THE UNITED STATES PONY CLUBS, INC. PRESS RELEASE

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – PHOTOS AVAILABLE UPON REQUEST

Press Contact: Shelley Mann, This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Pony Club: www.ponyclub.org, 859-254-7669

Record Attendance Expected at Pony Club Festival!

Lexington, KY, July 13, 2011—Record numbers of Pony Club members are expected to converge on the Kentucky Horse Park, in Lexington, Kentucky for the 10^th triennial Pony Club Festival celebration. Pony Club members, their families, friends, volunteers, and other invited participants—more than 4000 in all—from 47 states, Canada, and abroad will come together July 18-26 to compete, learn, and celebrate during the National Championship and Educational extravaganza.

1,160 Championships competitors will vie for ribbons the first half of the week in eventing, stadium jumping, dressage, polo crosse, mounted games and tetrathlon. Both the eventing and show jumping disciplines are hosting record-breaking numbers. During the second half of the week, more than 500 Pony Club members will attend clinics and workshops that will allow them a chance to experience everything from fox hunting, to swinging a polo mallet, to spinning on a famous reining horse.

Thinking of the week ahead, Wayne Quarles, the Activities Director for Pony Club said, “A lot goes into organizing all of these disciplines at one venue, but being able to offer these vast opportunities to our members (and for the first time, our Canadian neighbors) is what Pony Club is all about. It’s nice to see so many members able to take advantage of what Pony Club has to offer in one location.”

About Festival—Festival is a week-long (July 18-26) celebration of Pony Club that brings together more than 4,000 Pony Club members from across the country. Its purpose is to provide a National Championships competition combined with a unique educational learning experience. A host of international caliber clinicians will conduct, both mounted and unmounted clinics during the Education portion of Festival.

Watch a video of USPC Executive Director Kevin Price on WTVQ-36.

Watch a video, shot Thursday, July 21 of Pony Club members getting ready to play polo crosse. 

About Pony Club—The United States Pony Clubs, Inc. (USPC) was founded in 1954 as a nonprofit national youth organization to teach riding and horsemanship through a formal educational program. Many of the nation’s top equestrians, including many of our Olympic team members, have roots in Pony Club. Members range in age from as young as 4 through age 25. There are approximately 10,000 members in 600 clubs and riding centers in 43 regions throughout the country. Pony Club is headquartered in Lexington, Kentucky www.ponyclub.org.