PONY CLUB ASSOCIATION OF TASMANIA Inc.

(affiliated with PONY Club Australia Inc.)

1st July 2007 - 30th June 2008

Pony Club Members and Supporters

I am pleased to present my annual report for the year 1st July 2007 to 30th June 2008 for the Pony Club Association of Tasmania.

Once again I would like commence this report with my thanks to all Club, Zone and State Officials. I believe that the work that is undertaken by the many people within this small State continues to create a happy and harmonious organization.

The outbreak of Equine Influenza on the 25th August, had an enormous impact on the horse industry throughout Australia and the future was far from clear for many months. The level of responsibility shown by all those involved in pony club in Tasmania was amazing, with commitment taken to a higher level by us all adhering to the strict guidelines recommended by the Department of Primary Industry. We all knew and understood the importance of the strict biosecurity measures needed to be taken and I am extremely grateful and proud of everyone’s understanding and flexibility during that very trying time.

This is the first year as Treasurer for Sue DeKaste and I thank her for her impeccable reports and financial statements during this year, to Jill Viney for her role as Secretary and to Phyllis Fairhurst for preparing our submissions, being our Grievance Officer and in the early part of this year for attending the many EI meetings with the Government Officials. Many thanks also to Anne Cotton as our Chief Instructor Rep. to Janet Frost as our State Test Co-ordinator and of course to our Visiting Commissioners, Chief Instructors and Examiners for their tireless and sometimes thankless work. On our member’s behalf I sincerely thank you all.

The following section of the report is presented against the PCAT Strategic Plan objectives for the improvement and continued success of Pony Club in Tasmania. It is very pleasing to advise that although membership numbers declined initially during the EI Outbreak, they have risen again and perhaps show a slight increase.

Improved Governance

With the continued development of the database and web site, our alreadyimplemented policies and procedures have been linked onto the web site which gives ready access to all our members.

Secretarial service

The demands on the Secretary continue to increase and again we must thank Jill for the hours of volunteer work she puts into the job of Secretary.

The development of the Bell Vue System has now started to show improved communication between our members and the PCAT. The database that underpins the website now gives Clubs and Zones the ability to update information directly and it gives the State Office the capacity to keep the site and club information up to date at all times. As more clubs are coming on line and updating their own information the necessary statistical information is becoming more accurate. There are only 8 clubs in the state who have not taken advantage of their own website and a minority who are not yet fully operational but that number is diminishing.

Financial Management and Insurance Management;

As with the office of Secretary the demands on our Treasurer/Insurance Officer continues to increase and we must thank Sue for the hours of work and dedication she has put into this job. Sue will present the PCAT audited Annual Report as a separate report. The PCAT is in a sound financial position which is due to our members subscriptions, the ongoing support of Horseland, and the generous grant we received this year from Sport and Recreation Tasmania.

Provide Education for Coaches, Officials and Administrators

We have had many successful education sessions this year.

  • The Northern Zone held the very popular and successful Jumping Equitation Clinic with David Quick, and our thanks to Judy Kilby for organising the clinic and to Ann Graves for scanning and the printing the Equitation Manual.
  • The annual NCAS Pony Club Level 1 workshops were conducted inMay and June2008 and it was pleasing to haveCoaching candidates from all three zones.
  • Each zone held their own Orientation to Pony Club and CoachingCourses, with many new coaches being inducted into the NCAS system.
  • The Orientation to Pony Club has been superceded by the NCAS Preliminary Coach and three of our course presenters attended the Pony Club Australia Roll out in Melbourne, with the information from that clinic being introduced at zone level.
  • A workshop was conducted at the PCAT State Trials forTechnical Delegates, Cross Country course builders and officials. .

Provide Quality Instruction and training of a National Standard

All Clubs continue to provide rallies on a regular monthly basis. Specialist schools are organised as required by Zones and/or clubs on an individual basis. One Tom Johnson Clinic for C level riders was conducted in each of the 3 Zones.

We hosted a successful clinic with the PCA National Coach at Exton, where we once again worked on the coaching standards required for the tests in the syllabus and informed coaches of the new NCAS accredited Preliminary Coach.

Our Chief Instructor Delegate attended the National Coaching Panel Meetings in Adelaide in November and PCAT hosted the national meeting in Launceston in April where the ongoing work towards a set of National Rules for competitions continued.

Encourage participation at all levels of PC activities, including working with RDA and Sports Connect.

Pony Club Australia has established a link on their website between PCA and RDA which acknowledges the pathways within both organizations.

We were very concerned that the E.I. outbreak would have a big impact on membership, but thankfully, once all horse activities returned to normal, our numbers do seem to be slowly on the rise. Fuel costs, feed costs and the continuing dry have all had an equally negative impact on numbers, so it is imperative that we constantly work to streamline our activities wherever possible.

The combining of our Grades 1, 2 and 3 at the State Trials Championships continues to be successful and this year our hosts were the Southern Zone. Because of the uncertainty of the event going ahead due to EI, the Trials committee were delayed in the building of the cross country course and did a wonderful job in the short amount of time available. The event was both well run and friendly and I extend my thanks to Huntingfield Pony & Riding Club for their hospitality, to course designer Andrew Gibson and members of the Southern Zone who undertook the many tasks of running such a championship.

The Dressage and Show Jumping Championships were held at the Burnie Show Grounds, with an extra class being created again in C group to cater for the overwhelming entries in the Dressage. Because of EI, the date for this championship reverted back to its original date of April, and I thank the organizers for their flexibility. This Championship is quite a difficult one to organize as it is increasingly difficult to get the many judges, course designers, pencillers, marshallers, and helpers for this weekend, not to mention obtaining a large enough area to accommodate so many dressage arenas. Our thanks go to the clubs in the North West Zone and in particular Fernpark Pony Club for hosting this years event.

The Games Championships were held at GravellyBeach with A & B teams competing for the coveted trophies. As usual, this very popular team’s championship proved to be fierce in its competition, and we thank the Northern Zone and in particular West Tamar Pony Club for their hospitality.

Although unsuccessful, Chloe Ranicar and Samantha Gardner traveled to Darwin in April where a selection for inclusion into the International Prince Philip Mounted Games Team was held. Thank you also to State Coach Barry Harper who acted as the Tasmanian Selector at this camp.

The PCAT will be sending a team of junior and senior games riders to Adelaide in November and we wish them all the best and thank their team coaches and team managers for their many hours of training.

Next year will be a very busy one for Tasmania as we will be sending many riders to the PCA Nationals as well as an Inter Pacific Rider to Hong Kong and if selected a rider to the International Mounted Games competition in Canada.

In closing, I extend my gratitude to all our members for their support, and hope their next year in Pony Club is marked with many achievements and plenty of enjoyment for all.

Judith Pitt

PCAT President 2008