Riders return to Bass Valley Pony Club

BASS Valley Pony Club is back in action.

After a two-year recession due to the pandemic, the club held a Come and Try Day on Sunday to help re-establish its membership.

“We wanted to see if we could form a club again and we’ve had a great response. We’re super proud,” Club President Victoria Stewart said.

Twelve riders – aged from five years old into adulthood – took part in the day, which featured an obstacle course with poles and dressage lessons.

“We are one of the very few clubs that will accept adults as well as children. We have opened our doors to everybody. We want everyone to have the chance to join,” Victoria said.

“We are a small, intimate, family club. A lot of pony clubs push rides to become more competitive. We want to be the type of pony club that will accept anyone – whether you’re doing dressage, showjumping or western. We want to be a really inclusive club.

“It’s a chance for riders to go out and have fun, meet other riders and realise there is a whole community out there just like themselves.”

Should the pony club re-establish its membership, there are grand plans in the pipeline.

“Right before COVID hit, we had plans, permits and a bit of funding – that is potentially still available – to build a brand-new cross-country course,” Victoria said.

“We have a little cross-country course, but it’s quite small in the scheme of things. We are hoping that if we can rebuild the club and rebuild interest, we will be able to build the new cross-country course for our riders.

“We want the chance to be able to build this club into something the community wants and needs, and we’ve had a very promising start.”

The pony club will run another Come and Try Day in December, with rallies set to start back in January.

For the December sessions, there will be a small fee for insurance, and to cover the cost of coaches and instructors.

“We source our coaches and instructors. We want to be the type of club where you don’t have the same instructors every rally. With new, different instructors each time, our riders have the opportunity to learn from different experiences. I think it’s important, because different instructors will pick up different issues, teach you different skills and teach you different activities,” Victoria said.

For more information about the Bass Valley Pony Club or the upcoming Come and Try Day, contact Victoria on 0426 874 574.