Thousands enjoy their equestrian experience at The London Pet Show
The Pony Club attended the London Pet Show, May 11-12th 2013 at Earls Court, which welcomed thousands of visitors across the weekend and featured everything from duck herding to doggy dancing!
The Pony Club staff and volunteers were on hand to introduce visitors to everything that’s fun about horse care and riding across the three areas of The Pony Club Centre, The Pony Club Stables and The Pony Club Show featuring Dressage and Show Jumping on foot.
The Pony Club Centre was place to find out more about what being a Pony Club member is all about, as well as learning and having fun in the virtual world of www.PonyPrep.org, before having a go at real horse riding on the mechanical horses in conjunction with Hoof; the British Equestrian Federation’s Olympic and Paralympic legacy campaign which aims to encourage more people to take up horse riding. The mechanical horses proved incredibly popular with visitors of all ages, and all abilities, queuing for the chance to have a go on the larger horse ‘Queenie’ or pony ‘Herbert’.
Once bitten by the riding bug, visitors flocked to the Stables area to meet ponies Sally and Rosie or Trigger and Roger courtesy of local Pony Club Centres Mount Mascal Stables and Park Lane Stables, before learning about the basics of horse care such as handling, grooming and feed types or simply just enjoying the experience of giving a pat and a treat!
Over in The Pony Club Show area the fun was none stop as young visitors learned more about Dressage and Show Jumping. Mounting their hobby horse steeds, young riders followed basic Dressage movements marked on the floor, before progressing to their show jumping round courtesy of MiniJumps; those who were clear received a certificate and rosette sticker!
“The aim of London Pet Show was to introduce this new audience, primarily from London and the South East, to riding and horse care at the most basic level, and show the fun that is to be had even if you don’t own a pony” comments Clare Walkeden who has been part of the organisation for The Pony Club areas. “We were thrilled with how well the weekend’s activities went, and the mechanical horses in particular welcomed 300 riders, many of whom were enjoying their first equestrian experience. To see those of all ages having their first experience with a real pony, and gaining such enjoyment from it, was just wonderful!”.
