TEAMWORK AT RALLY
by Dallas Knowlton
Rally is an important and exciting day in our pony club experience. Although by the end of the day we have had fun, we have also worked hard and are tired. To have a successful rally day your team has to work together. Teamwork will make the whole day easier.
As you arrive in the morning, your team meets and arranges their trailers together. Most likely your team has already decided what horses will share a trailer and what trailer will be your tack room. For the first half hour or so your main concern should be putting your tack room together. Radnor often gets together before the rally to put the tack room equipment together. So when rally comes all we have to do is put the equipment up since it has already been organized.
After that you start taking care of where your horses will be stabled, giving them water, hay and salt. By now our parents have left and we are officially on our own.
Soon you’ll begin to get the first rider ready. But during every ride, every course walk, a major part of rally is going on. Horse management is going on. The Horse Management Judges are constantly circulating the area to make sure every horse is properly cared for, all equipment is there, and safe for riding. Usually the first thing they do is check off all the equipment and supplies to make sure everything is present, in safe condition, clean, organized and make sure that you know the proper function of everything in your tack room, so everyone is prepared for an emergency. The judges will stop by at any point in the day to make sure everything is still safe, mistakes they earlier pointed out are corrected, and help you with any questions or problems.
Many pony clubbers find Horse Management Judges scary. Mostly because they are asking excellence of us. It’s easy to forget that they have been through this, have been in a rally, and are human too. The have two goals: Safety & Excellence. Excellence is achievable at rally. At least it is in the horse management area. That’s not to say nothing goes wrong, but if you can maintain a safe, organized and productive tack room and surrounding area, with all of your necessary items being safe and up to pony club standards, and still have fun at the end of the day, you will have had a successful day. No matter what happens in your riding, you’ll be okay. At rally only blue ribbons are given for Horse Management, only one of all the teams wins!!!The team that wins a Horse Management blue ribbon is admired and respected by all the teams. Let that be one of your goals to help you work very hard all day.
Maintaining our stable area is a major part of rally. Everything except your riding is directly related to your horse management. When you let it fall apart, become disorganized, cluttered and messy, your day will be total chaos. Your team has to work together the entire day. You may not know all your teammates, but being together on a team at rally forms a bond between your entire team. You can’t do it all by yourself, and neither can your teammates. Everyone needs each other to lean on for support and help. None of us are superhuman, we do need breaks. After you’ve taken a little break, go take your team member’s horse (with permission), brush it, or tack him up and give your team member a break. You cannot go into rally with a negative attitude. It will just be a longer, boring day. You’ll find with a negative attitude everything that could go wrong, will.
Rally is a big part of our pony club experience. You’ll form lasting friendships, and learn to take pride in yourself and your pony club. You will come away from rallies with management skills, people skill, and learn to work as a team. All these skills will be beneficial later in life. It’s important to work hard so that at the end of your rally, no matter what ribbon you do or don’t get, your entire team is proud of each other.