All general information about the Irish Pony Club can be found on their website www.irishponyclub.ie
Dressage
The member will learn and ride a dressage test. There are different levels depending on age for U12, Junior, Senior, Intermediate and Open. The tests used change and the latest tests to be used can be found on the Irish Pony Club website.
Show Jumping
The member rides a set course of show jumps. The heights and difficulty vary according to age with U12 generally jumping 75-80cm, Juniors 90cm, Intermediate 1m and Open 1.10m.
Combined Training
The competition here is the combined result of the ridden dressage test and jumping a round of showjumping.
Hunter Trials
The member will jump a course of solid purpose-built fences across country.
Eventing
Consists of three disciplines; dressage, show jumping and cross country. Classes are according to age with U12, Junior, Intermediate and Open.
Pony Club Competitions
The Irish Pony Club organises several national events where those from our club that are interested can take part. For rules and regulations and eligibility, more details can be found on the Irish Pony Club website.
Minimus
Consists of cross country over a 80cm course followed by 2min swimming and 1,000m running. You compete as a team of 4. Competitors have to be less than 12 years of age on the 1st of January. Training will be done in the club during the spring leading up to the National Minimus Championship in May/June.
Please see the Irish Pony Club Minimum page for general information on the Minimus.
Please be sure you are prepared for Minimus competition with pony vaccinations up-to-date & marked on the passport (which you must remember to take with you). Also, have useable stud holes, & this year’s membership card. The rider & pony requirements can be found on the main Irish Pony Club Website.
Tetrathlon
Like Minimus but for those over 12 with cross country, 3min swimming, 1,500 running and target shooting. There is competition for Juniors and Intermediate and you compete in a team of 4. The National Tetrathlon Championship takes place over 3 days in August.
Please see the Irish Pony Club Tetrathlon Page for general information on the IPC Tetrathlon competitions.
Our club started to participate in the tetrathlon again about 2006 after a break of a few years. At the moment it looks likely that there will be participants in the years to come. Whereas this is an extremely exciting competition and everyone tremendously enjoys the competition itself, beware that the training for it takes up a serious amount of time. Nevertheless, in the last few years, we have found that our tetrathletes keep going back for more. It seems that the joint training has a great social aspect attached to it that our members enjoy very much. In our club, we see the tetrathlon as a fun team competition that can be enjoyed while also posing a challenge. Unlike some other IPC branches, we are not dead serious about it competing only for the sake of winning.
Swimming Training
Swimming training for the Tetrathlon usually starts in April. It is on once a week, so when you get the text you can book in for this. Tetrathletes who have siblings doing the Minimus might find it more convenient to train with the Minimus group starting in February. In 2010 we were asked to start the swimming training again in October so we are looking into this at the moment. We have been holding our swimming lessons in the Aura Leisure Centre in Youghal. We find that usually our tetrathletes join in the swimming training we organise, however, if you want to organise your own swimming training there is no problem.
Running Training
In past years our tetrathletes had to organise their own running training since we found that trying to organise another day to suit all was impossible. A lot of our Tetrathlon participants have joined their local athletics club anyway. However, in 2010 we did the running training with the Conna running club on Thursday evenings before the shooting practice. This training is not compulsory so if you want to organise your running training yourself there is no problem.
Shooting Training
We have been organising gun shooting training for our junior tetrathletes the last few years. In 2010 we started doing pistol shooting training for the senior tetrathletes. In the past our seniors had done their shooting training with neighbouring pony club branches. We will try to organise this again if there is demand.
Cross Country Riding Training
You can participate in our general xc rallies to prepare for the xc phase of the Tetrathlon, but we will also organise special Tetrathlon xc trainings that are only open to Tetrathlon participants. Once you are on the Tetrathlon list you will receive text messages about these trainings. A text will go out to all our members at the beginning of each season to ask who is interested in doing the tetrathlon that year. Those members who reply positively to the text are put on the tetrathlon list and all further texts regarding the tetrathlon usually only go out to the members whose names are on this list.
One-day Events – One-day event qualifiers are run during June/July and August. If you have completed two with no more than 20 penalties (one stop) combined, you can take part in the Eventing Championship in Tattersalls in August which runs over two days, where one competes as a team of 4. Only open to Juniors and Intermediate.
Area Qualifier
Each Area organises its own qualifier where the winners/winning teams qualify for the Irish Pony Club Festival. In the Area qualifier, you can compete in Dressage, Show jumping and Combined training. In show jumping, there is the Junior team competition Robbie Bailey and the Intermediate team competition John Ledingham. There is also individual Intermediate, Members, and Senior show jumping.
Show-jumping Classic
The show jumping classic is a competition where riders jump at 1m, 1.10m, and 1.20m. Each area holds a qualifier where the winners will go forward to the national finals, normally held in September.
Irish Pony Club Festival
This is the final for all who qualified from the different areas. Competitions also include Mounted Games and Musical Ride. In recent years an U12/U10 derby has also been run with dressage, show jumping and a derby course. The Festival is run over three days.
Mounted Games
Please see the Irish Pony Club Mounted Games Page for general information on Mounted Games.
Mounted Games Rallies
Our club has been doing Mounted Games for years. However, it seems that in our club mainly the younger members are interested in this fun activity. Games rallies will be announced as such and are generally open to any age. Our club has purchased games equipment including a PR system to facilitate Mounted Games training.
There are Mounted Games Qualifiers in each IPC area. The finals are held at the IPC Festival in July. We have sent teams to our Area 3 Qualifier before and will do so any time we have enough competitors. However, we also need to send down two fully trained adult helpers who know all the games, otherwise, we’ll be disqualified.
Your club team can also qualify to compete at the RDS. There are special qualifier days your team must attend for this. You can usually find the dates on the IPC website.
Musical Ride
The objective of the Musical Ride (also called the Activity Ride) is to allow the ordinary child on the ordinary pony to participate in this FUN activity. A pony doesn’t have to be able to jump high or do amazing dressage, but these ponies can also take part.
The Musical Ride teaches children to ride in circles, straight lines, and in rhythm with the emphasis being on fun and music, Riders also have to consider others in the ride and so learn to wor as part of a team.
See the Irish Pony Club Musical Ride Page for general information on Musical Rides.
Our club has not done Musical Rides so far. They are good fun but like everything else require a lot of training and preparation. If you are interested in doing a Musical Ride let us know and if enough members commit to the training and the competition we will try to find someone to organise the training.
There is a Musical Ride Competition at the Irish Pony Club Festival at the end of July and the Musical Rides presented there are always a pleasure to watch with all the ponies and riders dressed up.
Hunting
Members of West Waterford Pony Club are invited to join West Waterford Hunt for the childrens lawn meet. This is normally around the Christmas period. Check out the news items. Members will be updated by the text service. All members welcome from beginners to our senior members.
If you haven’t hunted before & fancy trying it out, this is your ideal opportunity with plenty of experienced adults who know the country well to see that everyone enjoys themselves.
Whether you can attend this special meet or not, we would encouraging our members to hunt with their local hunts (West Waterfords, Dungarvan Harriers, Lismore Harriers, United Hunt, Killeagh Harriers, Cloyne Harriers, etc.) over the winter months. It gives both the riders and their ponies great confidence, helps to develop a balanced seat and offers great variety.
