Natalie Dukes

Name: Natalie Dukes

Favorite foods: Mashed potatoes and Creme Brulee.

Like/Dislike about Pony club: I love the fact that horse management and riding exist 
simultaneously in pony club. There are so many people that think 
riding is everything, and I'm glad pony club discourages that way of 
thought. However, I dislike the little unnecessary rules and how some 
rules keep changing back and forth.

Looking forward to at Championships: I am so excited for champs! This will be my first 
time riding at champs, and second time in quiz. I am looking forward  
to bonding with my new horse even more through Champs, and learning a 
lot during quiz!

About my horse: My horse Carmina is a Swiss Warmblood/QH cross. She has such a 
unique personality and most of all loves cross country. I took her to 
a rating two days after I bought her, and decided not to use her for 
cross country because I'd never ridden outside on her. She got so mad 
when I took another horse! But when we finally did cross country 
together it was the most fun I'd ever had!

Hobbies: I really don't have much of a life outside of horses. However 
I love to write, and have almost finished my first novel(It'll be 
about 300 pages). Also I enjoy memorizing pi and making balloon animals.

Pets: None currently besides Carmina. I've never had a normal pet, 
just horses and a rabbit.

Funny story: When I was 8, I fell off during the jumping round of a horse 
show. The medic came over because my glasses had smashed into my eye. 
I found out it was the doctor that delivered me! My mom blames her for 
putting the "horse curse" on me.

Tayler Maye Ravenscroft

 

 

Name: Tayler Maye Ravenscroft

Favorite foods: What are your favorite foods?  Pork Dumplings at the Chinese restaurant

Like/ not like about Pony club: What do you like or not like about Pony Club?  Don't like the politics, LIKE the opportunities

Looking forward to in Championships:  Having fun in Quiz rally and watching my friends

About my horse: Tell me something about your horse.  Ace is a bay QH gelding and I would trust him to jump me off a cliff.

Hobbies out of horses:  What?  There is a world outside of horses??  :)  (really, I love to read)

Pets: Do you have pets?  yes, 2 dogs....a Doxie named Lilo and a tiny Poodle that my Mom calls FOO

Funny story: Tell me a funny story about yourself.  Onetime we were at a driving show and my Mom let me drive the golf cart.  I mistook the gas for the brake and drove us into a ditch that we managed to JUMP!  It was a riot!

Rachel Eleanor Collier

Name: Rachel Eleanor Collier

Favorite foods: Fettucini Alfredo and brownies
Like about Pony club: I like pony club because it doesn't just teach you how to ride it teaches you about horse management too.
Looking forward to in Championships: I'm looking forwards to going to San Francisco and being on a scratch team
About my horse: My horse purposely gets his leg stuck around the lead rope so he can get more attention drawn to himself
Hobbies: None
Pets: I have one fish, one snake, one cat, three goats,and a horse of course

Elizabeth Shannon Collier

 

 

Name: Elizabeth Shannon Collier
Favorite foods: My favorite foods are Cesar salad and macaroni and cheese
Like/not like about Pony Club: I like how Pony Club encourages us to move forward and make progress. I don't like some of the rules and decisions made
Looking forward to at Championships: I am looking forward to meeting new people-I'm on a scratch team
About my horse: Whenever Diva gets her face wet she sticks out her tongue
Hobbies: I like making bracelets and swimming
Pets: Yes, I have a hamster, two fish, one cat and three goats
Funny story: I was riding a green horse and decided to do a scissor kick. After I was turned around she started trotting around and bucking. Everyone was laughing so hard becuse I couldn't figure out how to get off of her! Eventually I slid off the side. The next time I had sombody hold her.

Brianna Mchorse

Name: Brianna McHorse (yes, really, I didn't make it up!)
Favorite foods: Sushi, blueberries, and hazelnut cake from Sweet Life
Like about Pony Club: I get to spend time with people my age who love horses. I also really like the ratings progression because I enjoy having goals to work towards.
Looking forward to at Championships: Meeting people from other clubs and regions and having a blast with my Quiz team.
About my horse: McKinna is a QH/Arab mare who we got at the Woodburn Auction several years ago for $225. We've done everything from team penning and gaming to eventing and she's up for anything, but cross country is her favorite. She is always fun to ride or be with - I just wish she was a little easier to keep clean sometimes!

Hobbies outside of horses: College and horses take up most of my time. Outside those, I love to read and write.
Pets: I have a cat named Rascal and a dog named Kuma, which means 'Bear' in Japanese.
Funny story: I have always read a lot, so when I was a kid I would sometimes use words that I knew the definition of from reading but had never heard pronounced. As a result, sometimes I came up with some interesting pronunciations! My parents enjoy making fun of me for this and I still catch myself sometimes wanting to pronounce "gauge" the way it looks instead of the way it sounds.

Rebekah Polacek

Name: Rebekah Polacek

Favorite foods: I love Mexican food (when it's not spicy...I'm a wimp when it comes to spicy foods)

Like about pony club: I love the logical progression of skills, the rallies, the incredible instruction, the camaraderie, and the really unique horse management aspects of Pony Club

Looking forward to in Championships: I am looking forward to watching all of the cute Games ponies :) and also having fun with my teammates

About your horse: My horse will eat anything...you doubt this? It's true- the only thing he's ever refused was the Pacific Cooler flavor of CapriSun, and I've had him for five years now!

Hobbies: Outside of horses I like to stay active. I run hurdles in track and am starting to do XC running too- yes I know, both very similar to eventing on horseback (minus the horse)

Pets: I have three horses (Barlow, Buzz, and Monet), as well as two cats (Bella & Ella), and one dog (Phoebe)

Funny Story:  My club has this tradition now of bringing skittles to every rally...and has the ultimate skittle war with them!  So funny, the first time it happened was on a really hot day at a SJ rally and we all had skittles down our shirts that partly melted!  Luckily the rally polo that year was black...I had so much fun though, it's a great memory :)

Olivia Chandler

Olivia Chandler is a quiz competitor from Oregon who wants to have fun in Champs.

Name: Olivia Chandler

Favorite Foods:  I like to eat lots of different types of foods! I love brownies though!!
Like about Pony Club:  I like horses and meeting new people, and I don’t like some of the rules.

Looking forward to at the Championships:  I am looking forward to meet new people and have fun in California, just not the drive down.
About my horse:  My horse is 7 years old and is 17 hands high. He has gone Prelim at 2 USEA events and got 2nd and 1st.


Hobbies: I like to hang out with friends, play basketball, and I like track! I do lots of pole vaulting for track.

Pets: Yes, I have 3 horses, 4 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 guinea pig.


Funny Story: One day I had a basketball game. When we were playing, I was dribbling down the court and was ahead of all the other people! I thought that I was for sure going to make a basket! When I was running, my shoelace came untied and I stepped on it with my other foot. I tripped and fell in front of everybody! I was really embarrassed, but now I look back and laugh!

Katelyn Nienaber

Name: Katelyn Nienaber

Favorite food: Seafood, Dijorno's pizza, and anything with chocolate. Also strawberries.

Like about Pony club: I like pony club because it improves me as a horseperson in more respects than just riding, but sometimes the rigid rules can rub me the wrong way.

Looking forward to in Championships: Winning! Ha ha, and seeing what some of the other clubs and members are like.

About my horse: Zeus is a seven-year-old warmblood that we bought when he was five and I was thirteen. He's a bit moody and stubborn, but he's got lots of personality and he's really fun to ride and work with.

Hobbies: I like doing art, especially watercolor, and lots of crafty things like sewing and beadwork. I also like to watch the crime series Bones, and sleeping is one of my favorite pastimes.

Pets: A dog, Jeap, and a cat, Oreo. My dad found Oreo clinging to the top of someone's convertible, speeding down the highway at four in the morning! Jeap is a seeing eye flunkie that we got from my grandmom in Kentucky. We also have an ex-racehorse named Devon that my dad bought at Keeneland. He lost every race he ran in!

Funny story: Hmm...well, I remember the first time I cursed. I was at a friend's house, I was six I think, and it was an accident. I remember I was in perpetual fear for about a week afterward; I was terrified that she would tell her dad what I'd said, and that he would tell my parents...every time the phone rang my heart would just start pounding. After a while I figured out it wasn't going to happen, and now I laugh at what a big deal I turned it into.

Ellie Chandler

Name: Ellie Chandler


Favorite Foods: Pho (A Vietnamese soup) and Avocados

Like about PonyClub: I love that in Pony Club you can be with your friends and all hang out together while learning new things about what you love. Though I don’t really like the fact that my regular trainer taught me certain things that aren’t the “Pony Club Way”.

Looking forward to at the championships: I’m really looking forward to meeting new friends from different regions and trading pins. I’m also excited to try my best at what I know and studied.

About my horse: My horse is really cocky and tends to be a brat but he is still perfect for me


Hobbies:  Outside of horses I love to play basketball and run track

Pets: Yes, I have 3 horses, 4 dogs, 1 cat, and 1 guinea pig

Funny Story:  My funny story is from when I was at a local dressage show and I walked into the arena feeling confident. I started my test and realized… my pony would NOT trot. I was kicking him as hard as I could and I look really silly. There were 3 people in my division and 2 were trainers. In my first test I got 3rd. Then for my second test my trainer gave me a dressage whip and spurs and I beat the 2 ladies I was competing against and got first. I was pretty proud.

Ella Jensen

Name: Ella Jensen [11 year old D-3 Pony Clubber]

Favorite foods: I like many foods, my favorite fruit is an avocado or blackberries. I also enjoy Chinese food, and Italian food. 

Like about Pony Club: In Pony Club I think it’s really fun having many friends who also love riding. Rallies are also a great time. It’s also really fun being horse manager, and helping with all the horses and all of my teammates.

Looking forward to in the Championships: I think that being part of a team will be great. And watching the people on there horses will be a very good learning experience and also very fun.

About Oslo: “Oslo” is my 10 year old Welsh gelding. He is such a pony: he LOVES to eat grass, and really anything else he sees. We have been jumping ever since I got him: he is good in the 2’6” range. For about a year and a half we have been doing dressage: We do training level and first level. I started Pony club just a couple months after I started dressage. Now we do rallies, hunter-jumper shows, and dressage shows together.

Hobbies: I am at the barn almost every day, so I don’t do many other after school activities. Sometimes in the winter or in the summer, I do a play which can be really fun. In sixth grade I was on my school’s volleyball team. In school, I really like to write.

Pets: Yes! Besides my horse I have two spirited dogs named “Charlie” and “Macduff” who I really love.

Funny Story: This most likely will not seem very funny, but I’m going to tell you anyways: At a pretty recent horse show, I had some trouble with my dressage test. I got a little confused with where I was going and I messed up a little at the walk. I was ready to hear the bell ring to excuse me from the test and walk out of the ring, but before I did anything I waited for the bell, which was a good thing because the judge never rang it and I just went on with my test and did very well!

Sarah Loughran

Name: Sarah Loughran

Favorite foods: BBQ

Like about Pony Club: I love how it promotes responsibility, self sufficiency and as corny as it sounds, I've made a good group of friends thanks to this organization.


Don't like about Ponyclub: I hate the bureaucracy, I'm sorry, but some of the stuff I've had to go through at the national level with ratings, competitions and other things, I wouldn't wish upon my enemy.


Looking forward to in the Championships: I'm looking forward to having the homefield advantage. This will be my third championships, and it's the first time it will be on my "turf"


About my horse: She is the most resilient, patient animal you will ever meet. Trust me, she's been putting up with me for 11 years and hasn't run away yet.


Hobbies: Art, I love painting, sketching, photography, even writing. I can get lost in my sketchbook for hours on end.
Pets: Yup! Dog and a cat


Funny story: This year, my roommate and I got in the habit of going on walks around our university's campus late at night. We were constantly determined to create as many horror story scenarios as possible, until we saw this dark creepy shape, that then made a sound. We both nearly jumped out of our skin. Then we realized it was one of the ducks from the pond, that was literally 50 feet away from us. From that point on, one of us would just have to quack and we would fall into uncontrollable laughter.
Man, I'm going to miss college.

Kirsten Hutsell

Name: Kirsten Hutsell
Favorite Foods: Trail mix, pizza, and pepperoni sticks.
Like about PonyClub: I like being in Pony Club because of the useful information and the fun of cross-country.
Looking forward to in Championships: I am looking forward to being able to show all my knowledge at Champions.
About my horse: Well my horse has a great personality, but likes to try and get me off over fences and we are working to get him over that.
Hobbies: One of my hobbies outside of horses would be volleyball and swimming.
Pets: I have one cat Cally, three labs Lucy, Suzie Q, and Buddy plus my horses of course!
Funny story about me: My funny story was at D-camp in Deary when i forgot to where thicker socks with my boots and water soaked through a little.

     I am really looking forward to meeting you at Champions, so see you there!!!

Elizabeth Esdaile

Meet Elizabeth. She's a Quiz competitor ready to have fun in Championships! 

      

          Name : Elizabeth Esdaile

Favorite Foods: Wipped Cream, Berries

Like about PonyClub: I love the idea of it, and how you get to ride with other people, take lessons with people you wouldn't get a chance to take lessons with, and to go places I normally wouldn't get to go.

Not Like about PonyClub: I dislike many of the rules, and feel like some of them should just be suggestions, and that some are just plain dangerous. I also wish it was run a lot more by Pony Clubbers, and not parents.  

Looking forward to in the Championships: I am really looking forward to Quiz Rally, and working with all of my team members while competing with other PCers in a friendly enviroment. 

About Sox: Sox is a Goober, there's not much more to say! But he LOVEs people, and food. He also is very willing to do what you ask of him, and he can be a fast learner. He thinks that everyone is his friend! And he knows he is very, very cute! 

Hobbies: I play violin, and play in an ochestra. But horses take up a lot of my time. 

Pets:  Yes, two dogs (Stig, a 9 month old Lab/Border Collie, and Sunny, a mutt), and three cats (Cali, Eccles, and Smokey Pickles)

Tell me a funny story about yourself :  I am not very coordinated with what I wear, and I am a messy person, so by the time I leave the barn, I am a total mess! I have learned never to wear white clothes out to the barn, because Sox loves to swipe his nose up your back, shoulder, or anywhere else he wants to leave a mark for the day!   

Emily Freeman

Meet Emily Freeman. A Quiz competitor from the Sierra Pacific region.

Name: Emily Freeman (13 years old, Northern Mines Pony Club, Sierra Pacific Region)

Favorite Food: pasta

What do you like/not like about Pony Club: I like how everyone is so nice and I get to learn so much

What are you looking forward to at Championships: Having a great time.

Tell me something about your horse: He’s a handsome grey Connemara pony named Seamus (Shay-mus) – he’s a real character.

Other Hobbies: Sheep Herding

Do you have pets: Border Collie named Dooley, Cat named Lighting

Funny story about myself: My pony and I used to hate each other when we were younger, and now we are the best of friends.