Working towards your pony group certificates

At Littleriver, we offer both in-house certificates and New Zealand Pony Club (NZPCA) certificates for our Pony Group riders.

These certificates are a fantastic way to track your progress, celebrate your achievements, and set clear goals to work towards. Each level helps you develop new riding and horsemanship skills, from handling and grooming to understanding horse behavior and health care.

But remember: just like with riding, progress takes consistency. If you’re keen to move up through your certificates, the best thing you can do is keep learning outside of your weekly group session!

Think of your certificate training like training a horse — you wouldn’t expect your horse to improve if you only worked with them once a week! The same goes for your riding knowledge and horsemanship skills.

The more time you put in, the more confident you’ll feel, and the faster you’ll see progress. Even a few minutes a few times a week makes a big difference.

We’ve Got Plenty of Tools to Help You Succeed

We have several great resources available to help you prepare for your certificates and build your knowledge beyond the arena.

📚 Our Library

You can borrow Pony Club manuals, educational books, and even fiction books that help you learn more about horses. Reading about real-life experiences or new topics can deepen your understanding and keep learning fun.

💻 Online Courses

We offer online learning programs, which are completely free for our Pony Group riders. These courses include videos, games, and short lessons to help with both theory and practical topics. They’re perfect for brushing up on areas you’re unsure about or learning something new at your own pace.

📝 Worksheets & Study Guides

Ask us anytime for extra resources! We’re happy to print or send worksheets, quizzes, and study guides for you to work on at home. You can also explore our Pony Workbooks, available on our website, which are great for self-paced study.

🤝 Volunteer Opportunities

Volunteering is one of the best ways to get extra horse time and build your groundwork and stable management skills. Whether you’re helping tack up, feed, or assist with lessons, you’ll gain valuable hands-on experience that supports your certificate learning.

🎥 Watch & Learn

Watching others can be incredibly educational! Whether it’s watching riders in lessons, competitions, or educational videos online, observing helps reinforce what you’ve learned and gives you new ideas for your own riding and handling.

Top Tips for Certificate Success

• Set small, achievable goals. For example, focus on revising one topic each week, like “parts of the hoof” or “types of bits.”

• Teach someone else. Explaining what you’ve learned to a parent, sibling, or friend helps cement your understanding.

• Mix up your study methods. Read, watch, listen, and do, variety keeps learning engaging.

• Ask questions. At Pony group or lessons, speak up! Coaches love helping riders who show initiative and curiosity.

• Review little and often. A few minutes here and there is far better than trying to cram everything before assessment day.

⭐ The Riders Who Progress Fastest…

…are the ones who take charge of their learning.

They’re curious, they ask questions, and they take a few minutes outside of lessons to build their knowledge. Borrow a book, complete a worksheet, or rewatch a video lesson — those small steps add up.

Before long, you’ll notice how much more confident you feel both in and out of the saddle and you’ll be ready for your next certificate assessment in no time.