Pony liaison criticised

Press, 1 July 1978, Page 48

Pony liaison criticised

Concern at the lack of Raison at home level between clubs and branches was expressed by the president, Mr L. Murdoch (Auckland), at the annual conference of the New Zealand Pony Club Association in Ashburton. He said this resulted in the “grass root” members not being informed of the business and administration of the national movement. As a result, the national secretary was burdened with many letters and requests which should have been dealt with domestically. He spoke with regret of the impending retirement of the secretary. Mrs Shirley Bond, who ' had tirelessly worked for the association for nearly 32 years, and who would be hard to replace. Mr Murdoch also expressed his thanks to Mr Charles Levin for his service as treasurer for many years. .Mr Levin will retire in October. Mr Murdoch said that the pony club, with about 15.000 members, was one of the strongest and finest youth movements of today, run almost entirely by voluntary instructors and helpers. Mr Murdoch was elected president unopposed, and the three vice-presidents, are Mr R. Barclay (Auckland). Mrs

Virginia Johnson (Canterbury) and Mr Roland Matthews (Gisborne).

Fourteen remits were submitted to the conference, 10 of which concerned the national Pony Club championships. This seemed rather top-heavy as it catered for only 96 riders a year as against the thousands of riders who would “never make the grade.”

A bone of contention for many years has been the ruling that teams for the championships are selected after only one trial. Many representatives felt that areas were quite capable of organising their team’s selection. After a close vote, the Christchurch remit was finally passed, giving areas the opportunity to select teams by one of these ways: (a) One-day trial, best score — the present method used; (b) two one-day trials, best accumulative scores; (c) three one-day trials, best accumulative scores; and (d) three one-day trials, two best accumulative scores to count.

Another important remit passed, put forward by the Rangitikei Pony Club, was that it should be possible for A certificate candidates to attempt the A test twice in anv one calendar year.

Pony club riders working towards attaining their certificates will soon benefit from new manuals — junior and senior and an instructors’ handbook, which are applicable to New Zealand conditions. These at present are being collated by the national instructors. Team items at the championships have often caused more traumas to riders than negotiating a difficult crosscountry course. Such riders with no theatrical ambitions will be greatly relieved to know that team items are to be discontinued at future championships. Before the conference, about 350 delegates and observers viewed with interest the rewarding work of the local Riding for the Disabled group, which has been functioning for about two years. This year the practical demonstration dealt with certificate work starting with the basic D up to the highest achievement, the A test, and the new H test dealing with horse mastership. During the evening the national instructors dealt with various subjects including the H test, lunging and re-training the race horse for pony' club work.