All in a day’s work

Pony Club mounted games trainer Maria Gibson

I have been involved in training the Wylye Valley branch mounted games team for 20 years and am now their senior team trainer.

The riders train up to four hours a week, twice a week in the summer and once a week in the winter, while the ponies have a break in November and December before we start again in January.

My role is very much voluntary. I used to work for my family’s plant hire business, but now I help my husband on our farm near Shepton Mallet in Somerset, which overlooks Glastonbury. We’ve had a few occasions when I’ve been training the kids in our fields at home while Glastonbury has been going on, which is pretty exciting and very noisy.

Most of our training sessions take place at the home of our team manager,

Angela Yeoman, who is instrumental in the success of our branch’s mounted games effort — we are indebted to her. A few years ago, she had an all-weather arena put in so we could train in all conditions.

Mounted games has been a huge part of my life for a long time.

I met my best friend, Debbie Ashman, at the age of 10 in the Wylye Valley branch, and I trained her sons, too. I did a lot of mounted games from the age of 10 until 14 for the Wylye Valley branch before turning my attention to showjumping, which took me to the likes of Olympia.

Aged 30, I sadly had to stop riding due to health reasons and it was in 1999 that Angela contacted me asking if I would consider training the branch’s mounted games team. Initially, I said I would think about it, but then my brother reminded me that our family business did some work for Angela — he said the one thing you don’t do is upset Mrs Yeoman! So I agreed, of course.

I took my first team to the

Pony Club mounted games championships when I was eight months pregnant with my son, Alfie.

He was actually on the winning Prince Philip Cup team at Horse of the Year Show (HOYS) for Wylye Valley, whom I trained, in 2003 — that was my biggest highlight.

After that, I took a step back from training until some parents persuaded me to return and we made a comeback at HOYS in both 2014 and 2016. Unfortunately we haven’t qualified for this year, but we have a great pool of riders and I am excited about their future.

January is when the year’s planning takes place.

We plan the zone and area competitions for that summer, with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the championships and then HOYS. We also take part in friendly competitions and demonstrations.

I really enjoy seeing the children progress in their mounted games.

It is all about teamwork, which is great for kids to learn at an early stage. The downfalls of the role would be in disappointing some youngsters when it comes to picking the team. It’s always a difficult decision — the children work so hard for it and I don’t enjoy the grief I get from parents sometimes!

Some of our kids start as young as three on the lead-rein.

I can often tell the ones who are going to be brilliant mounted games riders from a young age. They tend to be the most athletic ones, who take on board everything you say to them.

It is really important for the children to have learnt the basics of riding — competing in mounted games comes so much easier if they have this. Good hand-eye coordination is vital and I like soft hands, too. I also encourage the kids to do flatwork rallies with their ponies. It really shows the riders who have gone away, worked hard and done their homework. For them, the ultimate dream is always to compete at HOYS.

Training the mounted games team takes a lot of time,

patience and commitment, but it is great fun. Anyone wanting to get involved should approach a Pony Club branch which specialises in mounted games. They can also contact the discipline’s governing body, the Mounted Games Association of Great Britain.

‘Some kids start mounted games as

young as three on the lead-rein’