Diane Thompson's Discussions
Time to support Friesian show with canadian classes
Replied Apr. 15, 2009
Diane Thompson's Page
Profile Information
- How Many Canadians Do you Own?
- None - Just a Lover
- How did you find out about NECC?
- From Susan - a lucky Canadian owner
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::CONTACT NECC
PO Box 81
Conway, NH 03818
(508) 468-7685 Christine
(603) 986-5159 Nicki
Conway, NH 03818
(508) 468-7685 Christine
(603) 986-5159 Nicki
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By the way, I neglected to mention that Horsemasters is an adult group associated with Pony Club. We're thinking of starting one as a part of our local club.
Sue
You said you'd like to learn more about Pony Club rallies... where to begin? My daughter has been in Pony Club for 4 years and it's been a wonderful experience for her. The USPC is unique in that it places equal emphasis on riding, horse care and team participation. So at a rally (which is a PC-only competition) competitors are on teams and are judged not only on their success under saddle, but on their proficiency in caring for their horses.
For example, all competitors must arrive at the show venue between 6 and 6:30am (for 1-day rallies), and each team sets up a tack room. Sometimes they will use an empty trailer, other times a pop-up tent. If it is an overnight rally (like the Dressage Rally at UNH a couple of weeks ago), then they can use an extra stall. In the case of an overnight, a feed stall is also designated for each team. A full team consists of 4 riders and a Horse Manager (HM). The HM's job is to help the riders care for their horses. She is not a groom - each rider is ultimately responsible for their own mount. However, she helps set up the tack room, which is equipped with labeled saddle and bridle racks, the "kit" which in our case is two sets of plastic drawers from Target, which are filled with all of the required equipment. There is a human first aid kit, horse first aid kit, tool kit, safety equipment.... including fire extinguisher, duct tape, stable wraps and track bandages, double-ended snaps, marker, scissors, knife. Extra tack includes girths, bridles and bits to fit every horse on the team. In addition, the kit must include the USPC rulebooks for HM as well as for the discipline of the rally (mounted games, eventing, dressage, show jumping, etc.).
In the morning, competitors have about an hour to set up, get their horses unloaded and safely tied/stalled, etc. Then they have a briefing for all competitors. That goes over any schedule changes, etc and specific information that must be shared. Next come formal inspections. Each competitor must present herself and her horse to an HM judge at a specific time for her formal inspection. Because Pony Clubbers are ranked by their rating, their formal inspection is judged by standards of their rating. That means that a D1 (lowest rating) does not have to adhere to the same standard that a C3, B or A PC'er. (Ratings are D1, D2, D3, C1, C2, C3, B, A) Penalty points are given for inappropriate dress, missing Pony club pin, dirty horse, dirty or unsafe tack, etc. And lots of penalty points if you are late! The HM usually accompanies each team member to the formal and does last minute touch-ups on the horse with a baby wipe, on rider's boots with a polish cloth, etc.
The riding part is pretty much as you would expect it, and afterward the HM judges do "turn-backs" where the rider must present the horse, tack and herself afterward, much like the formal. Usually the HM will help the rider to wipe down the horse, change saddle pads, clean the bit, etc.
Throughout the day, HM judges inspect the horses, tack rooms and feed rooms, looking for anything out of place, unsafe, etc. (according to the USPC rulebooks) and give penalty points for any infractions.
At the end of the day, scores are posted. The captain of each team (usually the highest rated member), has 30 minutes to file in inquiry if she feels something is wrong. That includes inquiring about HM points - my daughter inquired at Dressage Rally because an HM judge awarded a point because one horse had a bad dressage test, which the judge attributed to the fact that the "extra equipment" bit he had to use, was not the same as his original bit. Carolyn filed her inquiry because the HM judge should not be penalizing them for how the horse performed in the ring. She won, and the point was taken away.
After all inquiries are addressed, scores are finalize and awards are given. The first set of ribbons goes for HM. Then overall ribbons are awarded and those include HM and riding. It is not possible to win for riding alone. So if you don't do well in HM, you cannot win.
Another big difference is that parents are not allowed to communicate with their kids during a rally, with very few exceptions. Parents may help kids unload the heavy stuff from the truck upon arrival and then they must leave the "barn area". Parents are assigned volunteer positions for the day - ring stewards, dressage scribes, jump judges, etc. If they talk to their child, the child's entire team can be eliminated for unauthorized assistance. The exception is the lunch tent - usually designated as the "neutral zone" -so that food and or money can be handed over!
Pony Club rallies are long - it is not unusual to be at a one-day rally for 10-12 hours. The Dressage Rally was an overnight: move-in time was 4-6pm on Saturday. Briefing was held at 6pm. Then they got to leave. Next morning, we had to arrive at 6am and were there until 5pm. Sunday was 7am - 4pm. As you can imagine, we don't have rallies every weekend! In our region, we have Quiz Rally in late March (the only unmounted rally, as it is on knowledge only), and then Games, Eventing, Show Jumping, and Dressage rallies from May through June. In all of those rallies, competitors may try to qualify for Championships. Then in Sept/October, we have non-qualifying Eventing Rally, and D-rally (an eventing rally for D rated kids only).
My daughter is going to Championships for the 4th year in a row. The last 3 years, she went for Quiz, and last year, "scrambled" (didn't have a team of her own, so was put with kids from other parts of the country) with a great group of girls and they won first place. Carolyn had the highest quiz scores of everyone at Championships. This year, she qualified for Quiz, Eventing HM, Show Jumping HM and Dressage HM. She has chosen to go for Eventing, as it will be a great way to prepare for going with her horse next year. Parker was injured much of the spring and so wasn't ready to compete by Eventing Rally; therefore, she competed as HM and did a great job.
I don't know if I could have covered everything and made this any shorter... in any case, you can see how PC rallies are very different from other types of competitions. If I forgot something, or didn't answer something, please feel free to ask me and I'll do my best to explain!
Sue
Lids apparently went into heat big time at the show. All the stallions you know. It's not the first time. She kicks when she's in heat and evidently overnight Friday night she and Sammi (her neighbor and herd mate) had quite the kicking contest overnight that went on for a couple of hours. She wasn't herself Saturday morning and as the day went on she refused to take a single step, she looked like she was collicking, tip toeing along on her right hind. I went over every inch of her and couldn't find anything wrong. No heat, no swelling, no bruising, as a matter of fact she just looked at me like she wondered what on earth I was doing. She was eating and drinking passing manure and she was fully "operational".
It got worse after lunch time so we gave her a couple of bute (thanks Clare!) and I got a little concerned about it.
She was a little better Sunday morning and she trailered just fine. I turned her loose when we got home and she charged out and rolled like a demon possessed I swear and right now you'd never know she had a problem.
So I don't know what to make of it. Her heat cycles are normally very subtle. She'll raise her tail like she has gas but she doesn't have gas and that's about it. She had one cycle before where she just went way out there.
I'm still not sure what to make of it. I'll have to do some research. She seems perfectly normal today and in fact I took her for a lazy 20 minute bareback spin and she's never felt better.
At this point I'm more relieved than anything else. I can't help but be disappointed but I'm just thrilled to see her acting normal. The way she carried herself Saturday afternoon I wasn't so sure we'd even get her on the trailer.
Hey! Great smoothies! Thank you so much for coming and thank you for your support. I'm disappointed we didn't get an NECC table set up.
A friend found Xena in a backyard in Middleboro. She had been shipped down with 3 other chevals and ended up in Middleboro. She has pulled logs, wedding carriages and hay wagons. That picture was taken when I had only owned her a few months and when I saw it, my comment was that my horse and I were both liver chestnuts. ( I have since learned that Xena is a chocolate silver dapple.) I may be at Topsfield early on Saturday just to watch. I had hoped to possibly ride there but Xena has had an unexplained lameness all spring long, so riding and training have not happened. I'll stop by the booth if I make it there.
Marcia
Maybe somebody here in the group has illustrator or knows somebody who does.
Christine called the url spelling error to my attention - I fixed it, I'll attach the corrected one. Sorry I can't get the banner right but I think it would make a great bumper sticker.
Thanks.
Karl
Necc-Banner-url.png
I'm not a graphic artist but I gave it my best shot. I converted all the graphics to vector files. I included all the major vector formats and I put them in a zip file I'm uploading. Do you know about zip files? It's a compressed archive. Windows XP knows what to do with zip files automatically.
I included the png files as well so the intended result can easily be seen. I can't edit vector files - I can only convert them and I'm not really sure what they're supposed to look like so.. good luck and I really hope they're suitable.
Thanks!
Karl
VectorFiles.zip
I've made some graphics suitable for banners and stickers.
In addition to the business card log Nicki uploaded I have:
Necc-banner.gif - our home page banner
Necc-banner-url.gif - banner with a url on it
Logo-1a-url.png - our logo with a url
Logo-1a-whiteURL.png - our logo with a white url
They all have transparent backgrounds. The logos are white disks on transparent backgrounds. It's my understanding that the png files print better and they're "crisper".
Thanks!
Karl
Necc-Banner.gif
Necc-Banner-url.gif
Logo-1a-url.png
Logo-1a-whiteURL.png
I have attached our logo as well as our business card...we should be certain to try and keep all marketing materials including a banner fairly consistent so these should give you a good idea of how to design something. I would design it and then present to the board for approval before printing.
Thanks, Nicki
business card.jpgNecc-Logo-1a.gif
Thank you. He is a dream just like all my others.
I have preoccupied with my dad. He had emergency open heart surgery on Thursday and is still on life support. I hope to get things in order. Drop Karl a message if you have time and see what he has for input on the banner.
Thanks
Christine
I need your phone number again. 508-468-7685
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