The Next Generation of Horsey People

Here in Santa Cruz at the annual  D-Camp the voices of hundreds of little kids fills the air, added with the neighs of horses making new friends. Perhaps this scares some people?

But in any case this noise is all thanks to something called Pony Club. A association that gives thousands of children between the ages of 4-25 (yes twenty-five) the opportunity to jump into the world of horses. There are hundreds of Pony Clubs scattered in places as remote as Alaska and Australia to California.

Pony Club was created in England in an effort to save the the sport of Fox hunting and to introduce new blood. But it was soon evident that Pony Club was wanted every where and for more than just Fox Hunting but also show jumping,
Dressage,Threeday eventing,Games,polocross, and more recently western sports.

And so back to D camp...
You might be wondering why it is called such, it is because only D's are able to participate in this particular camp as a rider.
Now you are wondering what a D is?A type of kid that has Fangs?
Pony Club divides its levels of riders into D's , C's, B, and A.
And D's are divided into three levels, as are C's. These are D-1's,D-2's,and D-3's.

Resulting in me being a "Big Sister" to not one (my little sister who's participating as a rider on team 2) but Five because I'm a C-1.
My duties being

• Applying sunscreen
• Forcing water down throats
• Tacking horses if needed
• Cleaning tack
• Cleaning stalls
• stuffing food down children's faces
• keeping time under my watch full gaze
• leading pony's on Cross Country
• Attempt to teach jump/Dressage Courses
• Drink Coffee
• Drag sleep deprived children out of their tents

And so ruffly 150 Children were introduced to Threeday Eventing.
Five of those where from my Club, the Kaweah Pony Club.

So...What happens when you get this many little children on horses?
One would reputably answer "Fall off". Eight Children fell off on the second day, two of which went to the hospital(both came back for more the next day).
None fell off on the third and last day.

Here are some pics of the Newest addition's to the horsey world.

Two of the three boys present

Dressage

Oliver Twist

Crosscountry

"Is that edible?"

No the Deer is not stuffed

Dressage

Showjumping (my little sister)

Afternoon Snack

Walking the Showjumping Course

Warm-up arena

Just sorting out the minor details before Dressage.

Dressage

Cross Country

Cross Country

Cross Country

And so The Threeday event ends.