As the new 2009 Horse Management Officer for the Lake Shore Region, I’m looking forward to fulfilling my duties of providing Regional Horse Management Education as well as lining up many quality Horse Management Judges for our upcoming rallies!

 

My Turn to Give Back

I credit my two short years in Pony Club during high school with giving me the experience, knowledge and confidence to stick with my childhood dreams of having a horse of my own, becoming a certified riding instructor and having my own lesson/boarding barn! It’s taken me many years of not giving up to now be living my “dream” and also more involved with Pony Club than ever! I know what it’s like to be a “horse crazy” kid and thanks to the many supportive people in my life, I’ve been able to stick with it – so now it’s my turn to give back and work with the many talented members in our region to help them grow into knowledgeable riders and horse managers of the future!

 

We have some wonderful Horse Management education opportunities in our region that we need to be thankful for! From the Horse Management Clinic in February to the many unique learning opportunities at regional summer camps and jamboree – we’re lucky to have such a supportive region!

 

Horse Management is Great Because…

It’s one of the few things we can “control” with our horse experiences!!! You can’t control your horse’s ride during competition, but you can control how well you manage his health and safety.

 

Your time in the saddle is only a fraction of the time spent on unmounted horse management type activities and chores.  We spend most of our “horse time” on unmounted activities – why not become more knowledgeable about them while you’re at it?

 

United States Pony Club is the only equine organization I know of who values Horse Management knowledge enough to make it a significant part of the scoring system for rally competitions! Getting rewarded for your hard work in the barn and taking good care of your horse is a pretty awesome feeling!

 

Let’s Get Ready to Rally!

How can you compete if you don’t know the rules? Hmmm. While many things about Horse Management rules at Pony Club Rallies are the same since I was a D level member – 20 years ago – many more things have changed!!! It’s time for a regional horse management rally rules refresher - so we can all get up to speed!  I’ve come up with a regional theme for the year – Let’s Get Ready to Rally!! Many times prepping for a rally can be pretty overwhelming on your own! So I’m giving our 2009 Horse Management learning opportunities a ‘twist” to prepare our regional members to have positive feelings about prepping and competing at rallies in the future.

 

Looking forward to seeing everyone at the many upcoming regional events!  

 

Heather

Heather Kuenzi

Kuenzi Equestrian Pony Club Riding Center

N7928 County Road A

Beaver Dam, WI 53916

920/887-9921-home  920/285-0701-cell