Eleven young riders gain Pony Club A test
Eleven members and associates have gained the Pony Club’s highest accolade — the A test — in this year’s round of examinations.
Thirty young horsemen and women — including eventer Charlotte Agnew, who passed with honours — put themselves forward for the exams in June and September.
The A test is equivalent to the British Horse Society’s stage IV riding and horse care exam.
Candidates had to ride a number of unknown horses on the flat and over show and cross-country jumps, demonstrate a practical knowledge of lungeing to improve a horse’s way of going and training a young horse.
Charlotte said: “For me, passing with honours was a huge confidence boost, and I would thoroughly recommend the A test route to anyone interested in furthering their own riding career.”
And the chairman of Pony Club Training, William Blane, said: “Candidates have benefited from six excellent training days during the year, giving them an insight into the requirements of the exam as well as individual goals for improvement.
“With the introduction of the B+ test and more mentoring and coaching towards the A test, we look forward to even more success in 2013.”
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The riders who now have their A test are: Hollie Cartwright of Clifton on Teme Hunt branch; Hector Payne of the Puckeridge Hunt branch; David Britnell of the Old Berkeley Hunt (Chilterns) branch; Jessica Campbell of the Sandown Chase branch; Clara Pilkington of the Tickham Hunt branch; Samantha Crowe of the Burton Hunt branch, Charlotte Agnew of the Duke of Buccleugh’s Hunt branch; Alycia Port of the Eridge Hunt branch; Rory Newton-Dunn of the Romney Marsh branch, Alice Bell of the Moray and Nairn branch and Bethan Eckley of the South Hereford and Ross Harriers branch.
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A self-confessed newshound, farmer’s daughter and journalist of many years' experience, Charlotte worked on regional papers before joining H&H in 2007. A regular rider, she visited Ireland in 2010 to investigate the fate of Irish horses through the recession, to much acclaim, and reported from the FEI General Assembly in Rio de Janeiro in 2011. She left Horse & Hound in March 2013.