Congratulations Natasha Slipchenko for winning the Equitation Over Fences Indiana 2010 State Fair Championship!! Ginger and Natasha rode their way through a challenging finals course. Brianna Johnson and Natasha both rode in the finals. Brianna was riding a winning round however, nerves took over and she went off course. There is always next year. Madison Lareau, Abi Wall, Sarah Cambell, Natasha, and Brianna all were in the ribbons during the day. Madison Lareau won the IHJA Sportsmanship award given by Jim Farmer. Madison and Brianna both came in at the top 3 during the equitation classes.
Pony Brook congratulates all the State Fair Riders for a great show. Your hard work paid off!! 

The summer brought several new students to the Pony Brook Family. We welcome them and hope they find a cozy spot within our horsey family.  

Pony Brook took 9 horses and 5 riders to White County 4H Fair. The kids did great at taking care of their horses and showing. It was a hot exhausting week for parents and coach. But, the kids took away a lot of experience and ribbons.  

We took 13 riders to the open show and were represented quite well in the ribbons. Everyone had a great time and are getting the hang of the showing world.  

We spent a week of all day lessons. With 6-12 kids attending this camp was fun, a little wet, very hot on some days and very educational. The last day was spent taking a test to start determining their level of riding. Next we will be taking a riding test and oral exam. Thanks to all the parents for bringing their child. Every year we add more and more riders. Hopefully next year we will double the count.  

13 students and 8 horses showed at the White County Fun Show May 15th. It was a great time for the parents and kids. We had 5 Pee Wee Walk Trotters!! They were great! There were 7 students that rode in the Hunter Jumper classes. And we had a 2 riders riding in the western classes. The kids have a great time and our littlest rider won a tophy in her lead-line class. A majority of the kids were in the ribbons several times. Can't wait until the next show on June 19th. 

We are excited at Pony Brook Stables that school is out. Now we can really start having some fun!! Lots of activities are planned. 

On April 29 I helped to teach the White County 4H Horse and Pony Jumping Work sessionl. It was fun and enlightening. What a great opportunity for 4Hers to have qualified instruction.
I know that it can be tough to open up and allow others to help our own kids. I hope that parents will see that we are volunteering our time and our knowledge because we want to help. It is my desire to tap the talent of horses and riders, and to offer them my knowledge and experience. It is my passion to make riders and parents aware of good riding position, skills, and tools needed in all facets of riding.  

Several students attended the first meeting for Horse and Pony on March 9th at the Reynolds Fairgrounds. Pony Brook Stables has 8 riders, 3 horseless horseman, and 4 mini 4H'ers. We are excited about a great year in 4H in White County. We also will be taking 8 riders to Indiana State Fair being held August 6-22, 2010 in Indianapolis State Fairgrounds. http://www.in.gov/statefair/fair/
 

Accoring to Indiana State Fair Department 401 Horse and Pony:
Mandatory jumping practice in Pepsi Coliseum for all 4-H members participating in over fences classes. For the personal safety of each participant and horse, all youth enrolled in over fences classes must participate in the practice session. Fence heights for the over fence classes will be set for the competition after the ability of the
riders has been assessed. Youth participating in an IHJA clinic in 2010 may be excused from this session with verification from the instructor of their safety over fences.

Wilene has been listed as in IHJA Clinician. Contact her for more information on the "by appointment" classes that she offers. 

PBS would like to welcome some new students:

Halle, Kalissa, Jaylen, Candess, and Ivan to our family!!  I look forward to your progress and spending more time with you in the summer. 

 

Welcome home Nugget!!  Nugget is what appears to be a Leopard Appaloosa.  We will verify that after his winter coat turns into a beautiful soft coat.  His coat appears to be white with specks of golden colors.  He is a great little 8 year old pony that is not afraid of anything.  Cute mover and smooth as ice.  He will fit in wonderfully here at Pony Brook.

 

I (Wilene) attended the 2009 ARIA Convention that was held in Naples, Florida.  No sunshine for me though.  The convention had many speakers, round circle and focus groups.  It was a very educational 4 days.  I heard from great people such as George H Morris, Denny Emerson, Bob Allen, Susan E. Harris, Peggy Brown, Jane Savoie and many more.  It was exciting meeting and networking with many instructors from all over.  I appreciate all my sponsors for this trip.  I would not have been able to attend without their help.  I will be putting together a report with pictures soon. 

 

Happy Holloween!!

PBS hosted a party for Holloween this year.  We had fun horsey games and even had a treasure hunt.  Prizes and candy were awarded.  The kids did do some learning with the horse anatomy parts game.  Thanks to Raindrop and Monty for volunteering to be the horse model, they were very well behaved for the game.

 

On September 12th we took 5 riders to the White County Open Show in Rynolds, IN.  They performed in English and Western classes bringing in ribbons in every class.  Alex Shelton, Rachel Hegalwald, Natasha Slipchenko, Brianna Johnson, and Katie Thompson all enjoyed the long day.   

 

Rachel Hegalwald collected many ribbons at the White County English Show this Year. This is her first year competeing in English and she has turned out to be a very beutiful English rider with confidence and poise.  She has competed the last 5 years in the Western Division and came to me to learn English this last summer.  She worked hard and it showed. 

Adrianna Erdy also did a great job coming in 1st during her equitation class at the Tippecanoe County English Show.  She won the English Division Belt Buckle again for the 3rd year.   I have been helping her for the last couple of years with her English.  She also has proven to be a very effective and pretty rider.

Adrianna Erdy elected to ride in State Fair this year.  She was very successful coming in 2nd in the Hunter over Fences and 3rd out of 17 riders in the Hunter Hack Class.  She has improved so much in the last couple of years and I am very proud of her. 

 

July brings many adventures to Pony Brook. The students enjoyed camp week. They spent all day riding, caring and learning about horses. We had 10 students attend the week. 4H Riders were mentors for the camp and did a great job. 

This month we brought home a new 11 hand pony named Sammy.  He is turning out to be quite the pony!!   Katie, Addie, and Elliott are enjoying having a pony just their size!! 

We also have added Clifford the Big Red Horse and Monty to the lesson horse string.  These two horses complete a collection of horses that fit every level of rider.  Clifford is a 16.3 hand horse that has had many years experience in the show jumper and cross county world.  He is a great teacher for our intermediate and advanced students.  Monty is an "ole" trail horse.  He is learning to ride around the ring and we are teaching him to jump.  He is coming along great and will be a great beginner and intermediate horse.

 

Congratulations to our students who earned ratings this past month. Alex Shelton earned her D1 and Madison Lareau earned her D2. They are members of the local Wabash Valley Pony Club located in Tippecanoe County.

"The United States Pony Clubs was formed by a group who wanted a structured program to not only teach their childern sound riding skills, but also how to care for their mount.  Based on The Pony Club in England, The United States Pony Clubs, Inc., was established in 1954. Everyone joins USPC as an unrated member and progresses through the lower-level ratings (D-1 through C-2) within the local club or center. The C-3, H-B, B, H/H-A, and A are national ratings, administered by the National Testing Committee."

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