About Club Activities
What Kinds of Activities do We Organize?
See the Northern Lakes Region Pony Club website for upcoming events!
Unmounted Meetings or "Bookwork": Held in the winter months, twice monthly. A full curriculum is presented so that each Pony Clubber is working toward their next certification level. Full participation is important for personal preparation, to create community and for upper level members to learn to teach "in-club." See our Club Calendar to find out about upcoming meetings.
Mounted Meetings and Clinics: Held throughout the year and taught by upper level and graduate Pony Clubbers and professionals to teach riding skills according to the USPC Standards. Participation in our mounted lesson program is critical for mastery of the Riding and Horse Management Standards. For Upper Level members, these are also opportunities to give back to the life of the club, shadow experienced instructors and assist D Level members as they learn to instruct themselves. See our Club Calendar to find out about upcoming meetings.
Standards & Certifications Clinic: Held annually, a National Examiner leads this regional clinic to teach club leaders, instructors, examiners, parents and members what the riding standards look like in action. All aspiring instructors and examiners MUST attend at least every other year in order to teach and examine for our club. Attending is a great learning opportunity to train your eye, for members to see what the next level of riding "looks" like. and to hear about any changes to the standards. Outside instructors who are teaching Pony Club Members or who just want to learn more about the Pony Club program are welcome.
Quiz Rally & Mounted Rallies: Organized competitions where teams compete in Horse Management knowledge for Quiz Rally, or mounted in teams of five (four horses and one horse manager) with teams from other Clubs and Regions. Rallies are where leadership and team work are practiced and perfected, and friendships are built with members around the region.
Other Pony Club Activities: Instruction in various horse sports including Polocrosse, Foxhunting, Vaulting, mounted posse, distance riding, driving, drill team and Tetrathlon are available around the region.
D Camp: Riding camps give Pony Clubbers a chance to experience overnight camping with their horse. Activities include, mounted instruction, horse management, crafts, games, demos and lots of time for socializing and fun! See the Northern Lakes Region Pony Club website for upcoming D Camp dates.
Upper Level or "National Examiner" Camp: This camp helps prepare D3 and C Level Members for their next certifications by providing them with an opportunity to ride with a National Examiner Clinician and learn Horse Management skills appropriate to their next certification level.
D & C Retreats: These are concentrated learning events usually held in the winter and early spring that offer a day or more of seminars given by many top local equine professionals such as vets, farriers, and nutritionists. The retreats include hands-on workshops. C Level Members also serve as Instructors for D Retreat. Here teaching skills are practiced and honed.
USPC Championships and Festival: Pony Club Championships are held every non-Festival year in all disciplines at different locations around the country.. Participation is earned through competition in qualifying rallies. Pony Club "Festival" is held every three years at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. Pony Club members come from all over the United States to participate. During the first part of the week, Championships are held, followed by educational clinics and workshops for members and leaders. The educational portion is open to participation by all members and Pony Club families.