Riding Clubs

[Mary Poppins]

We are in the process of setting up a riding club on our yard (might might not use the name riding club as it would have to be registered but it is the same thing).

I would be really interested to hear what you think the good and bad points of riding clubs are. What would you like to do and how much would you pay?

Any info. would be helpful as we are starting from scratch.

Thanks

[jowyles]

Make sure its accesible to everyone, if your not registered dont be too harsh on what people wear for jumping etc, keep it fun so everyone can join in, some people cant afford to go buying jackets etc, make all jumping classes open to everyone, our riding club does this and it means that i can jump dexter in the small ring with ponies as he wont get round the bigger course! Make sure everyone isnt galloping around and also do some fun classes like handy pony etc

[toohorsemad]

Make sure you tell people about it with flyers! And a website really helps!!! Do loads of thing like exercising times (make the time a suitable one!!!), rallies, camps, maybe even trips, trails, hunts, competitions etc.! As I am not in riding club at the moment I don't really know how much you pay but I am you pay something along the lines of 60 euro

[Mossy]

Keep it open and accessible to all. Most registered Riding Clubs I know have their collective noses so far up their ****s I am surprised they cannot see daylight! :mad: :mad:

[Mary Poppins]

Keep it open and accessible to all. Most registered Riding Clubs I know have their collective noses so far up their ****s I am surprised they cannot see daylight! :mad: :mad:

That made me laugh, and is exactly what we don't want. The yard is really friendly and we want to keep the club informal and lighthearted with a 'have a go' theme rather than becoming very competitive.

It is really important to advertise it well, and above all it has to be fun. I like the idea about handy pony classes etc. Personally I love showing classes as well, so I guess that a mixture is important to cater for everyone.

What about age ranges? Are most informal clubs adult only or do you let kids in as well? (I know that formal riding clubs are for adults, but we don't have anything for the kids on our yard either).

[kayjayhorses]

make sure you have a good diary of events, I am a member of a RC and they have done nothing this year other than a couple of jumping clinics, they promised dressage comps this year and so far nothing...complete waste of my money.

[toohorsemad]

Ok I am 15 and nearly everyone who is able to ride (like able to canter, gallop, jump etc.) wants to be in a rc (well all my mates do!) the only prob is that some people as someone said get way too competitive! And like its not like my age group don't like riding with adults (i actually prefer it sometimes! :D )! But I think that it should to open to everyone but always tell them what it entils as you don't want any accidents i.e a month rider going off with a group of 7 year riders for a gallop and the 2 month rider not knowing nothing about galloping!! :rolleyes: (actually learnt to gallop that way! :o ) Maybe have a age limit though! You could go teen + or 6 years + its really up to you!

[jowyles]

At our local one they let any age do anything pretty much apart from they have junior and senior best rider and the 2ft jumping is split into under and over 12. We pay about £10 membership for the year and have £2ish entry fees for each class we do, they do trips to hoys or olympia and have a presentation evening and disco, they also do horsey car boots aswell.

[horseyrose]

You could include children too, maybe have 'juniors' and 'seniors' depending on how many people want to join. The most important thing for me would just be loads of activities, shows, clinics, etc. With competitions you could have a mix of more serious events if you have competitive people, and fun ones for those who just want to have a go. Smaller jumping classes for adults are good, and classes for adults riding ponies.
Also a website with lots of pics! Ooh, and a pony club camp type thing for adults! :D

[xXSundanceBayXx]

i think thats really good. another thing you could think about is those who don't have a pony may want to join so would they be able to ride a borrowed pony or would they have to miss out?

[ponylover88]

...

[charlotte+jill!]

I pay £14 (senior) and i think juniors pay a little less which i think is fair.

Hold clear round and have a go dressage days/evenings those are always fun, and other people like me who would like to do a course of jumps a step up from what they have been jumping would like to do it without the pressure of a compatition.

At shows lots of classes avaible to all. One hate of mine is horses and ponies together as the big horses cant compete against the nippy little 12.2-13.2s but do give the horses small classes too for the younger/more novice combinations.

Ummmm also fun classes like handy pony etc...

[toohorsemad]

Don't forget pony games!! Oh and do new thing like polocrosse (i really want to try that!!)

[wildponies]

i paid £15 to join my riding club. We have clinics, hunter trials, shows (but they are open to everyone, just discount entry fees for members), we also go on organised fun rides. I have joined myself as a member but i always imagied i'd have to join only one horse but it doesn't work like that so i can take any horse i want to under my name. So one day i could take Miss, Sal the next etc which is great because then i can do different things with each of them. I would like for us to have a showjumping team or something, and i want them to hold tryouts for it. (Im going to suggest this next time i go down there because im a cheeky little so and so) but i think having teams gives the competitive members something to aim for!

[Kanuma]

im a member of several RC's, most of them have a good mix of stuff, but i still find that the flatwork and dressage tends to be neglected which is very annoying for those of us who dont jump (i quit ponyclub because all my area ever did was jump).
my favorite riding club has been going for 25 years and is great fun, they have thier own field and run 10-12 shows every summer and 3-4 in winter at a local equestrian center. it has been found that the easiest way to keep most people happy has been to put the jumping at one end of the field and showing at the other with WH in between. this way it stops the showjumpers whos horses/ponies tend to get wound up from upsetting your leadrein and first ridden showponies, they found that when the rings were close together you had more accidents in the showing ring from your little ponies reacting to the jumpers.
a wide range of classes is vital and make sure you have the support. me and my mum took over control of one local rideing club after the commitee walked out, it only lasted a year as every thing was left to us to organise and it is too much for 3-4 people to handle.