Some Thoughts from your Regional Chair

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Some Thoughts from your Regional Chair Submitted by Maria Berry Regional Chair, Manitoba Pony Club Hi everyone!

little treacherous. Let s hope Moer Nature starts to be a little kinder so at everyone can get out and start doing some riding pretty soon.

It s one at I strongly believe in and know at our program produces some of e best equestrian people in e country, bar none.

1 Some Thoughts from your Regional Chair Submitted by Maria Berry Regional Chair, Manitoba Pony Club Hi everyone! Hope you are enjoying e beginnings of e Spring Thaw, alough e last weekend of e Royal Manitoba Winter Fair ended in a snow storm at produced some nasty roads at made traveling for weary fairgoers a little treacherous. Let s hope Moer Nature starts to be a little kinder so at everyone can get out and start doing some riding pretty soon. For ose of you who are new to Pony Club, you probably don t know who I am and for oers in our membership, I have been around for a long time in is organization. It s one at I strongly believe in and know at our program produces some of e best equestrian people in e country, bar none. The education system is top notch and e people in e clubs around e province who take care of educating our you in e care and safety of our equine friends are truly wonderful and caring people. My own daughter began riding at e age of 9 when she joined Baldur Pony Club and today is an affiliate member who will be entering her 15 year of membership next fall. Therefore I too will be entering my 15 year of volunteering for is great organization next fall. I, like probably some of our oer parents today, didn t know e back end from e front end of a horse when my daughter pleaded to become involved. I have become more educated alough I certainly don t pretend to know it all, not by a long shot, but I care about our members and want em to get e most out of pony club at ey can. Loyalty, Character, Sportsmanship is our motto and one at we strive to develop in each and every member at joins our organization. I can assure our pony club parents, at ere is noing more rewarding an watching your child grow, learn and succeed in eir passion horses. The smile on eir face when ey achieve someing special, be it a mere ribbon at a small show, can bring a tear to your eye and make your chest swell wi pride. It is truly awesome! As e spring and summer season approaches, make sure at you all remember to consider safety first when taking care of your equine friends. It s been a long winter for many and taking it easy as you begin to prepare yourself and em for e summer of competition, fun shows, camp and maybe even testing your next level is of utmost importance. Getting em into shape properly is e key to good heal, safety and a successful show season. I wish each and every one of you a great summer and hope to see you at some of our great pony club shows is season!

2 Team Manitoba Jackets Karen McLean of QRPC has researched and developed e designing and sourcing of MPC Team jackets, and we should have em in time for national competitions is summer. The design includes ree horses and MPC for e front left hand side at e chest, and it will say MANITOBA on e bottom of e jackets in white wi green trim. They should look very nice. Rally The basic qualifications for National Rally, besides having competed at Regional Rally are at all competitors must be at least 12 prior to January 1, Riders must have achieved eir full C1, non riders must have achieved eir full C. However, e higher e level e better, especially for e non riders, as everyone will be judged at e B level. Riders must be prepared to ride at e Pre-training level on a borrowed horse. Ability to work as a team, have a good attitude and an excellent work eic are prime considerations for e team. Riders will have ree chances to show eir ability at Pre-training level. Clinics May 14 Birds Hill Park May 15 Birds Hill Park SM in e morning and a riding session in e afternoon Derby - several chances to ride e pre-training course June 4 Willville SM plus ere is a clinic going on at you should try and attend June 5 Willville Derby July 1-3 Birds Hill Regional Rally The first ing I need you to do is drop an to Val and let her know if you are interested in trying for a place on e Rally team. National Rally is August and you would need to fly out on e 14 to be ere on time to try out e horses. There will also be some clinics provided to assist you in getting used to your horse. The clinics and derbies are open to everyone and of course, Regional Rally is also open to everyone. MHC has agreed to donate Tack stalls for each Rally team, so at is a $75 saving per team. Val is hoping to have at least 5 teams, maybe even 8!? All clubs, please encourage your kids to form a team! Mixed levels are allowed again is year, and each team may have a non riding captain, groom and assistant groom.

3 Jumping Series Hello all, Spring is here, it really is! Time to get riding if you aren't already. MPC show jumping series is happening is year in 3 different areas: Stonewall, Bird's Hill, and Portage la Prairie (dates below). Please me if interested. This series is open to all MPC members, families, and friends. everyone must have a valid manitoba horse council membership for Instructors: Cindy & Terry Klassen Fees: Stonewall & Bird's Hill 3 sessions $90.00 (potential for 4 date TBA) Portage la Prairie 4 sessions $ (single lessons potentially available) Group size: usually 3 riders a group (but we have had private sessions, and up to 4 riders a group, depends on numbers and experience) Caerine's (Stonewall): Sat May 7, Sun June 5, Sat June 25 Hélène's (Birds Hill): Sat May 7, Sun June 5, Sat June 25 Leslie's (Portage): Sat May 7, Sat May 14, Sun June 5, Sat June 25 Cheryl Wishart, MPC SJ Chair Camp 2011, Portage Fair Grounds Camp 2011 preparations are well under way. This year we have tried to incorporate lots of e old events, wi a few new twists for e campers. We are trying to provide e riders wi a fun time, good instruction, and new opportunities. Camp Dates: Move in will be Sunday, 17 July 2011 wi move out on Saturday, 23 July 2011 The camp committee consists of: Cheryl Wishart (chair), Barb Bradley, Kit Anderson, Leslie Wishart, and Karen Iverson. Instructors: Younger riders: Cindy Klassen and Lorraine Wilson. Older riders: Terry Klassen. Andrew Curry is checking availability for a 1-2 day (evening) clinic for e older riders at camp. Dressage: Merlin Hunkin, dressage lessons during e week Monday to Thursday 3 days.

4 Riders will have a chance to prepare for e upcoming MPC Championships by riding a judged Dressage test and/or Show Jumping flat ride test, wi written feedback. There will also be an optional gymnastic portion offered one evening, and a chance to ride a judged gymnastic wi written feedback. As well, ere is lots of fun clinics planned: PPG evening, Cross country day, Barrel Racing & Pole Bending, Polo, and Parelli... and activities: crafts (horse cookies and stud muffins), pool party, tack sale. Awards and ribbons in recognition of activities, attitudes and events, i.e. Most Helpful, Most Congenial, etc. Wi e campers to nominate people for ese awards. IMPORTANT: The sand ring will be used as much as possible. We want e riders and eir horses to ride on e best footing available at Portage. Suggestions will be made to e instructors to use all e suitable grass areas available and at portions of e lesson can be outside e designated ring, but only as appropriate for independent riders. Camp Applications: Camp applications have been sent out to e clubs. Early bird fee (paid prior to 30 April 2011) will be $ Please be aware of e date deadlines. These dates, and fees, including e late fee will be enforced. We are running a balanced budget wi camp, and it is so important we know our numbers. All registration forms and information is posted on our Home page: ere is a link under Upcoming Events

5 Horses available I am trying to find loving homes for ree Swedish Gotland, foundation bred horses, which are pony size - alough I always refer to em as ponies because of eir size (e breeder wouldn't be very happy wi me!) I only emphasize at because ey have horse temperaments as opposed to e typical pony headspace, and ey are a pleasure to work wi. Any one of em would make excellent school horses for young riders at pony club or elsewhere... if you are interested in having a great schooling pony or know a young pony clubber who is looking for a partner please let me know. All ree of e ponies are pretty versatile could certainly jump to 2'3" wi ease & are very pretty movers in e dressage arena too. I rode her quite a lot on trails rough bird's hill while we were over in e Oak Bank area - she's a pretty well rounded young mare. Is-A-Belle is 10 years old dun, she was e pony at Matt utilized in pony club for basically five-six years - she's been to camp lots & shown at bo Birds Hill & Willville, and of course she is e pony I broke to drive and competed very well wi e Manitoba Driving Society & in her first appearance at International Event she placed 1st in Training Level winning overall e cones obstacle event. - she is a dun, standing 12.3 hh ey are very strong, I have ridden her too - she's got great ground manners -we've done quite a bit of parelli wi her so she's fairly sensitive. She is exceptional wi vet, shots, farrier, baing, clipping, trailer loading, etc. Indigo is a 9 year old mare - Stéphanie Sawatsky showed her for us at Benefit Show in 2006 as a five year old and won dressage championship wi her - very pretty - black wi a white star as her only colour marking. Rachelle Dickinson also road Indigo for a show season for us and did very well wi her. Jazmine Novoselnik a D2 level pony clubber used Indigo for a couple of seasons of pony club - Indigo has been to pony club camp ree years out of e last four (one year wi a brand new rider wi no experience at all and did very well) Indigo is probably e most sensitive young horse I've ever worked, she too is good wi vet, shots, farrier, baing, clipping but prefers stock trailer to straight load - it's someing we've been actively working on. Indigo is slightly smaller an Belle standing at 12.2hh. The two mares have even experienced polo (!) and would make great PPG mounts because of eir size. Merlin is a 9 year old gelding - Vicky Anderson worked wi Merlin once he was gelded two summers ago fairly extensively (4 mons of schooling) - rode him all over e place and put quite a bit of time into him. Pat Napier had Merlin over at her place for e entire spring/summer season last year for her daughter Julia to utilize while her pony was on e mend & I believe at Pat put quite a bit of time on him too. He is a little smaller an e mares - probably standing at 12.0hh. Merlin is a very nice mover - would be absolutely lovely in e dressage ring and typical of e breed, irrespective of his gelding, maintains a great conformation, size and shape. He would easily jump at low levels as well - very willing little guy. Merlin is black as well wi a small star as his only colour marking. A great little personality on is pony, e first one to e gate always looking for some attention. Again, he's good wi farrier, baing, clipping, loading, etc. If any of ese ponies are of interest to you, I'd be happy to have no exchange of money whatsoever - just delighted to know at ey were somewhere being utilized. All of e ponies have had a lot of schooling & exposure over e years and because of eir breeding have exceptional temperaments and it's just simply a waste to have em sitting in a pasture here. If you have any interest, or interested parents or oer questions please let me know is my cell/home #. Thank you for taking e time to consider your pony needs! Kit Anderson

6 News from Mars Hill Well, pony club has started up again for Mars Hill wi stable management lessons every Sunday, which are being taught by Bev, Kerry and Ariel. (anks!) We are working rough our workbooks, answering horsey trivia, identifying feeds, eating snacks And learning lots! This year our club has 4 new members which brings our total to 15. Welcome to Hailey, Sawyer, Riley and Emma!!!! And welcome back to everyone else! The majority of our club attended Eastman and Regional Quiz. Everyone learned lots, had fun and did well! Congrats to Kerry and Ariel who have e chance to attend National Quiz is year! So as e snow melts, and e weaer warms up, we are continuing stable management and hopefully we will be able to start riding soon! ~Sabrina K. News from Nor Hill The wonderful weaer we experienced on e first week-end of May had all senior NHPC parents reminisce about e schooling show we used to put on on at very week-end! We had to admit at we didn't miss e May snow storms we often experienced and how cold and wet we all were! Our club is about to start its spring session of lessons and we are especially glad to see Teri Moerhing (NHPC B2 pony clubber, now a mom!) coming back to teach for us! Now at we are talking about old times, it is hard to believe at our oldest member had now been in pony club for 10 years! Congrats Stéphanie! All of our members are also looking forward to NHPC testing/pizza/movie night on May 13. Many of our members are attending e Jumping series and are looking forward to working wi Cindy Klassen again. We hope to see many of pony club friends at e Pony Clubs spring show at BHP on May There are many classes for e beginner and e experienced rider. Sounds like a very busy spring, wi lessons, MHT clinics, jumping series and Pony Club show! We all hope e weaer becomes more cooperative! Lastly, we would like to ank our Eastman you rep, Taylor Hein, for all her hard work and new ideas she puts forward. ~Hélène Savard News from Prairie Valley Well, we are still here. We started off e year wi only two members but we are now finishing up e membership paper work to add 4 new young girls to our Branch. We are very excited and looking forward to having some fun as we begin stable management sessions shortly. It has been a fairly quiet winter so far for our senior members Caroline and Amberlee as ey have been involved in oer sports. We are looking forward to some nicer weaer. You may know at when e wind chill exceeds -30C, exposed fingers will freeze in 10 minutes, but did you know ose same fingers become incapable of fastening e buckles of a winter turnout rug in about 10 seconds? While we hope at e snow melts slowly enough to avoid as much flooding as possible, it will be nice to see spring when it gets here. ~Elizabe Sims

7 How far can a horse take you? In e case of Caroline Sims from Prairie Valley Branch, all e way to e medals podium at e Canada Games! No, equestrian sports are not part of e Canada Winter Games, but Caroline s double bronze medal wins in target shooting in Halifax on February 15 and 17 would not have happened if she had not been introduced to air pistol rough Pony Club Tetralon. Sarah Read has been Caroline s riding coach for e last 10 years and was formerly Manitoba Region s Tetralon chair. Through her efforts and dedication, (despite a lack of uptake among Manitoba Pony Club members), and wi much hard work on e part of e aletes, Caroline togeer wi Callum Read competed on behalf of Manitoba Region at National Tet in Ottawa in They also qualified to compete in e 2009 National Tet but were bo sidelined by injuries shortly before e competition. Caroline enjoyed eventing but lost e use of her competition horse Pegasus Solitaire in e autumn of 2009 when Solly went blind. (Solly is now retired to trail riding and flat lessons.) At about e same time, Caroline got involved wi re-training a horse at her moer rescued from a slaughter auction, so she has devoted her sport training and competition mainly to air pistol, which she fell in love wi in her words. She won a silver medal in e ladies Sharpshooter division at e Canadian Airgun Grand Prix in Toronto in February 2010 and gold in e same event is past January wi a score at put her in e top 8 overall and qualified her for e finals. However she had a provincial ma exam to write e next day and opted not to shoot in e finals, in order to return home at a reasonable time. It was a hard decision to make because e experience in a finals would have been very useful, as it turned out. Team Manitoba s first week aletes including e target shooting teams, left Winnipeg for Halifax on February 10. They took part in e opening ceremonies e next evening which was one of e highlights of Caroline s experience at e Games as ey walked in to a packed stadium as a group, all in eir Manitoba team uniforms designed by Mondetta, which included buffalo toques wi little white horns, at became e envy of e oer teams! Caroline and her team mate Tanis Milne shot in e ladies air pistol team competition on Tuesday e 15. They did not realize eir combined score was enough to get em ird place until e results were posted and Tanis s mom came back in to e gymnasium where e shooting took place, and told em to look on e notice board. There was quite a bit of screaming and jumping up and down after at! The win took some of e pressure off going in to e individual event on Thursday; as Caroline said, I knew I was going home wi a medal so I could relax a bit. This proved to be a very good ing for her as she shot a personal best competition score of 366/400 which tied e Canada Games record and qualified her for e finals sitting in ird place behind shooters from Yukon and Newfoundland. It was a bit of a pressure cooker situation to be in for her first finals and she was closely challenged by 4 place Quebec, but she hung on to her position to win her second bronze medal of e Games. For e immediate future, Caroline is taking a little break from shooting to get caught up on missed school work and recover from a miserable Maritime cold bug at e whole family brought back from eir week in Halifax. She would like to get her firearms licence when she is 18 and continue to train and compete in live fire pistol events as well as air pistol. She plans to attend e University of Manitoba in e fall which will keep her close to e range at e Firing Line in Winnipeg and her coach Don Lagimodiere. And also not too far away from e ponies and horses at led her ere in e first place. Submitted by Elizabe Sims

Web Site Visit our Manitoba Pony Club web site http://www.canadianponyclub.org/manitoba/ for information on recent and upcoming events.

8 Web Site Visit our Manitoba Pony Club web site for information on recent and upcoming events. If you have any comments or material at you would like posted on e web site, please forward it to me setterbom@gmail.com - I am looking forward to hearing from you! For newer members, I would like to encourage you to also spend some time on e CPC web site where you can find a weal of information such as e Badge program, study guides, supplies and membership forms etc. Maria Setterbom setterbom@gmail.com

Manitoba Pony Club Newsletter Bits n Pieces

Manitoba Pony Club Newsletter Bits n Pieces December 2002 Merry Christmas to All. This is the Christmas Issue of Bits n Pieces and the last newsletter of the year. First some news from the Regional AGM