Central Hawke's Bay Pony Club

CHB Pony Club Newsletter

21 April 2025

Welcome to our CHB Pony Club newsletter! We haven’t done this for a long time, but with a few big changes recently we though it was a great opportunity to reintroduce it.

Introducing the CHBPC CommitteeWe held our AGM on Tuesday 8th April and have lots of new faces:

District Commissioner: Gretchen King Asst District Commissioner: Rachel Hunter Chief Coach: Geordie HaswellAsst Chief Coach: Jess HunterSecretary: Abi MedwayEvents Secretary: Hannah TullyTreasurer: Dani Miller

Thank you to our outgoing committee members, in particular Judy Hartstone, Jasmine Chandler-Williams and Megan Pedersen for their longstanding service. Also a special thank you to Katherine Large who chaired the AGM.

Upcoming rallies:

Friday 9th May (Lake Station) Sunday 25th May (venue tbc), Sunday 8th June (Lake Station), Sunday 22nd June (Takapau)

What’s been happening recently:

Certificates!We’ve had a lot of children recently passing their certificates. Some were doing it for the first time, others were on catchup, hence doing their D and D+ in quick succession. Everybody passed with flying colours and learnt so much. Thank you to Jane Von D who took some of the

kids for an unmounted Horsemanship rally in preparation, and our wonderful examiners Judy Hartstone and Janeane Strawbridge.

D Certificate: Georgia King, Hetty King, Millie Tully, Sophie Edgecombe, Tilly Chandler- Williams, Mya Hunter, Orla O’Connor.

D+: Olivia Lovelock, Hannah Lovelock, Tilly Chandler-Williams, Mya Hunter, Orla O’Connor, Maddie Miller, Sadie Medway

Autumn Gymkhana

This was held Saturday 30th March and what a wonderful turnout. It’s always a great sign when you need to put on extra rings due to the large numbers. This year in addition to the flat rings and Hunter Class, we also put on an encouragement jumping ring. As well as being extremely popular it also meant that members and non-members alike hung around till the end of the day, making the most of the sunshine. And making the pack-up much easier! This event is always so well supported and thank you to everyone involved, from riders and supporters, to our judges and stewards.

Senior Camp

Good luck to the senior students who are going on camp this week to Dragon Equestrian Jump Park near Levin. They’re there doing some intensive study over 3 days towards their C, C+ and B Certificates, and have some wonderful experts and coaches coming. If you haven’t heard of Dragon check it out on FB – some seriously cool facilities!

Pony Club tent at The Winter Olympics

The Winter Olympics is a big deal in the CHB equestrian calendar. This year it is being held on Saturday 26th April. Good luck to all our members who will be riding at it. This year they have a Fun Zone and amongst the hobby horse competition, bouncy castle, crafts and competitions will be the Pony Club tent. We would love our members to call in, give the quizzes and activities a go, and act as ambassadors for our Pony Club by telling others about our Pony Club.

Rallies and the Pony Club App

All rallies are loaded onto the Pony Club app, plus we will also circulate dates via email and the FB page to make sure no one misses them. However due to the logistics required to organise a rally, we ask that all members to RSVP before the due date (normally about 5 days

beforehand), and that you RSVP via the app so that we can track attendance. If you change your mind and suddenly want to attend please contact the Head Coach (Geordie) and ask.

Thinking of becoming a member?

We’d love to have you! Our membership year starts on 1st July but you are allowed to ‘trial’ by attending up to 3 rallies before joining. If you’d like to find out more about joining contact our secretary, Abi Medway centralhawkesbaypc@gmail.com

Central Hawke’s Bay Pony Club centralhawkesbaypc@gmail.com Check us out on facebook: CHB Pony Club