Team results from Mary Cour Burrows
West Tennessee Pony Club has a long history of attending the Mid-South Region’s Mega Rally at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY every June. It’s a great opportunity for young riders to enjoy the beautiful Horse Park, get away for a week riding their horses or ponies, enjoy being with their friends and meet new friends, and do it all without parents! Parents are not allowed in the barn area at Rally – only a designated chaperone can bring supplies and communicate with the team in specified areas. The young riders do all the horse care, tack care, preparation and warm-up for competition, and cool out, horse and tack care after rides. It’s a great opportunity for team members to work together, help and support each other.
There are, however, certified horse management folks to help the children with any task and to supervise the situation. There is monitoring and scoring throughout the rally for how well the team manages their barn area, their horse care, tack care and themselves. There are formal inspections before every ride to make sure the horse/pony is properly groomed and tacked appropriately for the ride with safe tack in good condition. Riders are inspected for proper, well-fitting attire. There are inspections of the horse and tack after every ride to make sure the horse is properly cooled out and cleaned after the ride, plus the tack is cleaned – no green slime on those bits! There are periodic inspections throughout the day to make sure horses are safe in their stall, stalls are clean, and horses have sufficient hay and clean water. So, parents have no fear – the youngsters are in good hands, but learning to be self-sufficient, and responsible.
One of the things that Pony Club members have to learn to be successful at rally is teamwork. Teams consist of five members: four riders and one stable manager. All team members are, generally, at the same rating level. Quite often they are assigned to composite teams comprised of members whom they have not previously and who belong to another Pony Club. They learn from each other, teach, and assist each other in both horse knowledge and riding skills. As each rider has a specific start time for each phase, team members help each other groom, tack up, and turn out on time.
The WTPC D team was composed of Ethan Read, age 10 a D-2, and Grace Read, age 9 a D-2 on a composite team with two members of the Peach tree Riding Center, Zoe Smith and Anna Hayes. Sierra-Skye Olson, age 16 a D-1 from WTPC, was the stable manager. Vonna Read was the coach for the D2 team.
The team’s scores:
Dressage: Ethan scored 34 and Grace 36. Even though one of the other team members was eliminated in dressage, one rider’s score can dropped. The team was in first place, out of six teams, after dressage.
Stadium: Not quite as good. Ethan had two refusals. Grace had a beautiful round, but she had one rail down. Anna had one refusal and Zoe was eliminated. That dropped them to fifth place after Stadium. But the competition was not over yet.
Cross Country: All of the riders went clear, so they moved up to Third place.
Quite a roller coaster competition!
In Horse Management, the WTPC D team placed fifth out of twelve, very good considering this was Sierra- Skye's first rally! They were tied with the sixth place team, but Ethan and Grace's “Exceed Standards” markings at formal inspection raised made them fifth overall.
Alissa Heeren from WTPC, an HB, rode in the Open Event Beginner Novice.
Photo cutlines:
Grace and Ethan Read from Collierville TN walk to their stadium course
(photo by Michelle Olsen)
photos from the WTPC rally D team of Grace and Ethan Read and Sierra Skye Olsen cooling out after cross country (photos by Michelle Olsen)
From Mary Cour Burrows:
Pics of Ethan Read and his pony Imp and sister Grace Read and her pony Milo heading to jog-out, and one of Ethan going to formal inspection. Then a pic of them with a little girl (McKinsley Slicker) from the Middle TN Pony Club in Nashville. McKinsley is a friend our team members met at quiz rally.
(IMG #s): Ethan Read and Grace Read from West TN were on a composite team with 2 members from Peachtree Riding Center (Zoe Smith and Anna Hayes). Sierra-Skye Olsen from our own West TN Pony Club was Stable Manager.
Scores :
