 3rd place in Intro A and 2nd place in Intro B at Dressage Rally!

*Laurel for 1st place in Intro B and 1st place in Training Level 1 at Dressage Rally!

* Alyssa for 2nd place in Training Level 1 and 3rd place in Training Level 3 at Dressage Rally!

* Julia for 1st place in Training Level 2, 4th place in Training Level 4, and 4th place in the Musical Kur at Dressage Rally!

* Stephanie for 6th place in Training Level 2 at Dressage Rally!

* Molly for 2nd place in Training Level 4 (twice!) and 1st place in First Level 1 at Dressage Rally!

* Laurel & Stephanie for 1st place in the Costume Pas de Deux at Dressage Rally!

*Congratulations to Leah's Quiz Rally team (Roanoke Valley, Highlands, Sinking Creek, and Crescent Bay) who won FIRST PLACE in their division! We are so proud of you, Leah!

Mission Statement

The mission of the United States Pony Club is to provide a program for youth that teaches riding, mounted sports, and the care of horses and ponies, thereby developing responsibility, moral judgment, leadership, and self-confidence.

Guiding Beliefs

  • USPC is an educational organization which progressively develops the well rounded horseperson.
  • The well-rounded horseperson is capable of riding safely and tactfully on the flat, over fences, and in the open.
  • Knowledgeable care of horses and ponies (horse management) is basic to the well-rounded horseperson.
  • USPC is committed to the well-being of the horse.
  • Fair and friendly competitions develop team work and sportsmanship.
  • USPC requires parental and volunteer involvement and support.
  • The USPC is committed to safety.
  • The local Club is the core of USPC.

Pony Club Pledge

As a member of the United States Pony Clubs, Inc., I stand for the best in sportsmanship as well as horsemanship.

I shall compete for the enjoyment of the game well played and take winning or losing in stride, remembering that without good manners and good temper, sport loses its cause for being.

I shall endeavor to maintain the best traditions of the ancient and noble skill of horsemanship.

I shall strive at all times to uphold the high ideals of the Pony Club and my country.

Followers