All the news From Hill Top Pony Club

 Hill Top Pony Club hosted their 2nd annual Trot-or-Treat October adventures. This year the event was held at Garey Park in Georgetown. While the weather was perfect on the day of the event, heavy rains a few days earlier meant that the games scheduled in the arena had to be canceled. Never fear, the fun and treating happened along the Garey Park trails and obstacle course!

 Did you know that Western Trail is one of the newest events accepted by USPC (The United States Pony Clubs, Inc.) as a rally?  Members who are eligible and meet the requirements of the discipline at a regional rally may go on to compete in the National Championships. Here is some information from the Western Trail Rulebook for Rallies "Western Trail in Pony Club uses similar obstacles and challenges that are seen in other shows that contain a trail class. Members compete on a team of 3 to 4 riders with a stable manager and generally complete 2 to 3 courses at a rally. One or two of the rounds are a traditional trail class round with a specific order of obstacles, each obstacle judged using a scale which evaluates the mount and rider team and how successful they were at negotiating the obstacle challenge. One round may be a speed round with a time limit. Each obstacle must be negotiated successfully and bonus points may be awarded for successfully completing more obstacles tha...

 This year has been particularly challenging for riders. We experienced not one but TWO snow/ice storms this winter.  And, the rains never seemed to stop in April and May. We had so much rain, we pushed our June summer camp back a week.  Sunny weather was on hand for us, though, when we finally held our June camp at Garey Park, a former 525-acre ranch that was donated to the City of Georgetown, TX. The park is a wonderful resource in our area with equestrian trails, arenas and trail obstacles and proved to be an excellent venue for our day camp and certification testing.  We welcomed six new D1 members into the HTPC stable of rated members and one of our established members started on her path of Western Dressage certification. That was a lot to accomplish in a short amount of time! It was only possible with the excellent organization by all of the HTPC volunteers. We have a village of engaged parents, family members and general volunteers and we are thankful for all...

      The  United States Pony Clubs, Inc., henceforth referred to as USPC, allows people of all ages to gain an in-depth understanding of all things related to horses. USPC uses a testing system to determine proficiency in both riding and horsemanship. This testing system may seem daunting at first, which is why we have provided a short break-down of everything.

 One thing that stands out for me with Pony Club is the propensity of checklists. I love checklists, they give me a chance to slow down mentally so I can be sure I have covered as many areas as possible and don't accidently overlook something important. The following Pre-Ride and Post-Ride Checklist is one of my new favorites: The latest edition of Pony Club News has an article by noted world-class groom, Emma Ford, on Pre-Ride and Post-Ride checklists.  For the complete article follow this link, PRE-RIDE & POST-RIDE CARE . This is my Pre-Ride Checklist: Know when your horse is fed. Are you showing up to ride when it might be eating or shortly there after? If so, use your time wisely to gather your gear together so your horse is not waiting on the cross-ties for you to be organized. I may use this time to stretch especially if I spent a lot of time in front of the computer. This is also the perfect time to practice my riding posture before I am on horseback and have even m...

   Hill Top Pony Club (HTPC) started in the Liberty Hill area (north west of Austin) in 2007. The club base is still located in the Leander-Liberty Hill area with members ranging from Manor in the east to Salado in the north. We are a small club, with members ranging in age from seven-year-olds to adults.  We use different locations in our area for mounted meetings based on the topics we are targeting. Members must provide their own mounts for meetings. Riding, however, is not a prerequisite for participating in one of our meetings, as Hill Top provides many horsemanship based opportunities. Our goal is to foster the love of learning and the development of good horse management skills. Pony Club is the largest equestrian educational organization in the world. The "idea" of Pony Club started in Great Britain in 1928. Since then, Pony Club has expanded to over 31 countries with an estimated membership of more than 130,000. The United States Pony Club, Inc. (national umbrell...