| NS/NF Region
Spring 2003 Newsletter
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From the Editor
In between newsletters, look on our Regional Pony Club website for updates and results. (Go to the national website at www.canadianponyclub.org and connect to the region’s website from there.) Remember if you have information for the newsletter, please contact me, Margie, at 673-2543.
Insurance Note from National Office
Based on specific information provided by our Insurance Broker, it is now confirmed that all Canadian Pony Club Active Members activities can resume effective immediately.
It is important that all Branch documentation (eg. membership and risk forms) continue to be completed as required.
We thank you for your patience and wish you a successful season.
Karol Shipley
- Chair
John Moehring -
Vice-Chair
Regional Quizzes
We have been very fortunate to have had two Regional Quizzes this year. Special thanks to Avon PC for taking on the C Level Quiz and to Fairwind and Colchester for co-hosting the Novice/D Level and C National Quiz Qualifier. Try as I might it’s been very difficult to get details on the Avon Quiz, but I did manage to send in a spy who tells me in spite of the stormy weather, those that were able to attend had a terrific time.
The Novice/D Level Quiz held in Truro was a great success with numbers in the mid nineties. The schedule for the day included a written test, artifacts, craft- horsey book marks, Before & After, Odd One Out, Memory, Bridles, Stadium Jumping, Sock it To Me, Scrambled Legs (& Parts), Colors & Markings, Feeds ‘n Stuff, alphabet and a very popular educational station. The activities of the day moved along very smoothly with a very efficient crew in both the kitchen and the marking/scoring room.
Novice Division - Team Placings:
| 1st | Team #5 | Annapolis (Rachel Foote, Claire MacDougall, Brittany Parter, Gillian Hatcher) |
| 2nd | Team #1 | Colchester (Andrea Hamilton, Rachel Duston, Chantal Paupin, Becky Baines) |
| 3rd | Team #2 | Tantramar/Avon (Rebecka Aurell, Jordanne Goodwin,Courtney Watson, Kyla Zwicker) |
Novice Individual
| 1st | tie: | Rachel Foote - Annapolis
Kyla Zwicker- Avon |
| 2nd | tie: | Emily Place- Opportunity
Jocelyn Bellfontaine - Eastern Shore |
| 3rd | tie: | Claire MacDougall - Annapolis
Jillian Hatcher- Annapolis |
D Division - Team Placings:
| 1st | Team #6 | Fairwind (Alana Robertson, Caitlin Doyle, Catherine Partridge, Jensyn Doyle, Christine Deyoung) |
| 2nd | Team #12 | Avon (Mary Beth Kehoe, Morgan Parsons, Claire Hubbard,Hilary Foster, Jeff Harding |
| 3rd | Team #13 | Avon (Tricia Sanford, Liia Roop Christine Shaw, Robyn Riggs, Rose Zwanberg) |
D Individual
| 1st | Sam Haley Fairwind
| | 2nd | Caitlyn Doyle Fairwind
| | 3rd | Mary Beth Kehoe Avon
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Special thanks to sponsors who provided fantastic prizes: Greenhawk, Holna Farm Services, Claire Reeves, and Scotsburn; CPC for the posters; Shur-Gain Feeds & Needs, Antigonish Farm & Garden Co-op; Shoppers Drug Mart; Robertson’s Save Easy; and to
Apple Saddlery for once again providing hats for the top teams.
Feature Article: Julie Ansems Story
My eventing career began in Nova Scotia in 1989, and stayed within the province with my own horses for 11 years. My only national and international equestrian experiences were thanks to the Canadian Pony Club; attending National Rallies in 1995 in Ontario and in Nova Scotia in 1996, and Show Jumping Championships in South Africa in 1999.
After finally achieving my “A” level in the fall of 1999, I was in search of new challenges with my NS bred gelding, Mayday, whom I bought when he was 2 yrs old (in 1992). For our first trip “abroad”, I decided to attend the 2000 Maritime Championships in New Brunswick, along with a few other dedicated riders. Although we didn’t finish as well as I had hoped, I really enjoyed the challenge of analyzing a cross country course that I had never seen before.
That fall I also attended an eventing clinic with Rob Stevenson, former Olympic Team member at the 1992 Olympics. I now look back on his interest and involvement as a major turning point in my eventing career which pointed my life in whole new direction. Rob was extremely dedicated to take a Maritime group of Preliminary level riders to our first three day event in Ontario the following fall. After finally venturing out of the province in 2000, the 2001 season saw Mayday and I compete in PEI, NB, NS, Quebec and at the Glen Oro One Star Three Day Event (also the Canadian Championships that year) in Ontario. We enjoyed a great deal of success, placing 6th at the Three Day, and I was now hooked.
I graduated from Mount Alison University in 2001, and then attended ITI (Information Technology Institute) in Halifax in the fall. I had many discussions with Rob about the future of my riding career, and how it would compliment a job and my professional career upon my graduation in June of 2002. He suggested that I go and train for the summer with Lorraine Laframboise, who is a former Canadian Eventing Team member, and the Team Coach when Rob competed at the 1992 Olympics, and she is now coaching in New Jersey. I thought it would be a great opportunity to compete at larger US events, to move up to the Intermediate level, and to also potentially find a job in my field of Information Technology (since as a poor student, I needed to fund my expensive hobby!). I attended a few of the earlier events in PEI and NB in 2002, and was able to train at Rob’s Foshay Farm in Jemseg, NB for the month of July, before Sarah Anderson (fellow eventer and former Pony Clubber) and myself started our journey to Pittstown, NJ. We were very proud to say after 6 States, 18 hours of driving, and arriving at the new barn at 2 am, the only navigational mistake we made was in missing the farm’s driveway.
The goal of our American trip was to compete at the Preliminary level at a few nearby events, and then attend the Morven Park One Star Three Day Event in Virginia, on the first weekend in October. Unfortunately, as the way things can be in the horse world, we were met with some unfortunate luck. Both of our horses came up lame during our training in New Jersey. Sarah’s horse (Against All Odds) had a slight tear to his check ligament, and my horse strained a tendon sheath in his hind leg. Neither were career ending injuries, but both serious enough they required rest, and changed our season goals.
Sarah decided to head home to Nova Scotia to return to Acadia University in September, while I still had hope to compete later in the season, along with finding full time work in New Jersey. After 5 weeks of slow recovery, and limited jumping, I competed at my first American event, the Menfelt Horse Trials, in Maryland. Despite the extended rest, a new approach to our Dressage Phase, a couple of uncharacteristic stops in cross country, and a rail in stadium, we finished the event with hope of attending the Three Day.
However, it was not to be. Mayday had a very rare reaction to some routine veterinary care, and ended up getting an infection in his fetlock joint, and then had a reaction to the antibiotics administered for the infection. This was the final indication that Mayday just needed a solid amount of rest, and he would be ready to go in the spring.
Despite our early ending season, I still experienced much of the eventing world. I traveled to horse trials basically every weekend, grooming for Lorraine’s other students. I went to events in Pennsylvania, Maryland, Delaware, Virginia and New Jersey, mostly grooming for an eye surgeon who has three young Irish horses. I was exposed to many technical cross country courses, and an endless amount of riding talents (from David and Karen O’Conner to Phillip Dutton and Bruce Davidson). I groomed at the Radnor Two Star Three Day Event, and was a spectator at the Fair Hill Three Star Three Day Event. I even attended the Morven Park Three Day Event that Mayday and I had aimed to attend, but I went as a groom, and although it was a fun experience, I would much rather have been competing!
Another generous friend of Lorraine’s offered for me to compete her lovely Irish Thoroughbred in the fall, at the Beginner Novice (Starter) level, in which we finished in 1st place, however was bumped down to 6th due to a technical error on the cross country course (which we’ll blame on my misunderstanding of the American rules).
Following the eventing season, I found myself working several part time jobs to help pay for my large vet bills, and in my attempt to become financially independent from my parents. I was working off my horse’s board at High Brass Farms in Pittstown, NJ (5 minutes down the road from George Morris’ Hunterdon Farm). High Brass is mainly a Hunter/Jumper/Sale barn, which regularly imports young horses from Holland. I was involved in numerous odd jobs around the 30 stall barn, mainly exercising many of the horses. This was a very new experience to me, since I rarely had the opportunity to ride various horses, especially from varied disciplines. I also worked part time at the eye surgeon’s brand new farm helping with regular care of the horses, and also exercising the families nine horses (his wife and daughter are hunters). I was requested by another acquaintance to come and hack her two horses since she was attending college at Yale (which was a unique experience for me, since they are actually large ponies which draws some strange looks from passersby on the road due to my 5’10 height on these feisty ponies). I definitely worked hard, riding up to eight horses a day, and other days turning out and mucking stalls for 35+ horses.
I have been very fortunate to meet some very generous people along the way. From a wonderful family who asked Sarah and I to house-sit their home for 3 weeks (20 minutes after meeting us!), to the staff at High Brass Farm, to Lorraine’s other clients who have lent me their trucks/horse trailers to take Mayday to the vet, and everyone who employed me. I definitely learned that the value of hard work is really appreciated, and unfortunately rarely seen in this area. Pony Club is also rare in this area, due to the large numbers of boarding facilities offering trainers and horses, and also due to the high cost of owning your own horse. It was very hard for me to get used to showing up to ride eight horses, and not having to tack up, groom, or clean the tack of any of the horses; there are numerous grooms who work long hours to keep the farm efficient and polished. This is typical of the Hunter/Jumper facilities, which is a great advantage when you have a tight schedule, however, the students don’t learn about what it really means to take care of your horse. Having grown up taking care of my own horse, along with boarders, and going through the Pony Club system, I know how to muck a stall, clean my tack, and keep my horse happy and healthy, which is a true equestrian.
My hard work over the summer paid off, as the eye surgeon that I had groomed for offered me a job at his eye offices (he currently has four offices in New Jersey, and over 40,000 patients which are seen by himself and 4 other doctors). I work full time as a receptionist, doing on the job training as an ophthalmoltic technician, and involved with managing the business website. With this employment and my educational background, I was able to obtain a one-year working visa here in the States, and am looking forward to competing this season (which begins in 5 weeks!!)
The amazing opportunities that are offered to me continues to surprise me. In February I was asked to escort the Doctor’s 15 yr old daughter to West Palm Beach, Florida, for the weekend while she competed her equitation horse at the Winter Circuit. It was a definite eye opener for me to experience the unique show world in Florida, and was exposed to numerous equestrian professionals; and it was a nice treat to remove the hats and mittens to enjoy the nice sunshine rays in the middle of January.
Mayday (who will be 13 this year) and I are scheduled to attend our first event of the season on March 22/23 in Maryland, will compete at two more Preliminary events in April, and are planning on attending the Virginia Three Day Event One Star in May. Depending on Mayday’s soundness following the Spring Three Day, we will move up to the Intermediate level and possibly compete at our first Two Star Three Day in the fall.
Special thanks to Julie for this fantastic and encouraging story on what has been taking place in her life. Best of luck Julie with your future endeavors.
Highlights from the NS/NFLD Regional Meetings in 2003
We will have a CPC Information Booth set up at the Maritime Winter Fair, October 10-19th. Volunteers will be needed to work in the booth.
National is recognizing 15-25 year volunteers with a ‘service pin’. Names can be put forward for these by contacting your DC.
PPG - Jackie Allen, Regional PPG Chair, is willing to do clinics at Branch camps. If interested, contact Jackie.
Dressage - Elizabeth Crewe, Regional Dressage Chair, has scheduled a ‘Dressage is Fun’ day at CNHP, Truro on June 8th.
Rally - Colchester will be hosting the Regional Rally at CNHP this summer; NB/PEI turn to host Zone Rally; As Jenn was not able to attend the National Disciplines Meetings in Winnipeg, Margie Johnson attended on behalf of the Region. Discussion centered around Zone Competition alternating between NS/Nfld and NB/PEI where possible. There will not be a National Rally in 2003. Rally Rules were discussed with a few changes being recommended to the CPC AGM. Watch the website for updated rules after that meeting.
Canada will host the InterPacific Exchange in 2005 and discussion has started already to determine a location within Canada. This year Jackie Allen is Captain of the InterPacific Team travelling to Australia to compete. (Amber Hancock is an alternate.) Congratulations to both girls. Jackie met her team and chaperone in February in Winnipeg . At the Regional Level , we are happy to offer support in the amount of $300 towards travel expenses. Check out the website for opportunities to support this team.
Education - Diana Locke, Education Chair, has been arranging several higher level lectures starting with Rob Stevenson on feeding/conditioning your event horse in the winter and preparing for your first (3 day) event. Unfortunately, the insurance issue has put a hold on further lectures at this time. A
pilot project is being worked on in some regions on a ‘badge system’ within Pony Club. This is not to replace our test levels but to compliment them offering badges for particular accomplishments between testing levels. Information will follow as this project unfolds.
Quiz - PEI/NB will be hosting the National Quiz in Charlottetown in the fall of 2003. Qualifiers have already been held for this and the team will be announced once all factors are in place. Margie Johnson is stepping down from Regional Quiz Rep this year. Congratulations to Teressa Speelman for taking on the position. (Quiz actually falls under ‘Education’ in the PC organization.)
Tetrathlon - Run, Swim, & Shoot clinics will be held this spring on April 26 and May 24th. Attending these as a branch is a great introduction to Tetrathlon and a lot of fun; The Regional Tet Championships (June 28th & 29th) and a Tet/Cross Country Camp (July 1-4th) are being hosted by Tantramar PC. Instructor for camp is Alex Beaton and there are a few openings for members from other branches. Gay Hansen is taking on the National Tetrathlon Director position. Congratulations Gay. Much of the time at the Tetrathlon meetings at the National Disciplines Conference (Debbie Sloan, Regional Chair) was spent reworking the Tetrathlon Rules. Watch for the revised approved rules on the website after the National Annual General Meeting.
Stadium Jumping - SJ Zones are to be hosted by NS this year. Consideration and discussion is taking place around holding SJ Zones in conjunction with the Maritime Fall Fair this year. Suzanne Perry, SJ Regional Chair, attended the SJ meetings in Winnipeg. As with other disciplines, Zones was high on the agenda and this level of competition will continue for the present. A number of rule changes will be recommended to the National AGM. Suzanne felt these meetings are a great way to find out what is and isn’t working across the country. A great way to see that our region although small, offers as much or more for our pony clubbers as the larger regions.
Regional Test Chair - Johanne Head encourages Branch Test reps to pay careful attention to the proper procedures/forms to be completed prior to and following written tests and test Day. Forms can be found in the Testing Procedures. Watch for updates to Testing Procedures after the National AGM in the spring. Test Reps have a great deal of reading and organizing to do in order to stay on top of the record keeping for Regional and National. Each Branch was to submit a test rep name to Judy Allen.
Youth Rep - Emily Dexter attended the Disciplines Conference in Winnipeg in February and met Youth Reps from other Regions. Recommendations will go forward to CPC Annual General Meeting to increase the PC age to 25 to allow for testing to attain levels, 10 year membership pins; idea of a CPC promotional video. From a Regional Youth Meeting, members would like to see the number of clinics increased, both riding and educational.
Budget - Each year, Discipline Chairs present the Regional Meeting with a proposed budget for that calendar year. After discussion, and often rearranging figures, a budget is agreed on for the year. This year Regional Funds are especially tight. The easiest way we can all support our Regional funds, is by active participation in the Annual Fund Raiser which is a sale of tickets on a draw for Gift Certificates. In the past years, this has been the only Regional fund raiser needed, and rather than add an additional fund raiser at this time to increase our operating funds, we are asking each member/branch to do their very best at promoting these tickets. Pauline Doyle, Fairwind, will organize this for us this year.
Other Business - Concern was expressed on Pony Club maintaining it’s own identity separate from Equine Canada (pressure for tetrathlon discipline to adopt EC’s rules) and testing levels (more and more tieing RA & HA levels to CEF levels). This concern will be taken to the CPC Annual General Meeting.
Branch Updates: (taken from reports submitted to Regional Meetings in 2003)
Opportunity PC - Held a two-evening session on First Aid. Seven attended; all passed. Four members braved icy roads to attend the C Quiz in Windsor. An in-house quiz was held with 25 attending giving the new pony clubbers and new parents a taste for quiz. Their PC Jumper Show Committee is in full swing. Megan White, A Pony Clubber has agreed to coach during their summer camp. Those who wish to subsidize their costs may do so by selling cheese. Two youth reps, Jenna Lee Reid and Robynne Murray were elected.
Annapolis PC - Their stable management program got underway February 1st. They have three groups who meet once every two weeks for eight weeks. The C2 group will work as an independent study group. Julia Young is the instructor. Members are going to be working on a project which they will present in May/June. As the Starter Rally is early this year, the riding lesson program will begin earlier. Camp is being held the second week in July at Medford Meadows. Once again hosting the Regional Show Jumping & Dressage Championships ... August 17th at Medford Meadows. Mark Smith, Veterinarian with Cornwallis Veterinarians gave a very informative talk on West Nile Virus. Both the Executive and the Fundraising Committee have been busy trying to identify funding needs and projecting plans for this season.
Eastern Shore PC - Their executive is in place for this year with everyone looking forward to another busy year.
West Valley PC - Lectures for the E’s are nearly complete; held one quiz practice. Levels D-B are meeting every other week for stable management lectures. Hosting a horse show on June 14th as a fund raiser at the Lawrencetown Exhibition Grounds. Open to everyone. Camp is booked for July 7-10 at the same site. Four members went to quiz in Windsor.
Fairwind PC - Lectures are continuing. Most members took part in an unmounted clinic given by Mary Lew Murray at Fairwind Farm in January focusing on conformation and movement and lunging to improve the horse and rider. Met regularly to work on the Novice/D Level Quiz.
Colchester PC - Stable Management lectures which began in November/December continue on most Friday nights. Met regularly with Fairwind to work on the N/D Level Quiz. Two Colchester C teams participated in the Regional C Quiz in Windsor; one team placing 2nd the other 5th.
Regional Youth Representative – Emily Dexter
Spring is finally here which also means lots of riding!
I hope everyone is enjoying the beautiful weather. Congratulations to everyone who attended the regional quizzes hosted by Avon and Fairwind/ Colchester.
Branch youth reps are listed below; contact them if you have any suggestions, concerns or questions. Introducing the Branch Youth Representatives:
| Annapolis - | Jessica Gerrits
Ariel Roy Sutherland |
| Avon - | Wray Shofield
Kaleigh Everett |
| Colchester - | Kate Mattocks |
| Eastern Shore - | Blair Venoit |
| Fairwind - | Laura MacEachern |
| Opportunity - | Jenna Lee Reid
Robynne Murray |
| Tantramar - | Anna Murray |
| West Valley - | Stephanie Burnie |
If you would like to contact me, email: mysticstar07@hotmail.com
Virtual Trophy Case: Look on the website at our region’s Virtual Trophy Case. Do you have stories or information about some of those trophies that you could add? Do you have Pony Club trophies that are not in the Virtual Trophy Case?? Let us know and we’ll get details and photos of those online as well.
Horse & Pony Ad - Check out the February issue of Horse & Pony for a Regional Pony Club ad. Encourage your equestrian friends to join Pony Club for a great education and for great fun! Special thanks to Joy Brown for the terrific ad.
NS Regional PC Dates on the Website: Check the website and mark your personal calendars ...be sure to mark the deadline dates to send off entry forms.
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