The United States Pony Clubs finds rewarding excellence from its members important, especially since it reinforces the values that Pony Club tries to instill in its members, including trying new things in their educational journey with horses; working toward a goal, such as doing well at the USPC Championships; enjoying equestrian pursuits, which may mean enjoying a specific breed of choice and that breed’s related programs; and being a good steward to horses and the land used by equestrians.
In addition, USPC also offers breed and discipline award programs.
Learn More about USPC Recognition Programs
The Brookfield Conservation Award is named in honor of the historic Brookfield Farm near Lexington, KY. The original parcels of Brookfield were received from the British monarchy in the late 1700s. In 2000 Brookfield was placed in the Bluegrass Conservancy by its owners, Betsy and Jack van Nagell. The Brookfield Conservation Award rewards efforts for the promotion of land conservation through member, club, center, or regional dedication and hard work. Applicants may be a club, center, region, or individual. Up to two $500 awards may be given yearly. The deadline for submissions is November 1st.
Learn More and Apply Donate to the Brookfield Conservation Award
The Live Oak Hounds-USPC Foxhunting Challenge Award is made possible through the generous support of Mr. and Mrs. C. Martin Wood III, Joint Masters of the Live Oak Hounds in Monticello, Florida, and Past Presidents of the MFHA. This award is designed to encourage Pony Club members who do not regularly hunt to try the sport, to reward those members who do hunt on a regular basis, and act as mentors to the younger and less-experienced Pony Club members. A total of $10,000 will be awarded to six Pony Clubs/Centers who qualify based on the percentage of total members in the club/center.
The Award period will run from April 10th of the previous year to April 9th of the current year, with the winners announced by May 1st. Certificates should be emailed to events@ponyclub.org and must be received by end of day April 10th.
If mailing the certificates, they must be postmarked by April 10th and sent to:
Activities Department
USPC
4041 Iron Works Parkway
Lexington, KY 40511
Learn More | Download the Certificate
The Eleanor Brennan Memorial Fund was established to aid USPC in funding Instructors' Certification Programs for Pony Club Instructors and upper-level members. USPC will award scholarships up to $500 to applicants who qualify for this scholarship. Fill out the application with required recommendations to be considered for this scholarship.
Awards are an exciting part of the USPC Championships experience, and at the completion of each discipline, award ceremonies provide a positive and thrilling atmosphere for Pony Club members and Championships teams to be recognized for their hard work and dedication to not just their riding, but to developing their Horse Management skills, which is something recognized only by the United States Pony Clubs. You will see just how much fun, sportsmanship, teamwork, and camaraderie is in Pony Club when you attend your first-ever Championships awards ceremony. There are overall awards for teams, individual awards, discipline specific awards, breed recognition awards, and special awards.
Gold, silver, and bronze medals will be awarded to the top three teams in each division of each discipline (Tetrathlon pins individual division winners). Placing ribbons go to 1st through 10th place.
All mounted disciplines will receive Horse Management team awards. First-place teams will receive the Margo Leithead Cornerstone Award for Excellence in Horse Management. This award, named in honor of Pony Club’s 19th President, was first awarded in 2014 and has a related fund that anyone can donate to for support of this core tenet of Pony Club.
Donate to the Margo Leithead Fund for Horse Management
USPC also offers various recognition programs for riders participating in specific breeds (see below). More information about these awards will be released before the next USPC Festival, which is when they are awarded.
If you are interested in creating a Breed Awards Program for USPC members within your organization, email activities@ponyclub.org.
Current Breed Awards at USPC Festival
