Nelson Bays Pony Club

Nelson Bays Pony Club Inc.

“Home of the Good All-rounder”

About Us: Nelson Bays Pony Club is a recent amalgamation of three branches of the original Nelson Pony Club. We are based at Rough Island and hold rallies on the second Sunday of every month so as not to clash with other winter sports and other equestrian events that our members take part in e.g competitive trail riding.

The combining branches were small friendly groups that covered one city and two rural areas. Combining has added to our considerable pool of knowledge, experience and enthusiasm without sacrificing the small friendly nature of the branches.

Our Members We have a great bunch of riders, some of whom compete, some of whom are happy to ride at home and come to pony club for fun and instruction. We don’t focus overly on competing but want every rider in our club, who wants to be in a team to have a go safely, regardless of their ability to win. We believe that way we are growing good competitors for the future.

We also have a great bunch of parents and supporters. Some of our parents are extremely experienced and knowledgeable. Some congratulate themselves on being able to distinguish a horse from a cow at 100 metres. It doesn’t matter to us so long as you bring the willingness and enthusiasm a small club like ours needs. All our members who model co- operative, positive behaviour make our club what it is.

Our philosophy is simple. We aim to educate, inform and engage riders of all ages and stages in the joys of pony club. We aim to be the home of the good all-rounder.

We offer expert coaching in all disciplines including: dressage and flatwork, showjumping and cross country jumping, mounted games, and trekking. We try to do at least two of these activities every rally.

We specialise in coaching in small groups so each rider gets more time spent on them and can progress at a pace that’s right for them.

We offer all the pony club certificates and our riders work their way through them in a relaxed and supportive environment.

What else we offer. Each year we have a pony camp which is always wonderful and usually the highlight for everyone .Parents come and bring their horses if they want to. This year we spent 3 days in Marahau. Other years we have camped at Delaware Bay and the Baton Valley. This year we all loved swimming bareback in the sea and making browbands for our own ponies one evening. We did some formal lessons but the essence of our camps is all about having fun, making friends and trying something new.

We have a supervised facebook page for our members to post messages, photos and results on.

We have satellite grounds at Nelson North available to members and a crosscountry course at Marchwood Park we use to run successful events.

Interested in checking us out? You are able to come to as many as three free rallies before making a decision to join. Contact any of the following people to arrange this or for more information. We are always happy to hear from potential members.

Contact Dee Needham 543 2240 Cath Williams 03 527 8435 or Sharon Brinsdon 545 1639 for more information