Jumps and Jodhpurs Pony Club
Backgrounder
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE FOR MORE INFORMATION, CONTACT:
March 8, 2008 Stephanie Land
JJPC Public Relations Director
541-xxx-xxxx
The United States Pony Club is an organization that provides lessons and competition in English riding events, as well as unmounted instruction in horse care and management. Membership is open to youth and young adults up to 25 years old.
Pony Club members work their way through nine proficiency levels. Those attaining the highest levels, B, A-H and A are recognized as meeting a exceptional level of competence that is acknowledged throughout much of the horse world.
Parents play a vital role in the pony club, acting as leaders, chaperones, jump judges and fundraisers. However, members are expected to ride, train and care for their own horses. Older members are encouraged to help those with less experience.
The USPC provides its members with many different opportunities including scholarships, an international exchange program and a youth national congress.
The Jumps and Jodhpurs Pony Club began in 2000, when Darla Westlake, a parent who
had been driving her daughter across town to pony club meetings, decided to form a club of her own. The club formed with about six families from the east Eugene and Pleasant Hill area.
While the group was dedicated, they had a hard time finding an official meeting place. After years of moving from barn to barn, JJPC has found a home at Poseidon Stables where they practice Friday nights at 5 p.m. The group often hosts clinics and horse management lessons at the barn as well.
Westlake said JJPC was able to hold a pony club camp last year where the members spent a weekend bonding and learning new skills.
In addition to hosting a show March 15, the club hopes to host other events this year such as a cross country jumping competition, in which riders compete by taking their horses through a jumping course made of natural objects, Dressage Clinics and additional shows.
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