Happy New Year!

Happy New Year from Roanoke Valley Pony Club!

We are starting to gear up for 2011 and a few dates have been added to our calendar on the left. Soon we will have dates for Unmounted Meetings, Mounted Meetings, the January meeting, the sleepover, ratings, rallies, etc. I will let you know when the calendar has been updated.

I hope all of you are staying warm and cozy, and that your ponies are enjoying this winter weather we've been having! Hopefully it will warm up and thaw sooner rather than later, and we can get back on and ride again!!

RVPC Fall Rating Day

RVPC's Fall Rating was held on Saturday, October 16, in beautiful fall weather. Kaelin C. was our hardworking examiner, and she did a great job of getting all candidates through their ratings efficiently.

Congratulations to Leah C. for earning her D2-HM and D2-Flat! She has really progressed with her cantering and was disappointed not to be asked to canter more during her rating!

Congratulations to Anna for earning her C1-Traditional! She handled Ruh Roh's enthusiasm in the stadium and cross country with grace, and showed off the hard work she has done to prepare for this rating.

And congratulations to Cat for earning the rest of her C2: the C2-Flat and C2-Jumping! She has only been riding Porter for less than two months, and she showed off their hard work together.

There is a slideshow of photos from the day (thanks, Karen!) in the lefthand column titled "In the Spotlight". Check them out!

Sponsors Meeting This Sunday!

Hi everyone!

I hope you are all having a great Fall so far. I've seen or heard about lots of you out doing fun stuff. We even have two members who have tried their hand at tetrathalon, and seemed to have gotten themselves qualified for 2011 Championships! Crazy! And rumor has it they want to get more of you interested in this discipline - fun!

Please make sure you attend our Annual Sponsors Meeting this Sunday at 2 PM at GHPEC. We will take care of membership renewals for 2011, talk about the tentative plans for our club's regional responsibilities for next year, and take care of other club business. Holly has scheduled a Mounted Meeting with Stacey C. before the Sponsors Meeting; please RSVP to her by Wednesday for that.

Thanks, and see you Sunday!
~Ellen

RVPC in the News!

Thanks to Holly who sent in an article and photo of some members of RVPC after Championships East to the New River Current section of the Roanoke Times! The article highlighted the winning Beginner Novice eventing team, which included captain Laurel G., Stephanie S., and Julia H. We are proud of all of you!

(I could not find a link to an online version of this story. If you have one, please send it along and I'll post it. The article and photo were in the Saturday, September 25, edition of the Roanoke Times.)

Benefit Show a Success!

Wow. RVPC really does know how to work together to get things done! Our Benefit Show on July 11 was a huge success. We not only worked well together and showed our competitors a good time, we had fun doing it! Each and every one of us contributed in some significant way, and we could not have done it without all hands on deck. Thanks especially to Adele and Holly for taking the reins on this show and creating a class list that made folks want to be there, and being so organized that every one of us knew exactly what our jobs were and when and how to do them. I know I had competitors asking me when our next show like that was going to be. Maybe we add a fall date next year?

Thanks also to all the competitors who came out on a hot summer day to participate in our show. YOU are the ones who make it all worthwhile. I can't tell you how many friendly, smiling folks we in the office interacted with all day long! We met several folks interested in learning more about Pony Club, and hopefully you'll contact us individually (email addresses listed in the column to the left) if you need more information. A good place to start is the USPC web site as well: www.PonyClub.org.

July 11 Show is Fast Approaching!

Adele is doing a great job of coordinating this show for our club. Set up will be Saturday evening at 7 PM. Please plan to help out if you can. (Ellen will bring her truck, but a second truck with a 2" ball hitch would make the job that much easier!)

Click here for the prize list that shows all the classes offered.

Click here for an entry form.

See you there!

Show Jumping Rally Report & Upcoming Events

Thanks to all of you who helped make Show Jumping Rally one of the best-run rallies ever! RVPC was in charge of Hospitality and Volunteer Coordination, and we got compliments all weekend about how well we did both jobs. It's our people - we work hard & have fun doing it! Results for our kids will be posted below (under "Kudos") as soon as they are posted by the region.

We have two club commitments coming up on the horizon: D Rally on July 3 and our Benefit Show on July 11. Cathy will be coordinating D Rally jobs and volunteers; plan to help set up on Friday, July 2, and run the rally with Highlands on Saturday. Cathy will send out an email with specific needs. We will set up for our Benefit Show on Saturday, July 10. Adele will coordinate jobs and volunteers, so look for an email from her about that soon too. I know it feels like we just got finished with a huge commitment, and we did, but the more people who help out with these upcoming events, the less work any one individual has to do. Plus, we have fun together!

Lastly, Cathy and I are finalizing dates for future Mounted Meetings. The next one scheduled is for Sunday, June 27, at Bernard's farm, so please let Laura know if you plan to attend ASAP so she can plan the groups. As soon as the dates for future MMs are set, I will post them here on our calendar.

RVPC Summer Benefit Show

Now that the Spring Frolic is behind us (nice work, everyone!), we can start to focus on our Summer Benefit Show, a BRHF-sanctioned open show at Green Hill Park Equestrian Center on Sunday, July 11.

Click here for a show flyer with a list of classes offered.

Click here for the entry form if you want to fill it out ahead of time!

Hope to see you there!

Spring Frolic Results

Members and parents of RVPC worked hard to put on another successful Spring Frolic on April 10. Thank you to all who made it happen! The weather was gorgeous and the competitors were cheerful and friendly, and a great day was had by all!

Click here to find the Spring Frolic results. Congratulations to all our competitors!

Spring Frolic Set-Up and Show Day Jobs

Hi All!

Here are the job assignments for the Spring Frolic. Kathleen reports that we have over 50 entries! Yay! (Also, please don't forget to recruit sponsorship donations!)

Friday Set-Up

Stadium, 9 AM:
Paige (course design too), Cat, Stephanie, Alyssa, Carol, Kirstann, Adele (plus the dressage folks when they are finished setting up)

Dressage, 10 AM:
Laura, Karen, Holly

Show Day Jobs:
Secretary - Kathleen & Carol
Manager - Cathy
Announcer - Erin
Scorer - Ellen
Dressage Scribe - Monica (and Laura if Monica can't do all day)
Dressage In-Gate - Karen
Stadium Judge - Paige
Stadium Scribe - Laurel
Stadium In-Gate - Cayse
Jump Crew - Paige, Laurel, Cayse, Julia, Anna, Emmalee
Runners - Leah & Kate
Stabling - Cat & Stephanie
Floater - Debbie

Cathy will need to be up on XC with Bernard during the clinic, so Debbie, Laura, Kathleen, Carol, and Ellen can "manage" the show while Cathy is up on the hill.

See people Friday and Saturday! Go RVPC!

Spring Frolic Prize List

The closing date is April 2 - please make sure your entries are in to the show secretary by that date.

Click HERE to download the Spring Frolic Prize List. It is 3 pages long now. When you complete your entry, we need the second two pages (entry form and release). Don't forget your Coggins too!

Thanks to all our competitors and sponsors!

UPDATE: We now have a Cross Country clinician: Bernard Hylton! Thanks so much to Bernard for his ongoing support of RVPC. He will be instructing riders from never-been-on-a-cross-country-course-before up through Training level. Come one, come all; Bernard has something to offer everyone!

Emily Hilscher Memorial Horse Show

We are helping to spread the word about a show that the equestrian club at Virginia Tech is putting on. It is a fundraiser for the Emily Hilscher scholarship fund. Emily was a member of the equestrian club and was a victim on April 16^th. RVPC is not involved in the planning of the show, but we are trying to help get the word out since it is coming up very soon (April 17^th)! It would be a great opportunity to school in an indoor as well as help out a good cause!

Click here for the prize list.

Thanks!

Reminder: Rating Deadline Approaching

Hi All!

Several of you intend to rate up on April 11 and I want to remind you to get your Intent to Rate Form (found to the left under "Forms"), letter of intent, and a copy of your flow chart to Cathy no later than Monday, March 15. Emily is teaching our unmounted meeting tomorrow so that would be a great opportunity for you to bring your flow charts and get some of the knowledge blocks checked off.

This rating is coming up fast, so make sure you are steadily preparing and don't wait until the last minute to "get your act together"! We want you to be successful and well-prepared.

Please communicate directly with Adele about your planned rating; she is coordinating it all.

Thanks,
Ellen

Sponsors Meeting Rescheduled

Hello everyone! Due to the weather we have canceled our unmounted meeting scheduled for tomorrow. We have moved our Sponsors Meeting to Sunday, February 28, along with our unmounted meeting at the Christiansburg Library, from 2-4 PM.

Also, I have uploaded my Notes from the USPC Annual Meeting if any of you are interested in reading this 5-page document while you're snowed in. :-) I plan to hit the highlights at our Sponsors Meeting, but there's a lot of good info in there. (Find them to the left below the calendar under "Forms".)

Enjoy the snow, be safe, and give extra warm kisses to your ponies!

Spring Frolic Prize List Posted

RVPC's Spring Frolic will be Saturday, April 10, at Green Hill Park Equestrian Center. We offer Dressage Tests, Combined Tests, and a Cross Country Clinic. Download the prize list at the link to the left under "Forms".

RVPC members, be thinking about sponsorship. Sponsorship forms are available to download also to the left under "Forms".

RVPC thanks you for your support!

Annual Meeting and Kickoff Party!

Hi Everybody! Welcome to 2010 with Roanoke Valley Pony Club!

We will kick off this year with our annual meeting at 1 PM on Sunday, January 17, at Mama Mia's in Salem. We will eat together and plan for the year. Also, 2009 plaques will be given out.

Also, dates for our UMMs have been posted on the calendar to the left. Make sure to mark your calendars and plan accordingly.

See you on the 17th!