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The 2007 Annual Meeting January 24-28 in Portland, Oregon, was truly “The Best of the West” as 996 Pony Club leaders, members, friends and family gathered at the Downtown Hilton for four days of workshops, meetings, seminars and socializing. The Oregon Region pulled out all the stops to ensure each and every participant returned home enriched by his or her time in Portland.

Erin Evers, organizer, and her staff of willing volunteers worked tirelessly behind the scenes to make sure everything ran smoothly. Kudos to the Oregon Region! The Annual Meeting included 593 at the banquet, over 150 participants in Pony Paddock (a workshop for very young members), 38 Regional Supervisors, 48 Vice Regional Supervisors, 146 District Commissioners, and 72 District Commissioners. Internationally-known Eventer Amy Tryon, a graduate C-2 from Valley Green Pony Club, Northwest Region, was the outstanding keynote speaker and presented two standing-room-only workshops. Overall, 63 workshops educated, informed and entertained attendees.

Another standing-room-only workshop was the H-B Prep, where Kevin Bowie and other National Examiners spent time demystifying the new H-B rating. Brad Gordon, DVM, hosted an equine anatomy room where members could hold a horse’s huge heart and a tiny fetus, as well as examine the workings of the equine skeleton.

Outgoing President Margo Leithead handed over the reins of USPC to Arthur (Art) R. Kramer, a Pony Club dad and avid Foxhunter from Grass Lake, Michigan. Five new Board of Governors members were ratified at the Meeting of the Corporation Saturday morning.

An exciting Trade Fair was held in the Downtown Hilton as part of the Annual Meeting and was very well attended.

The 2008 Annual Meeting of the United States Pony Clubs, Inc., will be held in Boston, MA, January 23-27.

Pony Club is a misnomer: it is not a club for ponies. The United States Pony Clubs (referred to as Pony Club or USPC) was founded as a national non-profit educational youth horsemanship organization in February 1954. Pony Club teaches horsemanship, riding and the care of the horse to young people through the age of 25. Pony Club is a worldwide organization that originated in Great Britain in 1928.

Today, there are over 625 Pony Clubs nationwide – including those in Alaska and Hawaii – with over 12,000 members. Generally, Pony Club members range in age from as young as 5 to age 25.