News

Join us at the CCI1* Hong Kong 2019!

For the first time since 2011, Hong Kong will be hosting an international-level event at Beas River Equestrian Centre on 13 – 14 December 2019 (Fri – Sat). The Hong Kong Equestrian Federation is looking for 20 extra volunteers to help out as fence photographers for the cross-country jumping phase.

This is a great opportunity to get close to the action and be part of Hong Kong’s most exciting equestrian event of the year (so far!)

When? Saturday 14^th December 12 pm onwards (exact timing to be confirmed)

Where? Beas River Country Club, Kam Tsin Road, New Territories, Hong Kong

What will you need?  

• Bring your own smart phone with video-recording function and spare battery/ power bank
• Be on time
• Proudly wear your Hong Kong Pony Club shirt/ hoodie (We will give you one if you don’t have one)
• No need for previous experience; the event organisers will provide clear instructions and support

Would you like to get involved?

Please send us an email: secretary@hongkongponyclub.com

Dear members,

It is with great sadness that I have stepped down as District Commissioner of the Hong Kong Pony Club. My family and I have relocated back to the UK after more than 20 years of living in Hong Kong, and nearly 9 years of me running the HKPC. 

The past 9 years as District Commissioner have been a very rewarding experience, definitely with ups and downs but the ups far outweigh the downs. When I started, I had not had much involvement with the HKPC other than helping out at a few camps at Tuen Mun. As  a child I was an avid member of the Pony Club but that was quite a long time ago! So it was a bit of a learning curve but I have enjoyed nearly every minute of it.

My favourite part of running the HKPC was the smiles and laughter that were always an integral part of the camps. To see children spending quality time with the ponies and loving every minute of it was very rewarding and well worth all the time and effort that went into running the camps. Many a time there would be kids with naughty ponies who ran off with them, bucked etc, yet at the end of camp they would still be saying "..... is the best pony in the world" all that naughtiness seemingly forgotten.

The rallies were also one of my favourite parts as kids in Hong Kong rarely get the opportunity to spend precious time grooming, tacking up, cuddling the ponies unless they are lucky enough to have a livery. Time spent in the stable with the pony is as important as time spent on the pony. That is where bonds are truly formed.

I had the pleasure of working with some wonderful people during my tenure and made some lasting friendships. My Vice DC Mandy Farrar was one of those and together we somehow managed to pull off the 2019 Inter-Pacific Exchange where we hosted 30 people for 2 weeks. What an experience that was, so much fun and so many memories made. It was a wonderful way to end our time with the HKPC. Mandy has been involved most of her life, first as a member growing up in HK (she was on the IPE team many years ago!) then as a parent when her daughter was a member, then as Secretary and finally as Vice DC and my right hand woman!  

Running the HKCP has kept me involved in horses longer than I would otherwise have been, which is a very positive thing. I retired from competitive riding about 7 years ago when my horse retired, so running the Pony Club was a great way to stay involved with the Equestrian scene. It was also a privilege to get to watch the kids progress through the years and to be involved in their progress. Many kids who started in the Pony Club have gone on to be fantastic riders some of whom have been selected for the Hong Kong teams and some who have left Hong Kong and continued to thrive in their new environments.

I would like to say a big thank you to all those fantastic parents who would come and help at camps and other events, without you we can't do anything. The Pony Club is a volunteer organisation so without your help there would be no Pony Club. It's been great fun meeting you all and surviving each camp with a sense of relief that all kids are safe and a huge sense of achievement that all the kids had a fantastic time.

The Pony Club has has to change a lot over the last 9 years, and had to adapt to new demands, costs and restrictions but we have managed to keep going and will I hope continue to do so in the coming years. With new leadership new possibilities will open up, the Pony Club is in good hands and I am looking forward to following it's adventures over the coming years. 

I wish good luck to the incoming District Commissioner, Elise McAuley - the HKPC is in very good hands - and to all the kids and parents who have supported the HKCP and will continue to do so, long may it thrive.

November 2019

We are delighted to announce the election of a new Pony Club committee at our Annual General Meeting on 4th November 2019. Our new committee members represent a nice balance of seasoned equestrian professionals, Pony Club veterans and parents of current and upcoming Pony Clubbers with connections to all riding centres in Hong Kong.

Following Tara Delaney’s resignation as District Commissioner, the new committee has appointed an Executive team comprising of HKPC District Commissioner, HKPC Chief Instructor and HKPC Secretary. We would like to express our gratitude to Tara for her many years of service at the head of HKPC and wish her family all the best for the future back in the U.K.

The new HKPC committee:

• Elise McAuley – Newly appointed HKPC District Commissioner
  
• Sarah Vandre – Re-appointed HKPC Secretary
  
• Jo Eling – Newly appointed HKPC Chief Instructor
  
• Sarah Corner (General Manager – Equestrian at Clear Water Bay Equestrian Centre)
• Deborah Coulson (Club Manager and Senior Instructor at Lo Wu Saddle Club)
• Chris Dobby 
• Liz Leung Lumsden 
• Louise Sanderson 
• Joelle Scot
• Valerie Mangundjaja

The 2019 Inter-Pacific Exchange between HK, USA, Cananda, Australia and NZ took place this summer in Hong Kong (you can read more about it on our Inter-Pacific Exchange page) with both main competitions being held at Beas River Equestrian Centre.

The Hong Kong team members were:
Annabelle Dyson
Gabby Thomas
Claudia Wrobel
Matilda Marchand.

All the teams had a fantastic time and made plenty of new horsey friends from all round the world. Here is what Annabel has to say about the IPE.

During the Hong Kong IPE 2019, we gained the opportunity to meet other horse-lovers from different pony clubs across the world. Over the 2 weeks that international pony clubbers from Canada, the USA, Australia and New Zealand stayed in HK, we indulged in cultural activities from eating dim sum, going out on a junk, visiting Stanley market and temple street, going to Sai Wan beach and rock pools. We spent a lot of time making new friends and we were able to learn about life abroad and the differences in all of our pony clubs.

Alongside the cultural activities, we visited various riding schools around HK to give them a taster of what the equestrian world is like out in Hong Kong, before taking part in the Bauhinia Cup dressage challenged in mixed teams and the finale - the Nation’s Cup whereby the USA emerged victorious.

Being able to experience life as a tourist in my home country was so much fun, but undoubtedly the biggest highlight of this experience was getting to know so many amazing people/passionate riders, allowing me to make close friendships with people around the globe.

Welcome back everyone, we hope you have had a good summer and didn't suffer too much from the destruction caused by Typhoon Mangkhut. All the riding stables managed to get back to normal operations very quickly and thankfully no horses were harmed in the storm.

TMPRS RENOVATIONS

We are starting the new season with quite a lot of changes. The biggest physical change is that because of the renovation work underway at Tuen Mun Public Riding School where we are based, we will have no physical office until about October 2019. 

CAMPS

Also due to the renovations, our camps will have to be a little different this year as during the week there can be no riding between 10am and 5pm. In order for Tuen Mun to agree to let us still run our camps we have also had to bring the maximum numbers for each camp down to 12. We have put together a plan so that we can at least go forward with the camps and have added an extra one to the calendar to make up for the loss of numbers.

Autumn Camp October 16th to 18th  Cancelled due to lack of instructors and ponies

CNY Camp February 5th to 7th

Easter Camp April 17th to 19th

WEBSITE 

We are also moving to a new membership management system and with it a new website, if there is anything you would like to see on the website that is not there we would love to hear from you. Please be patient with us while we get it all up and running, I'm sure there will be the odd glitch!

MEMBERSHIP PAYMENTS

Due to the TMPRS Renovations we are not going to be able to offer as many events as normal this season. We have therefore decided to bring down the membership cost this year. 

New Member Subscriptions: $470 (down from $620)

Renewal Member Subscriptions $320 (down from $450)

PAYMENT SYSTEM

We are also now using PayPal for membership payments and events. This will make our accounting much simpler and also a much better user experience for you we hope. You do not need a PayPal account to pay, there is the option to pay either with your account or to use a credit card.

INTER-PACIFIC EXCHANGE

In July 2019 the HKPC will be hosting the Inter-Pacific Exchange, an international cultural and competitive exchange that is held every two years between Hong Kong, the USA, Canada, Australia and New Zealand. The 2017 IPE was hosted by the USA and our team spent 2 weeks in North and South Carolina. Next year it will be our turn to host again.

We are starting to put together a long list of riders for the team who need to be between 17 and 25yrs old and competent jumping 100cm on a borrowed horse. For more information please see our IPE page.

We will also be looking for volunteers to help while the teams are here. We will be running two main competitions but also arranging various other activities at different riding schools.

RALLIES

We are hoping to get some Stable Management rallies and Efficiency Tests organised as soon as we can get dates from our instructors, we will likely be holding rallies just at CEEC and LWSC this year as the HKJC is bringing in new charges that would mean we have to put up the cost of the Rallies, something we do not want to do.

If you are interested in doing a rally, or are waiting to do your Test, please email our secretary Sarah Vandre and let her know.

We hope to see you at one of our events soon.

Tara

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Tara Delaney
District Commissioner
HKPC