Iron Horse Pony Club Riding Center

08/27/2024

07/03/2024

Curious about what skills and opportunities you may get as a member of Pony Club? One National Youth Board member shares her experiences with how Pony Club has helped her develop professional skills, as well as riding and horse management skills.
Read the blog here: bit.ly/nyb-developing-professional-skills-through-pony-club

06/11/2024

Proud of our Eventing Rally Team this past weekend! They placed 2nd in Horse Management and 3rd Overall. Plus a division Champion and Reserve Champion for riding. Our Stable Manager was recognized for Outstanding Sportsmanship by the Chief Horse Management Judge for going above and Beyond in the Vet Box! Congrats to our team for all their hard work!

04/27/2024

Go Pony Club Alumni!! 🥳🥳🥳

03/10/2024

Congratulations to our teams at Quiz Rally yesterday! Our Junior D Team placed 1st and our Senior C Team placed 2nd with Emma taking Reserve Champion.

03/09/2024

Good luck to our members competing at the Oregon Region Quiz Rally today! 🍀

02/19/2024

Tara of The Equine Bit Fitter gave us a great educational talk on horse mouth and head anatomy and how it can effect bit fit and types. Then she fitted a bunch of our horses and it was amazing!

11/28/2023

Thinking about earning your H-B or H-A next year? Already have a test planned and need study tips? Interested in seeing what it takes to earn a national certification in Horse Management? Pony Club members share their best tips to prep for the H-B and H-A certifications. Check out the tips here: bit.ly/earn-your-h-b-h-a-study-strategies

10/30/2023

We had a meeting on clipping to prep the ponies for winter riding!

10/02/2023

06/14/2023

This is why we don’t allow open toed shoes at the barn! Even parents and spectators must stay out of barns, arenas or horse paths if they don’t bring the appropriate footwear!

‘The one bright side is that I should get a 10% discount on pedicures from now on!’

05/04/2023

Things your riding instructor wants you to know:
1. This sport is hard. You don't get to bypass the hard…..every good rider has gone through it. You make progress, then you don't, and then you make progress again. Your riding instructor can coach you through it, but they cannot make it easy.

2. You're going to ride horses you don't want to ride. If you're teachable, you will learn from every horse you ride. Each horse in the barn can teach you if you let them. IF YOU LET THEM. Which leads me to…

3. You MUST be teachable to succeed in this sport. You must be teachable to succeed at anything, but that is another conversation. Being teachable often means going back to basics time and time and time again. If you find basics boring, then your not looking at them as an opportunity to learn. Which brings me to…..

4. This sport is a COMMITMENT. Read that, then read it again. Every sport is a commitment, but in this sport your teammate weighs 1200 lbs and speaks a different language. Good riders don't get good by riding every once in awhile….they improve because they make riding a priority and give themsevles opportunity to practice.

5. EVERY RIDE IS AN OPPORTUNITY. Even the walk ones. Even the hard ones. Every. Single. Ride. Remember when you just wished someone would lead you around on a horse? Find the happiness in just being able to RIDE. If you make every ride about what your AREN'T doing, you take the fun out of the experience for yourself, your horse, and your instructor. Just enjoy the process. Which brings me to...

6. Riding should be fun. It is work. and work isn't always fun.....but if you (or your rider) are consistently choosing other activities or find yourself not looking forward to lessons, it's time to take a break. The horses already know you don't want to be here, and you set yourself up for failure if you are already dreading the lesson before you get here.

7. You'll learn more about horses from the ground than you ever will while riding. That's why ground lessons are important, too. If you're skipping ground lessons (or the part of your lesson that takes place on the ground), you're missing out on the most important parts of the lesson. You spend far more time on the ground with horses than you do in the saddle.

8. Ask questions and communicate. If you're wondering why your coach is having you ride a particular horse or do an exercise, ask them. Then listen to their answer and refer to #3 above.

9. We are human beings. We make decisions (some of them life and death ones) every day. We balance learning for students with workloads for horses and carry the bulk of this business on our shoulders. A little courtesy goes a long way.

Of all the sports your child will try through their school years, riding is one of 3 that they may continue regularly as adults (golf and skiing are the others). People who coach riding spend the better part of their free time and much of their disposable income trying to improve their own riding and caring for the horses who help teach your child. They love this sport and teaching others…..but they all have their limits. Not all good riders are good coaches, but all good coaches will tell you that the process to get good is not an easy one.

*thank you to whoever wrote this! Not my words, but certainly a shared sentiment!

05/02/2023

ATTENTION: Riders, Parents, Trainers, Barn Owners, and Horse People everywhere!

This important and affordable class is coming up NEXT WEEK, May 13! It's brilliant.

One of my assistants, Certified Pressure Proof Coaches, and good friends, Lauren Filter is teaching her First Aid for the Barn class via LIVE Zoom Webinar.

Lauren is an internationally board certified flight paramedic, has been my official on-site medic for several strength & conditioning camps in Colorado and an assistant coach for my classes in Florida. She presented this class to my new Pressure Proof coaches in Naples last November.

This class is brilliant AND affordable so make sure you get your spot before it's sold out! You can register with the QR code or send her a message for the link.

04/05/2023

Our Center had a fantastic meeting learning all about Working Equitation from Cari Schwartz! Thank you !

02/26/2023

We hosted the Regional Quiz Rally Prep today. It was a blast and of course the Barn Phase was a huge hit with the incredibly patient Bren letting EVERYONE lead & turn her, take her blanket on & off, and put polo wraps on her.

12/17/2022

We are looking forward to having a fun filled year coming up!

12/16/2022

We were featured in the Pony Club E-News Blog! Check it out!

Center Highlight: Iron Horse Riding Academy Pony Club Riding Center November 7, 2022 / With questions answered by Adria Fix, Center Administrator (CA) When was your center formed?2016 How many members are currently in your Pony Club program?28 Does your center host any Pony Club events throughout th...

12/05/2022

Who would be interested in a boot polishing meeting? Amy and I might have a slight obsession/hyper fixation on boots 🤣

11/13/2022

Congrats to all our members who tested yesterday!

D1/D2 EV - Lucia, Hazel, and Eva
D3 HM - Kara, Dave, and Gabbi

01/17/2017

BuzzFeed Video

Never give up or be afraid to try something new!

14 Kid Fails That Will Inspire You

via America's Funniest Home Videos

01/09/2017

Unfortunately ice got in the way of our meeting today! Bummer to have to cancel the first meeting of the year, but no one is getting up here safely... :(

Our next meeting is January 22nd (Fingers crossed for normal Oregon weather.)

01/05/2017

Getting ready for the next meeting! And having fun with the laminator.

12/20/2016

Equine Digit Support System, Inc.

It's important to know if your horse is being trimmed or shod correctly for soundness!

A great overview of what hoof distortions are and how they occur. Check out more fantastic hoofcare content on www.hoofcaretoday.com and www.edsshoofcare.com.