Odd Man Out – Pony Club Dads

For some of us, horse eventing and show jumping conjures up Jilly Cooper’s book, ‘Riders’-images of high-jinks in horse floats, the snorting of horses and other substances, and leg-over tactics by jodhpur-clad Rupert Campbell-Black.

There’s no doubt that men dominate the premier league, but at the grass roots pony club-level they’re scarce on the ground.

It’s pretty much a girl thing and I’m one of the several thousand pony club mums who, for more weekends than I care to admit, cart daughter and four-legged friend to eventing, show jumping competitions and assorted A&P Shows throughout Otago and Southland.

Conspicuous by their absence at such gatherings are pony club dads; males that are prepared to get up close and personal with horses, get to grips with the saddles, bridles and assorted tack, back trailers and horse floats, lug poles and obstacles, and generally immerse themselves into the sweat, mud and grist of equine competition….

Read the entire story by Lynda Gray
Date: 3-03-2009
By: www.country-wide.co.nz