Games Teams - A Rough Guide

Games are amongst the most exciting Pony Club discipline. Eglinton have an unequalled record at the highest level, having been at HOYS (Horse of the Year Show) 25 times in the past 27 years and having won the Prince Philip Cup 12 times.

Games involve a series of team relay races. A team consists of five riders and ponies with four involved in each race.

Training - we start training on Sundays. The first session is at the beach in January and then we move indoors (Ayrshire Equitation Centre) until mid to end March. We then move outdoors (Dundonald) and train Tuesday and Thursday until late August.

Competitions - games are a true team event. Trainers work to get the best out of each team member and the team as a whole. There is no science to who participates in each race, who starts, who finishes and who hands over to whom. This means that training is aimed at getting the best from the team as a whole and for the Senior A and Junior A teams we expect team members to make games their priority and to be available whenever the team is training and competing.

Parents - only those really new to games have the privilage of being spectators at training and especially competitions. We need help at training to ensure safety with equipment (or teas and coffee!). At competitions all parents have to learn about stewarding and this means knowing the rules and getting involved.

Riding - members who take part in games are expected to develop basic their basic riding skills as well as games training. Basic riding skills are an essential pre-requisite (except for the very young) to ensure safety and maximum fun.

Ponies - at the highest level the ponies are specialists and probably have more experience than the rider. For everyone else the priorities are safety and fun. Both these call for the same attributes - a pony that the rider can control in terms of steering and pace and that is level headed enough to work with the various items of equipment that are involved.