Winter Camp and Quiz Rally

(This blog was meant to be posted 12/13/09, but something when wrong, so I'm reposting it)

Timber Ridge Pony Club is having a winter camp near the end of January. At this camp, all the members get together for two days in the “attic” of an old barn. While at this camp we have multiple guest speakers come and teach us about specific horse related topics. Last year we had horse chiropractor come out and show us how she does acupuncture. It was so fascinating! We also had a vet talk to us about anatomy and the muscular system. The speakers they bring in are very intelligent and good at what they do.

So an average winter camp would consist of several professional speakers, a few presentations from the members, lots of good food, a craft of some sort, sharing horse stories, and a wild game to end the event! The point of the camp is really to learn, but they put a fun twist into everything. The reason for pushing us to learn all these different things is to help prepare us for Quiz Rally in March.

Quiz Rally is where a bunch of Pony Clubs from the region send teams to compete their knowledge of horses according to their level. We will be tested over horse management, nutrition, horse sports, diseases, conformation, and much more. They do this with three different parts to the event. First is the barn phase, where you walk around to different stations in a barn and they test your entire team on different safety things. This could include, trailering, stall care, putting together or cleaning tack, feed room setups ect. Next phase is the Mega Room, this is a bit harder, since you move to different tables alone. In this phase, you can be tested on nutrition, anatomy, tack, conformation, formal vs. informal attire and so on. Finally is the most challenging phase, The Classroom. This is tough because not only do you answer the questions alone, you answer them in front of the teams you are competing against. In this phase you will stand up and tell the judge your name and what level of a question you want to be asked. Then the judge will choose a question according to the level you requested and you have to answer within the time limit otherwise you will be docked points. The harder the question you ask, the more points you will gain, if it is answered correctly. If you don’t know or answer wrong, then no points will be earned. This phase is the most challenging as well as nerve wracking.

In the end, Quiz Rally and Winter Camp are a lot of fun! You get to hang out with friends, eat good food and talk about horses, who could ask for a better weekend?!

If you are interested in the details of Quiz Rally see the rulebook here: http://www.ponyclub.org/pdfs/rulebooks/quiz2007.pdf