Newsletter - June 2017
June Monthly News Letter
Review of May 2017
ALSO : Check out our Facebook page ….cute for pictures and news !
NEW FEATURE THIS MONTH – Check out our FEATURED MEMBER!!
Please send news snippets (pony club activities, show results, general newsy stuff – for example new horses or ponies, cool experiences, help needed or stuff for sale) and we will do our best to include!
Pictures are always fun – Jpegs work best. IF YOU WOULD LIKE YOUR PONY CLUBBER TO RECEIVE THIS NEWSLETTER please send me their email if not already on the distribution list.
June Calendar
Summer D3 and up Certification is coming on June 10 at Richardson Farm
SJPC Schooling Show is Sunday, June 11 at Resurrection Ranch, Noon - 5p.m. let Mary K know if you plan to attend!
Regional Rallies TET Wednesday, June 14th – Sunday June 18th at Fox Valley Saddle Assoc in Hampshire, IL. Come to support our rally teams!
. Regional C and Up Camp is June 25 – 29, 2017 at Fox Valley Saddle Assoc in Hampshire, IL.
May Review
May 6th D2 Certification:
Huge success at the D1/2 certification at RR: Katie was a Trojan to soldier through 9 certificates: and Gianna helped as well! Great passes for 5 D1s and 4 D2s!! D1s who certified: Olivia H, Emily S, Brianna E, Brianna L, Julia Z; and D2s who certified: Jessie S, Avery S, Alissa M, and Vanessa J...CONGRATS to ALL !!!
May 7th Upper Level prep in Springfield with Asia Thayer
Sarah C (working on her A) and Mellissa (working on her C2 ) travelled down to participate in the Regional Prep – seen here Mellissa working hard ( With Sarah as the featured videographer ) !
May 7th General Meeting:
Rally Readiness and Tack Trunks - With rallies and Championships on the horizon, a great session was held by our Cs – thanks!
May 13th Certification Prep
Thanks go out to Drea Comstock at Dark Horse Stables for a super instruction and certification prep session. Seen here …Riley, Alyssa , Vanessa , Abbi , Mellissa and Andrea
May 20th “Baby Barrington” IDCTA Event
Not strictly a Pony Club happening ..but look how CUTE these guys look – pictured : Emma , Lucy , Melissa and Katie – and Toni – whose super star Sunny won her first ( of many ) ribbons !
May 27th St James Family Fun Day
A superb series of presentations at family field days: the Park District was extremely complimentary – and audiences loved the displays! Thanks go out to Emma, Vanessa, Gianna, Andrea , Abbi , Jessie , Spencer , Abby , Sarah, Brianna and
WAY TO REPRESENT!!
FEATURED MEMBER!!
Our club is getting so big that we need some introductions to keep us in touch!! Our first featured member is our longest and most successful: Sarah C . Here is how she describes her Pony Club – and equine – career. She is always extremely modest – she doesn’t say that the first time we saw Tiny the little mare spent at least 30 minutes trying her darndest to throw Sarah off. Hard work and several years later …and she ROCKS!
Hey Pony Clubbers! I’m Sarah Coltrin and I passed my B certification last August with my Thoroughbred Holsteiner mare named Tiny (yes she really is tiny, only 15 hands). I started riding before I could walk, on my Aunt’s retired show and trail horses, at my grandparent’s house. I got my first horse when I was 10, after my parents told me if I could save enough money to buy my horse they would then pay for feed and lessons. I got Sunny from Iowa State University and he came home to live on my grandparent’s farm next door to my parent’s house. Shortly after purchasing Sunny, my parent’s signed me up for Pony Club after talking to a family friend about a great organization that had a teaching and certification system based around knowledge and riding skills. I accomplished my D1 on Sunny before he had to be retired due to arthritis. For the next 2 years I used my dad’s trail horse Lucky to do my D2 and D rally. In 2007 I started leasing a 17.1 hand TB gelding named Gator. Gator had already evented through training level and was looking to step down. Gator was my D3 through C3 horse and took me from mini events all the way up to training level at recognized events. Although Gator was a very difficult horse he taught me a lot along the way. In 2009 I passed my first national certification, my C3, on my second try. In 2010 I passed my HB and a few months later I left for horseshoeing school. After 4 months at Midwest Horseshoeing School I graduated and went to eastern Ohio to take my certified farriers test with the American Farrier’s Association. As a certified farrier I was able to get a 2 year apprenticeship where I learned the ins and outs of running a horseshoeing business and gained most of my real life, practical horseshoeing experience. Thanks to Pony Club I already had all my leg anatomy and conformation and lameness knowledge and horseshoeing school was a breeze! In 2015 I decided to test for my B. Unfortunately I had to withdrawal from my first testing but in 2016 I gave it another try and passed. Currently I am studying for my HA certification and hopefully my A after that. Other than shoeing horses and actively competing Tiny I enjoy trail riding, playing my fiddle, and spending time with my dogs Cinch and Mimi and my boyfriend Erik.
In the fall of 2008 my Aunt Kim brought her 8 year old homebred Thoroughbred Holsteiner cross mare to me for training and possible sale. Unfortunately after being bred to be my aunt’s next event horse, Tiny turned out to be a very opinionated mare who was going to be more of a handful than my aunt wanted and was also not quite tall enough for her. After Tiny was turned away by 2 trainers my aunt let her sit in her pasture in Virginia for a few years. When Tiny came to me I was eventing Gator so I agreed to train her and then sell her. After Gator was injured, and the decision was made to retire him, I turned my eye on Tiny as my next event horse. After 2 mini events at novice I decided to run Tiny novice at Otter Creek Fall Horse Trials (for those of you who haven’t been the cross country there is HUGE). As I walked my cross country course I just kept thinking “WHAT DID I GET MYSELF INTO?!” Tiny of course had the time of her life with only one stop at the coffin. After a few more novice events, we moved up to training and completed 6 training level horse trails and 1 training level long format 3 day with no cross country faults across the board. In 2014 we moved up to prelim and have had a few bobbles here and there but the end of the 2016 season showed great progress between passing our B together and having a wonderful show at Midsouth Horse Trials at the Kentucky Horse Park. This year my 17 year cross country beast and I are trying to finish our qualifiers and possibly move up to intermediate.
General News
Please send news and results for this section to me during show season!
Welcome to “Wild Eyed and Wicked” : Abby M has a new horse …..cannot wait to meet everyone !
Dates are out for National Pony Club Championships and FESTIVAL at the Kentucky Horse Park in 2017.
This is a don’t miss opportunity to participate in competitions, lessons, clinics, HM tuition, etc. etc. all in one place. This only occurs once every three years – and it’s a GREAT experience!! Pencil it in – even if you don’t intend to ride, it’s a GREAT chance to participate in unmounted instruction from some of the top clinicians in the country. We hope to have a HUGE group down in Kentucky for a great time. Block your calendars for the Regional Qualifiers June 14 – 18th at FVSA and for JULY 17TH – 24th for Champs / Festival
For Sale
Cutie Patootie Pony: available only to fantastic pony club home – On the market NOW
Dash : 13 yr. old 14hh Welsh Cross (?) Gelding. Suitable for D1/2/3 Pony Clubber. Call Abby McDowell (630 746 3639) if you would like to come and see him!
Looking for helpful advice about tack??? Why not visit LUCY at her job at The Riding Store on Hobson, in Naperville – great for all Pony Club Approved equipment!!
