Four of Australia's Olympic medallists who started at Pony Club - Megan Jones, Stuart Tinney, Wendy Schaeffer and Sonja Johnson
Happy Australia day everyone!
With another Olympic Games looming, we thought it was time for a trip down memory lane and acknowledge the role that the Australian Pony Club has played in our equestrian medal count. There is no doubt that that pony club had helped many of our top riders develop their skills. Those of you who have read An Eventful Life will know that all six riders featured in the book; Megan Jones, Sonja Johnson, Shane Rose, Wendy Schaeffer, Stuart Tinney and Emma Scott started their riding career at pony club in Australia and they have fond memories of their time there.
Stuart, Orchard Hill, Pluto Mio and Panamera at home
Today, Olympic gold medallist Stuart Tinney is the epitome of the professional international eventer with a team of elite horses being transported around Australia in a custom built truck. However, it wasn’t always quite so sophisticated. His first pony, Nugget was transported to pony club in the back of a Holden ute and his next ride, Candy was not very comfortable around other horses
“Candy was pretty good to ride but made my time at pony club completely unsociable because every time another pony came anywhere near her, she would double barrel kick them. This meant I was always put at the back of the ride and spent my entire time having to avoid everybody else” Stuart remembers.
Sonja Johnson and Parkiarrup Illicit Liaison
Sonja Johnson’s ponies on the other hand were very sociable and even went to church with her! Sonja loves singing (even though she freely admits she can’t sing at all!) and she sang in the local church choir when she was younger. One of the perks of attending pony club was that Sonja would be excused during the sermon so she could check on her ponies, which were parked in the float on the main street of Albany, Western Australia waiting to go to pony club straight after church!
Clayton on his recent visit home
Clayton Fredericks also grew up in Western Australia, attending first Orange Grove and later Gosnells Pony Club in WA. Now a dad himself with a young daughter keen to ride, he looks back and realises that it wasn’t only him that enjoyed pony club;
“I think it’s just a great way to get going into horses with all the family involved. My dad attended some rallies and mostly sat in the car reading the paper but then got out to assist another guy who was digging a trench for lights that were being installed at the pony club grounds. I think it was a first for WA – to have lights at the pony club! It did make for cooler riding on the hot evenings. Anyway I think 6 months later he ended up as the Chairman of Orange Grove Pony Club. So it’s even good for non horsey people to get into the spirit.
The great thing is you can have such fun doing all the different sports at pony club. My brother and I, who also rode, had great fun and of course there were not too many boys riding, so it made it easy to learn social skills with the opposite sex!!!!” says Clayton
Shane Rose and APH Moritz
Funnily enough, Shane Rose mentions this as being a bit of a draw card for riding in his younger years too
“....every time I went to a competition there would be hundreds of girls there all wearing tight jodhpurs and looking pretty good so I didn’t think I was missing out by not being on the beach!”
Maybe this could become a recruitment campaign for male riders into pony club!
Shane was one rider who recently commended the Working Together for all Members agreement between Equestrian Australia and Pony Club Australia, saying
“Both organisations helped me achieve what I have achieved. I was a long-time member of Pony Club and it was there I found my love of riding and learned the basic principles of horsemanship. Equestrian Australia has since provided me with the high performance opportunities to fulfil my international goals. I think this is a great initiative and applaud the Australian Sports Commission for their support.”
Edwina Alexander on her recent visit to Avondale Pony Club Photo courtesy NSW Pony Club
Shane Rose’s old Pony Club boasts not only silver Olympic medallist Shane but also the world’s current top female showjumper, Edwina Alexander. On a recent visit home, Edwina visited her old pony club, Avondale in Sydney’s northern suburbs, to the delight of her fans and current club members. Eloise Wilkinson has written a lovely article* about Edwina’s visit which appears on the NSW Pony Club web site. In the article, Edwina tells the pony club members;
“Dreams come true. We all started on the same plate. I was the same as any Pony Club rider. It’s basically a matter of motivation and perseverance and determination and hard work -the same as everything in life.”
Edwina meets her fans, large and small, at Avondale Pony Club Photo courtesy NSW Pony Club
Badminton winner and Australian WEG representative Paul Tapner attended Forest Hills and then Dural Pony Clubs, both of which are in NSW Zone 23 (this Zone also included Avondale – what a Zone!). Paul’s very distinctive bright red cross country colours come from his pony club days
Paul Tapner in his distinctive red colours Photo: PSV J.Morel
“Zone 23 colours were white and red” says Paul “and the red colour came from that”. You certainly can’t miss him out on the cross country course now, wherever in the world he may be competing.
There can be no doubt that we will be seeing several ex-Pony Club riders in our equestrian teams at London 2012 and that every pony clubber in Australia will be cheering for them!
This selection of photos below from the Pony Club NSW State Camp in January reminds us of the fun of Pony Club. Pony Club NSW conducts a State Camp each year for the top sixty riders in the state; fifteen are selected from the disciplines of Dressage, Showjumping, Eventing and Mounted Games. This year's camp was held from the 8th-13th January 2012 at the Sydney International Equestrian Centre, Horsley Park.
To read the NSW Pony Club article by Eloise in full, visit http://www.pcansw.org.au/default.asp?Page=221
The full stories of Australia's top eventers can be read in An Eventful Life - Life Stories of Eventing Champions. Click on the book cover on the top of this page to buy
