Cochrane Pony Club

Dear members of the Alberta South Region I think we have all been watching the news very closely this afternoon and unfortunately it has not been positive. Prac...tically the whole Region of Alberta South (and our new friends from Alberta Central Region) is under 'enhanced status'. For Pony Club this means that: Effective Friday November 27th there can be no more in person Pony Club gatherings at all. The Alberta government states that all "levels of sports are closed for in-person service" and "indoor sports cannot have any group classes or group training(..) there can be no group class" So no stable management or riding lessons. Stable management (theory) lessons can only be hosted virtually. These measures will be in effect till further notice. Let's hope it will be effective to break the circle of increasing infections, Annette Buis Alberta South Regional Chair.

Halloween fun at pony club this morning!!!

Congratulations Kathryn! Well deserved!

This looks like a great course....

Thank you to everyone who came out and braved the cold. All of our jumps and our dressage ring are safely stored until next Spring.

Good luck today to Kathryn and Peter at the first ever Virtual National Pony Club Quiz - Picture from Regional Quiz 10 years ago

Congratulations to all our members on passing their testing levels! Abigail, Hazel and Mataya are now D-level riders. Charles and Soleil passed their D1 exams and Amber are Peter achieved C1 level. Well done everyone!

Enjoying the great view from our Pony Club grounds

Kids having fun during our Cross Country clinic.

Since there is no Calgary Stampede this year we had some kids dress up during their Pony Club lesson to create some of that Stampede spirit.

Having a great lesson on Canada day. Everybody showed up with something red and white to celebrate this day in style.

Hello all, we took a little break, but the next badge we will be working on is the "arts and crafts badge" members may choose two of the following projects.... Collage Choose a theme and create a collage. Your collage may include sub-themes, but must have a visible title. Drawing Draw a picture of something horsey: a portrait of your horse; a scene of a stable yard; a race track early in the morning; a mare and foal, for example. The drawing can be in crayon, pencil crayon, oil pastels, charcoal, etc. After all your hard work, you may want to frame your drawing! Painting Similar to drawing, paint a picture that depicts something that you like about horses. Papier Mache Create a papier mache item related to your horse. Maybe a miniature saddle or riding hat to hang in your room. Clay/Play-doh Sculpture Using either home-made play-doh or modeling clay, create a sculpture that shows something you enjoy about horses. How about building a very colorful triple oxer! Sewing/Embroidery Make a patchwork item, embroidery or other stitch work with a horse theme. Own Idea create your own art or craft project. Be sure that it is something that you create from scratch. Some of you have already done an arts and craft project during one of our camps. Those will also count toward your arts and crafts badge!

Hello members, the next badge we will be working on is the Equine Publisher. Project Ideas:... Magazine - Create your own horse magazine! It should include: Title or cover page Table of contents One written article such as a story, poem, or article One drawing or photo page One fun activity page crosswords, puzzles, connect the dots, etc. One advertisement create your own product and advertise it, or create an ad for a product you use. A back cover sheet. These are just the bare minimum requirements. You may add as much to it as you like! Story Write a short horse adventure story. It may be a true story, an account of something that happened to you and your horse, or it may be fictional. It should have a beginning, middle, and ending and be at least one page. Poetry Write a collection of 2 or 3 poems about horses. It may be about your own horse, a famous horse, or something horsy like what it feels like to ride out in the open field! Also a reminder that we are hosting a 21 day challenge online. This is open to all our members, even our beginners! See the website at: https://21day.absponyclubs.ca Good luck!

Happy Sunday everyone! We would like to introduce our Theory Themes of the week! While we are all doing our Pony Club activities from home your National You...th Reps will be rolling out weekly Pony Club topics to brush up on! We will also be posting some content that follows along with our subject. Your Regions are welcome to join in!! This weeks topic: Colours & Markings! Be sure to keep an eye out for these emojis to know our post is about our Theory Theme of the Week! #cpc #ponyclub See more

There is still time to join the fun:

Congratulations to Gemma on earning her 'Bookworm' badge. Gemma read the book 'Seabiscuit' by Laura Hillenbrand. She enjoyed the book and says is a classic underdog story. Seabiscuit was an unlikely symbol of hope during the Great Depression in America. Great work Gemma!

Today we have a little throwback Thursday! Looking for a way to get more active? Check out our How To: Fitness for Equestrians video with Paula!

Hello Cochrane Pony Clubbers, the next badge we will be working on is the "breeds badge" Please pick a breed and make a poster, powerpoint or word document describing the horse or pony breed of your choice. It should cover:... - normal height of the breed - what country the breed comes from - normal colours - any other characteristics - type of horse (draft, light horse, pony , etc) - what is the breed used for (farm, jumping, endurance etc) - do you know a famous horse within that breed? I would like to see at least one picture of the breed.

Hello all, So it is here! We have put the 21 day challenge online! All members are encouraged to participate in our 21 day Quiz challenge. Every day a new set ...of questions is opened up and those that finish the challenge every day, are entered for a chance to win some nice CPC swag. If you miss a day, don't worry, you can catch up! The challenge will start this Wednesday, April 8th, but is already open for sign up. Visit us at: http://21day.absponyclubs.ca Any questions or concerns can be addressed to: [email protected] Hope you guys have fun with it!

Analyzing conformation

Congratulations to Charles and Rayla for earning their "bookworm" badges this week! Charles wrote a report on "the Black Stallion" by Walter Farley. He describes it as an action packed book, but with a lot of horse vocabulary. Rayla wrote a report on "War Horse" by Michael Morpurgo. She would definitely suggest this book to a friend as it is very inspiring and shows a lot of what life was like for most people in that time.... Thank you both for the great reports! There is still time to send me a report on one of your favourite books and earn a bookworm badge!

Hello Cochrane Pony Clubbers! After the "I love my horse badge", the next one will be "Bookworm" This badge requires you to read a horsey book and write up a little report. Please also include a description of the main horse in the book!... Please find here a link to a book report template to fill out and return to me: http://www.canadianponyclub.org//C/documents/Bookworm.docx I will look them over and you will be awarded a "Bookworm badge" for completing it. If you have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to contact me, I am happy to help! For those that are not familiar with the badge program - The Pony Club has set up a program, where you earn badges - quite similar to Scouts badges - for Educational Parts of our program (such as bandaging, tack care, grooming etc), for participation in Regional and National events, but also for "Arts and Recreation" projects. We will focus on this last category of badges and work our way through them. I will send out a new project every week. As soon as you have completed at least 4 badges I will send them to your home address. More information on badges can be found on the Pony club website: https://www.canadianponyclub.org//educatio/badges/overview So lets get started! Fill out the form and return it!

Hello all, hope you are al doing ok. If you are planning on ordering any items off the Amazon website, could you please enter the Amazon site through any of these links? For any products ordered this way CPC will receive a small percentage.... Thanks for your help! These are links to some horse related Movies: https://amzn.to/3dg3WaV Books: https://amzn.to/2UapDRS and Products: https://amzn.to/33zyVtQ Any other products ordered after entering through these links should also give a small portion of the order price to CPC. At no extra cost to you!

Hi all: Canadian Pony Club recognizes that you as members are feeling unsettled and perhaps some disconnect form your Pony Club friends. We can help! Watch this site for further information as we are attempting to put together some fun for you all.

Hello Cochrane Pony Clubbers now that we are all at home, this would be a great time to work on some of our badges. Let's start with the "I love my horse badge" ... This badge requires you to fill out all the information you have on your horse: appearance, age, etc. We would also like to know what you feed your horse and its schedule for regular maintenance such as deworming, farrier and vaccines. Of course you should also include a picture of your horse. Please find here a link to a work sheet to fill out and return to me: http://canadianponyclub.org//documents/Ilovemyhorse2020.pdf I will look them over and you will be awarded a "I love my horse badge" for completing it. I have also attached an example that I have filled out myself for one of my horses (Vera): http://canadianponyclub.org//docu/IlovemyhorseVeradocx.pdf If you have any questions about it, please don't hesitate to contact me, I am happy to help! For those that are not familiar with the badge program - The Pony Club has set up a program, where you earn badges - quite similar to Scouts badges - for Educational Parts of our program (such as bandaging, tack care, grooming etc), for participation in Regional and National events, but also for "Arts and Recreation" projects. We will focus on this last category of badges and work our way through them. I will send out a new project every week. As soon as you have completed at least 4 badges I will send them to your home address. More information on badges can be found on the Pony club website: https://www.canadianponyclub.org//educatio/badges/overview So lets get started! Fill out the form and return it!

Something to do for our horse lovers sitting at home:

** Important message from Canadian Pony Club ** March 18, 2020 CPC Directive on Pony Club Activities and Exposure Risk for COVID-19 #4... From: Management Committee, Canadian Pony Club National Directive Regarding Pony Club Activities As a result of the growing concern over travel, public gatherings and social distancing and to respect the COVID-19 protocols established to limit the spread and impact of this virus, the Management Committee has made the difficult but unanimous decision to suspend all physically in-person Pony Club activities across Canada until April 18th. Electronic education options and electronic meetings can still be undertaken. For the information of branches, Centres and the barns and businesses associated with them, the government is advising that groups and businesses that do not conduct themselves in a socially responsible manner could find themselves subject to legal liability. Thus, out of ongoing concern for our extended Pony Club family and a sense of social responsibility, we are advising all Regions and Branches to immediately cease Pony Club activities until April 18. This date will be reviewed as the situation continues to unfold and updates provided. Centres offering the Pony Club program, as independent businesses, are restricted from operating Pony Club programming during this timeframe, regardless of their personal decisions regarding their operation. Watch our website, social media pages and your inboxes for continuing updates. We continue to encourage all of our people to err on the side of safety in their personal decision-making, to learn and follow the guidelines put forth by their own provincial government and health authorities, and to exercise extreme personal diligence when it comes to hand washing, sanitizing and social interaction. We are family, and community, and you matter to us.

--- Message from the Cochrane AG Society: --- The Board of the Cochrane & District Agricultural Society have been wrestling with how exactly to deal with the current health crisis. Several options have been discussed, however yesterday Jason Kenney declared Alberta in a state of public health emergency which states. Citizens are also banned from public places like casinos, bingo halls, theatres, childrens play centres, recreation centres and arenas, science centres, muse...ums and art galleries, community centres, fitness facilities, and entertainment facilities like movie theatres. The Ag Society Park will therefore be closed to the public effective immediately. We will be postponing the use of the Ag Society Park facilities by all passholders and will be cancelling all bookings until further notice. The March 28 horse show will be postponed. Boarding operations will continue for the time being. We will be reducing staff as well as taking other measures to reduce operating costs during these challenging times. The Cochrane & District Agricultural Society (CDAS) is a not-for-profit organization, and by taking these dramatic measures we are looking to support the long-term sustainment of the society and the Park, while supporting the world-wide efforts to control the spread of this virus. These are unprecedented times and our team at the Cochrane & District Ag Society will continue to monitor this situation. Our commitment is to strategically and logically work through this crisis as necessary and events unfold. Any deposits that have been paid for cancelled events will be refunded. Riding passholders will be given an extension to their riding passes equal to the time that we are shut down. We are hopeful, that by following all these recommendations, the crisis will soon pass and operations will resume to normal. These are not decisions that CDAS takes lightly and we would like to express our deep appreciation for the work our employees have done; the support we have received from our members, user-groups, passholders and sponsors; and the tremendous community support that we have received in order to provide a year-round facility for our community. The staff and the Directors of CDAS hope that these measures will allow our valued community and all of your families to stay safe and healthy. We will be vigilant in monitoring the situation as it unfolds and will communicate any changes to these restrictions and cancellations immediately. If you have any questions please direct them to [email protected].

When you are getting ready for testing or quiz and need some books:

Merry Christmas and all the best in the New Year!!!!

Get ready for Christmas with some Canadian Pony Club swag!

Have you visited the CPC website lately? Because it may look much different... the CPC National Board has been working very hard to improve the website for our members and launched the new site today! Go check it out on your computer or phone https://canadianponyclub.org/

Five of our members tested on September 8th. All our member cleaned up nicely and were successful despite the fall (wet) weather and the busy grounds. Zoe achieved her C1 level, Gemma and Peter their C level, Grace her D1 level and Will has D level.

Congratulations to all of our members who tested today!!! Zoe - C1, Peter - C, Gemma - C Grace - D1, Will - D.Congratulations to all of our members who tested today!!! Zoe - C1, Peter - C, Gemma - C Grace - D1, Will - D.

Three teams competed in the Battle River Chase - Holly, Peter and Amber - Kathryn, Eline and Gemma - Rayla, Caitlyn and Avery.

Battle River chase with Kathryn, Gemma and Eline....

Cochrane Drill team 2019. Pirates of the Caribbean with: Kathryn "Plunderin'" Palmer, Eline "SeaLegs" Ursem, Gemma "Jolly" Gerlach, Peter "McSwagger" Ursem, Rayla "PlankDancer" McKinnon, Caitlyn "FreeBooter" West, Holly "HookHand" Bannister and Avery "Sharkbait" West. Too bad it rained (poured!), but you guys rocked it!

Congratulations to all of our members at Championships! You were fantastic and upheld the pony club moto of Loyalty, Character and Sportsmanship. Super proud of all of you!!!