Goulburn Pony Club members are thrilled to be back in the saddle once again, as they approach their second rally day since re-opening.
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Following the COVID-19 lockdowns, the club ceased holding rally days. But they got back into it last month when restrictions loosened, and club secretary, Mandy Hunt, said this weekend's rally is eagerly anticipated.
"It's good, and the kids are enjoying being able to get back out," Hunt said.
"The rally day we had in June was very cold and windy, I think we had about 12 riders come for the day, and they all really enjoyed the day.
"We expect up to about 30 kids per rally day normally. I guess our first rally day back, people were unsure about whether it was safe. I expect to see a few more kids this time, but we'll wait and see."
June's event was run in conjunction with the health regulations which are still in place, and Hunt said this weekend will be no different.
"The first rally day back, parents had to stay in their car, we had to limit our groups, and we ran a short rally day," she said.
"We did three short 45 minute sessions, which is what we're going to do this weekend."
Regardless of the decrease in length, Hunt said it was good for both the kids and the horses to be back out among their friends.
"We have some kids that only ride their horses on a rally day, and we have some that compete and their horses are used to being out and about," she said.
"It was good for them to start back up to get their horses back into work, because they had a long break while COVID was on."
The biggest challenge the club still faces is finance. Because it does not rely on sponsorship, all of its money is raised through events held by the club.
With social distancing in place, and no canteen organised as yet (which is the main source of income), Hunt said the club will have to work hard to get back to where it was before the lockdown.
"It's been tough, we do a lot of fundraising for ourselves and we don't have any sponsorship as such, but we do apply for grants when they're available," she said.
"A lot of our funds come from running a canteen, which we haven't been able to do.
"We don't have a big clubhouse, and everyone eats outside, but we've still got to follow the COVID safe handling practices. We're not running a canteen this weekend, but we're trying to get one up and running by August."
Though social distancing is somewhat easier on the back of a horse, Hunt said the club will still adhere to the health regulations required by the NSW government.
The club will clean amenities regularly, ensure hand sanitiser is available, ask members to bring food and drink for themselves and their horses, clean equipment, and have the same people put out and pack up equipment.
The Goulburn Pony Club will hold its monthly rally day this Sunday, July 12.
For further details, please visit the club's Facebook page.
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