Tips for Applying Pony Club to the Common Application

Many colleges require completion of the common application for admission. Besides your grades, class rank, and letters of recommendation there are categories for you to discuss what you do outside of school. Pony Club teaches study skills, time management and leadership abilities while encouraging young people to learn independence. Students that are USPC members should be highly encouraged to include Pony Club activities in their resumes.

Here are some tips for showing schools how much time and effort you’ve put into Pony Club—and how much it’s done for you!

Extracurricular Activities and Work Experience
In this section, you can list “United States Pony Clubs” as well as any certifications you’ve earned. If you’ve competed in championships or rallies or done any exchanges, you can list those as well.

•    If you are a member of a Junior Board, list this separately, for example as “United States Pony Club: Regional Youth Board President”

•    If you belong to any other equestrian organizations, such as USEA, USDF, et cetera, list these separately as well. This allows you to separate your accomplishments—especially important because this section does not have a lot of space!

Writing
This is the section where you elaborate on one of your extracurricular activities. Pony Club is a great choice to talk about as you can not only explain where all of your time goes, but discuss the teamwork, leadership and general life skills you have picked up in your time in Pony Club.

In addition to your certification level, here are some things that you may want to mention:

•    Rallies: This is a great opportunity to mention the extremely valuable time management and leadership skills you learned at rally! Being on time to turnout, getting your teammates ready for jogs, and accomplishing that perfect turnback in just an hour taught you skills that will help you accomplish what you need to in college.

•    Testings: Taking and passing a certification takes a huge amount of dedication. Discuss the study skills you learned while preparing as well as how your hard work can be applied to academics.

•      Club/Center, Regional, or National Youth Boards/Congress: If you have been a part of these you are a leader! Colleges love to see evidence of leadership skills in potential students. Go ahead and brag about your work as a liaison and how you learned to work with peers as well as adults.

As you prepare to head off to college, you will find that your Pony Club experience has taught you much more than horsemanship, including valuable lessons and life skills that will help you succeed in the classroom, the workplace and beyond.

Be sure to check out Pony Club’s college scholarships and other resources here.