november 2014 newsletter - mount pleasant pony club 2014...november 2014 newsletter p upcoming mppc...

November 2014 Newsletter

UPCOMING MPPC RALLIES AND EVENTS:

SUN 2ND NOVEMBER 2014: Encourage Championships (formally Mini Zones) at Two Wells PC SAT 8TH NOVEMBER 2014: Working Bee to help set up for the Cross Country Training Day SUN 9TH NOVEMBER 2014: MPPC Cross Country Training Day (No November rally) SUN 7TH DECEMBER 2014: MPPC Christmas Gymkhana Rally SAT/SUN 11-12th APRIL 2015: MPPC One Day Event

MPPC POSTAL ADDRESS: PO Box 114, Mount Pleasant SA 5253 MPPC EMAIL ADDRESS: [email protected] MPPC WEBSITE: www.mountpleasantponyclub.webs.com MPPC FACEBOOK PAGE: https://www.facebook.com/Mount.Pleasant.PC?fref=ts

Don’t forget to “Like” the Mount Pleasant Pony Club

Facebook Page. Please feel free to add photos and

reports to the facebook page.

MPPC COMMITTEE MEMBERS: President: Rachel Van Dissel

Ph 0467 581 063 [email protected]

Vice President: Sharyn Jong

ph 0407 838 908 [email protected]

Secretary: Gayle Halford


Treasurer: Sharon Clarke


Rally Coordinator: Alison Kay


Chief Instructor: Julie Jackson


mailto:[email protected]

http://www.mountpleasantponyclub.webs.com/

https://www.facebook.com/Mount.Pleasant.PC?fref=ts







MPPC – October 2014 Newsletter

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RALLY PLAN:

Please note: There is NO NOVEMBER RALLY due to the Encourage Championships at TWPC on 2nd

November, and the Cross Country Training Day at MPPC on Sunday 9th November.

Volunteers are required for both events (and the Working Bee at MPPC on Saturday 8th November), so any

help would be much appreciated!

A few tips for riders at rallies:

Please do not forget to sign the Attendance book before the rally starts (both riders and parents helping) so that you are all covered by insurance.

Whilst signing the attendance book, please also fill in the form next to the book letting the club know if you will be staying for the afternoon session, and which group you will be joining (if a choice is available)

Gear Check is at 9:30am in the area in front of the club rooms, please make sure you are ready on time.

Lunch is from 12:30-1:15pm, please bring a sweet or a savoury dish to share.

Rallies are usually held on the 1st Sunday of the month unless the Mt Barker forecasted temperature is over 35 Degrees Celsius, and the rally will be either cancelled or held earlier in the morning.

Whoever is parked closest to the main road gate, please make sure that it is closed ASAP and before the start of the rally.

No EXPOSED jewellery is allowed to be worn at Pony Club Rallies. Information for new members wishing to join MPPC: If anyone is contacted by people wanting to join our club, the process is as follows: They will need to complete a Membership Application Form (available on our website or from the Secretary) which will then be put before the committee at the next meeting. Please note that committee meetings are only held once a month, so it may take up to four weeks for a response. The applicants will then be notified of the decision by a committee member following the meeting.

MPPC NEWS:

The MPPC has a new Website! Please visit the new website at: www.mountpleasantponyclub.webs.com The previous website is currently still live, however it is not being updated and will be eventually removed.

Please remember to also check and ‘like’ our Facebook page too.

The Mount Pleasant Christmas Street Parade will be on Saturday 6th December from 6pm (leaving from the Oval

and parading up the road in a northerly direction). If there is enough interest from the MPPC members, the club

will enter the parade, which will involve riders and their horses (may be led) dressed in a Christmas theme. All

members are welcome to dress up and take part in the parade, please let Rachel or Gayle know if you are

interested by 10th November.

http://www.mountpleasantponyclub.webs.com/


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There is currently a vacancy on the Talunga Park Committee for a representative from the MPPC. The meetings

are held once every two months on a Wednesday night (1st week of the month). If you are interested in being on

the committee and representing the club, please email the Pony Club Address or contact Rachel ASAP.

The 2014 Encourage Championship’s (formally the “Mini Zones”) are going to be held at the Two Wells Pony Club

on Sunday 2nd November. Entries for this event have now closed, but it is fantastic to see that so many people

(Junior and Adult members alike) are taking part in the competition and representing our club.

We will have to provide a number of volunteers for this event, so it would be greatly appreciated if you could

please let the club know ASAP if you are willing to help out. This would be a great opportunity for the

competitors who took part in the Zone and State Championships to give something back to the other members of

our club.

On the 8th November, MPPC is running a Working Bee in

preparation for the XC Training Day. We will need

volunteers to help on the day, and please bring a whipper

snipper if you have one. The Working Bee will start at 9am,

and any help (even for just a few hours) would be much

appreciated. More hands make light work!

The MPPC XC Training Day will be held on Sunday 9th November. We will need some helpers on the day in

addition to donations of cakes/biscuits/slices to sell at the event, so please help by contributing food donations.

The training day will start at 9am, however we will require helpers from 8am onwards to help set up and cook the

BBQ.

The MPPC are looking at running another “Wheelbarrow Christmas Raffle” this year and we will need donations

from all our members to go into the wheelbarrow. Any items would be appreciated, either horsey or not! The

raffle will be drawn at our December Christmas Gymkhana on 7th December, 2014. Tickets will be available very

soon from Julie, so please catch up with Julie to receive a book to sell.

Our December Christmas Gymkhana rally will be held on Sunday

7th December. If you can suggest any activities that you would like

to be included at the Christmas Gymkhana/Rally, please send your

idea’s through to the MPPC email address.

The club is considering having a Beach Ride or Camp for the January Rally, possibly at Moonta Pony Club. More

information will be available in the next newsletter – but in the meantime, please let Alison know (details on the

front page of the newsletter) if you would be interested in attending.

Dale Flynn is holding a Simulated XC Clinic at the MPPC Grounds on the 10th and 11th January. The costs will be

$30/1.5hr session and more information is available in this newsletter.

Nominations for the monthly “Mount Pleasant and Districts Sportsperson Awards” must be received by the

tenth day of each month.

Nominations can be posted to: “Sportsperson of the Year” C/O Nick Seager, 4 Seager Rd, Mount Pleasant SA 5235.


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Mount Pleasant Pony Club are holding a

Clinic with Dale Flynn

Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th January 2015

Saturday will be simulated Cross Country in the Show Jumping arena

If enough interest - Sunday will be out on Cross Country course

Riders will be placed into sessions based on jumping experience levels to the best of the organiser’s ability.

Fees: $30.00 per combination per day for a one and a half hour session.

Closing Date for Entries: Friday 19th December, 2014

For further enquiries, please contact Gayle Halford on 0416286778 or [email protected]

Other important information:

All riders must be current financial Pony Club members.

Approved helmets, riding boots and up to date medical arm bands must be worn by all riders.

Venue:

Mt Pleasant Pony Club grounds & the land adjacent the pony club grounds. Please park within the pony

club grounds only.



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WELL DONE to all of our representatives at the PCASA State Championships:

Our A Grade Games Team (Gemma Lind, Jess Wuttke, Nikia Heaven, Bonnie Thomson and Tommy Shepherd) came

FIRST in the Mounted Games! Georgia Gibson, Ashlee Kay and Nikia Heaven came 2nd in the C Grade Team Show

Jumping. Georgia Gibson placed 4th in the Junior Horse of the Year and Madison Halford came 7th in the Preliminary

Dressage and also competed in B Grade Show Jumping. Well done everyone, you did your club very proud!

ABOVE: Nikia Heaven on Born to be Wild in the Novilties, Nikia on Legally Blonde in the C grade Show jumping,

where she had 2 clear rounds and Tommy Shepperd on Sheika.

ABOVE: Gemma Lind on Charlie, Bonnie Thomson on Georgia, and Jess Wuttke on Charlie.

ABOVE: Mounted Games Team Tommy Shepperd, Nikia Heaven, Gemma Lind, Bonnie Thomson and Jess Wuttke


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ABOVE: Madison Halford in the B Grade Show Jumping and the Preliminary Dressage.

ABOVE: Ashlee and Duke, Tommy and Sheika and Chloe and Tiffany.

ABOVE: Georgia Gibson, riding Just An Illusion, with her first place ribbon from winning the Composite Team C

grade show jumping at the PCASA State Gymkhana. Georgia Gibson competed in the Junior HOY as the

representative for the Lower North Zone and also in the C grade show jumping team. The last picture of Georgia

Gibson and Just an Illusion is of their dressage test for the Junior HOY at the PCASA State Championships.

On the Sunday at the State Gymkhana, Georgia also came 2nd in her rider class and 3rd in the hack class as well

as winning 1st in the C grade show jumping as part of a composite team.

Well done everyone – fantastic effort!


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Congratulations to Scarlett Knight, Josh Van Dissel, Alisha Klitscher and Annalise Drever–Borchardt (below left) for

achieving their E Certificates. Congratulations to Chloe Jong (right) who also recently achieved her D-Star Certificate.

Good luck to all our members competing at the Encourage Championships at Two Well’s Pony Club on Sunday 2nd

November. All the best to: Annalise Drever-Borchardt , Joshua Van Dissel, Alisha Klitscher, Brianna Klitscher,

Scarlett Knight, Alisha Klitscher, Erin Keough, Sarah Thomson, Chloe Jong, Darren Clarke, Sharon Clarke, Lisa Bates,

Julie Jackson, Alison Kay, Margo Scott, Sharyn Jong and Tina Grech.

Please come along and support our young members, as well as our ‘not so young’ members.

Many thanks to all the members who volunteered their time at the recent State Pony Club Championships and

Gymkhana at Lobethal in October, particularly Alan for organising the Show Jumping and Julie and Viv working

three days in the Canteen.

Thanks to Julie for instructing Cross Country sessions at the October Rally and Alan for instructing Show Jumping.

Many thanks also to Madison for filling in as an emergency instructor at the rally, when the appointed instructor

did not arrive. We would also like to thank Fiona for her work at the recent rally checking the members for their

grooming badges.


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COMPETITION RESULTS:

We had one rider compete at the Gawler River PC Spring ODE

on the 27th and 28th of September 2014. Tracey Jacobs

(right) was in 1st place after her Dressage test with her best

ever Dressage Score. She had a rail down in the show

jumping, but came home with a win after a clear Cross

Country round.

Well done Tracey for finishing 1st in the Open Grade 4!

Congratulations to Madison Halford who competed in the recent Mount Crawford Dressage Club Day (below). It was

Delta's first Dressage outing and she had a score of 67.97% in the Preliminary 1.3 test, with some great comments

from the judge like 'Developing a huge future'. It was also Delilah's first Novice test and she finished with a score of

63.97% in the Novice 2.3 test.

Tina Grech and her Friesian Warmblood Mare Xena (below) did well at the recent “Festival of All Breeds” Show at

Strathalbyn, winning Reserve Champion Led Friesian Warmblood, Champion Ridden Friesian Warmblood and

SUPREME Ridden Friesian/Friesian Warmblood.


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Pictures from the Monarto Camp held in the September school holidays:

LOWER NORTH ZONE UPDATE:

Calendar of upcoming events in the Lower North Zone:

WILLIAMSTOWN PONY CLUB: 8th Nov 2014 Dressage Day BAROSSA VALLEY PONY CLUB: 8th Feb 2015 Cross Country Training Day 22nd Mar 2015 Dressage Day (Circuit) GAWLER RIVER PONY CLUB: 14th Dec 2014 Gymkhana 14th Feb 2015 Cross Country Training Day 21-22nd Mar 2015 One Day Event (Grade’s 5, 4 and 3) 29th Mar 2015 Show Jumping Day (Circuit) MOUNT PLEASANT PONY CLUB: 9th Nov 2014 Cross Country Training Day 11-12th Apr 2015 One Day Event TWO WELLS PONY CLUB: 2nd Nov 2014 LNZ Encourage Championships

7th Dec 2012 Hack Show 15th Feb 2015 Show Jumping Day (Circuit) 1st Mar 2015 Gymkhana

ABOVE: Ashlee, Georgia and Chloe and Ashlee winning the “Tidiest Bed” Award.


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Lower North Zone Pony Clubs inc.

Dressage Clinic with Heather Lundquist

Sunday 30th November At Two Wells Equestrian & Pony Club

Aunger Road, Lewiston

1 x 1 hour group lesson (max 3 riders) $25.00 for all PCASA members

Bookings essential as places are limited

Get your entry in early to avoid disappointment

Contact Rebecca Puro. Ph: 0438 828 305 (before 8pm) Entries to: PO Box 436, Willaston SA 5118

Timetable will be available on: www.twepc.com.au Check website for update Saturday night if weather is bad and clinic is cancelled or timetable changes

Further dates have been booked - 11/1/15 and 8/3/15

CLASSIFIEDS:

FOR SALE: Child 14" GP black saddle with stirrups and stirrup leathers. Has lovely deep seat for children. Been used on 14.2hh Arab with back protector and also 10.2hh Welsh pony. No longer needed and would suit child for trail riding. $100 And Child size 4 jodhpurs Saxon. Like new. Child size 11 boots Saxon. $25 for both jodhpurs and boots. Located Lobethal: Tania [email protected] FOR SALE: Beautiful English Kent Dressage saddle (pictured right) 17 inch, Very soft leather. Long girth points. $700. Was last used on a 14hand Pony. For further enquiries, please contact Gayle Halford on 0416286778.

http://www.twepc.com.au/



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HORSE HEALTH:

Cushing’s Disease By Dr. John Kohnke BVSc RDA N

ew Diagnostic Techniques Please Note: The information contained in this short review has been referenced from an April 2014 paper published by Durham et al. Refer to end of review for a full reference. Equine Cushing’s Disease, also known medically as Pituitary pars Intermedia dysfunction (PPID), has increased in incidence worldwide in horses and ponies over the past 2 decades. A recent survey suggests that it may affect up to 20% or more of horses and ponies over 15 years of age. In the USA, statistics indicate a 12 fold increase in the number of horses and ponies with Cushing’s Disease over the 10 years between 1993 to 2004, and it has become an almost daily diagnosis in equine clinics. A survey by Dr Cathy McGowan, an Australian equine research specialist now located in the UK, published in 2003, found that subclinical Cushing’s Disease in horses and ponies, can be present for months to years, with eventual development of clinical laminitis. The study reported a 13% incidence of PPID Cushing’s Disease in ponies diagnosed with chronic laminitis and recent surveys of veterinary clinics suggest that up to 80% of aged ponies with symptoms of laminitis have evidence from blood tests of underlying PPID dysfunction. Cushing’s Disease appears to have a higher incidence in many pony breeds compared with horse breeds, especially grey ponies, and it is most commonly seen in aged ponies over 15 years. Cause of Cushing’s Disease PPID Cushing’s Disease is an endocrine (hormone) disorder of the pituitary gland, a small gland at the base of the brain, which secretes many hormone precursor compounds to trigger the adrenal glands, ovaries, urine excretion in the kidneys and the function of many other organs. In horses or ponies affected by PPID, the pituitary gland enlarges, or can become cancerous, to rapidly increase in size (referred to as hyperplasia), with a corresponding increase in the secretion of certain hormones. Recent studies have indicated that PPID Cushing’s Disease is primarily associated with increased secretion of adrenal cortisone stimulation hormone (ACTH) from the pituitary gland. It is important to note that ongoing Equine Metabolic Syndrome (EMS) can also result in Cushing’s Disease and the signs in affected horses and ponies are similar to the signs seen in horses or ponies with the PPID form of Cushing’s Disease. The EMS type of Cushing’s Disease can sometimes be distinguished from the PPID type when a horse or pony does not respond to medication with the drug pergolide, which acts to reduce over-production of ACTH by the pituitary gland. Occasionally, both the EMS and PPID types of Cushing’s Disease can be present in the same animal. Diagnosis of Cushing’s Disease Over recent years, the increasing incidence of the early symptoms or full clinical signs of Cushing’s Disease developing over a 6-24 month period, has resulted in more sophisticated blood tests as a screening tool to check for, or confirm Cushing’s Disease in horses and ponies with typical clinical symptoms and appearance, or ongoing chronic laminitis not related to excessive carbohydrate intake in the diet. Normal routine blood profiles to check blood cell counts and biochemical parameters are of little use in diagnosing Cushing’s Disease, so researchers have developed new, more accurate tests to confirm PPID.


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1. Resting Plasma ACTH Levels. Adrenal cortisone stimulation hormone (ACTH) is secreted by the distal endocrine tissue of the pituitary gland, which in turn, activates the release of natural cortisol hormone from the adrenal glands located near the kidneys. High levels of ACTH determined by laboratory analysis of a collected sample can help establish if a horse or pony is suffering PPID Cushing’s Disease. Studies in the UK and North America have found that the blood concentrations of ACTH vary from season to season, with highest secretion from July to October (summer to autumn in the Northern hemisphere) in both normal and PPID affected animals. In Australia, this seasonal variation corresponds to mid-summer to early autumn (January to April in the Southern hemisphere). Laboratories testing ACTH levels as a tool to diagnose Cushing’s Disease in horses have developed specialised reference guidelines to seasonally adjust results to improve the accuracy of testing. 2. High Cortisol Readings Studies have indicated that high natural cortisol readings following dexamethasone administration are diagnostic of PPID Cushing’s Disease. However, the dexamethasone suppression test is not sensitive in sub-clinical or early cases of PPID. Consult your vet for advice. Management of Cushing’s Disease There is no ‘cure’ for Cushing’s Disease, however, ponies or horses diagnosed with the condition can be managed to help reduce symptoms and the risk of complications such as laminitis. Horses with the PPID form of Cushing’s Disease can be medicated with pergolide mesylate which may help improve clinical signs. Ponies or horses with PPID Cushing’s Disease or EMS Cushing’s Disease will benefit from careful management of diet to restrict the intake of sugars while providing adequate roughage, vitamins and minerals. Careful monitoring of weight and hoof care is also important. More information on managing Cushing’s Disease is outlined in Fact Sheet C3, available from Gary at [email protected] or from the website www.kohnkesown.com. Reference: Durham AE, McGowan CM, Fey K, Tamzali Y and Van der Kolk JH. (2014) Pituitary pars intermedia dysfunction; Diagnosis and treatment. Equine Vet Education USA Edition April 2014; 216-223.

The information above is courtesy of the author, Dr. John Kohnke BVSc RDA. It was included in “Talking Ponies” Issue 6, 2014.

If you have any photos, results, reports or classified that you

would like included in the next edition of the MPPC Newsletter,

please send them to the MPPC Email address by no later than the

25th of the month.

november 2014 newsletter - mount pleasant pony club 2014...november 2014 newsletter p upcoming mppc...

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