CLUB Feature: Vintage Riders Equestrian club

with their horse. Due to the substantial variety of events that the Vintage Riders Equestrian Club does, members’ horses are advantaged because they are exposed to so much and complete many different events. It changes every day!

If you are looking for a club whose essence is to have fun, this is the club for you! The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club started in 2003 with four founding members, one of which is still a partaking member today. The club was initially formed by a group of pony club moms who wanted the same fun and educational opportunities as their kids but for adults. Vintage Riders Equestrian Club is a non-competitive club that strives to build an inclusive community that incorporates all disciplines of riding and all levels of riding and is full of fun and educational opportunities. The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club is all about the community they have built. Members ride together in a non-competitive way and the club’s core academic values are all about the horse’s welfare. Through their educational meetings and the strong sense of community, the club has created an environment where riders feel safe to ask questions to one another and grow their skills collectivity. The club has nine meetings a year, and seven of those meetings include an educational guest speaker. The others are days with fun games or field trips. The educational meetings have included vets talking about animal welfare, lawyers educating on how to encompass your horse in your will, rider physiotherapy, booting and bandaging, and correct bitting, to name a few. The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club also takes an educational road trip once a year to have a hands-on learning experience about different industries in the equestrian realm going to places such as feed mills, SPCA, and vet clinics.

Every month the club hosts a riding clinic as well. The clinics range on various topics and have included days of pole clinics, driving clinics, western equitation clinics, trailering clinics and hunt clinics. Since there are a wide variety of horses and riders in the Vintage Riders Equestrian Club, they try to include clinics that appeal to all types of people. Most importantly, the Vintage Riders Equestrian Club wants all its members to feel safe and confident in what they are partaking in. All members of the club support and encourage each other in whatever their journey is

Since 2003 the club has grown to 64 members as of this year. During their first year as a club, founding members put up posters all over Langley announcing their inaugural meeting. The club packed the Fort Langley meeting hall, so much so that there was only standing room left at the back. The club has continued to function with the same success today. Due to the club’s highly social nature, it saw a significant member jump during Covid-19, going from around 55 members to the 64 members they have today. This was thanks to the innovation that was put on by the Vintage Riders Equestrian Club to stay connected while being apart. During the earlier days of the club, they used to have a phone list, where each executive would be assigned to a specific number of people to phone and check in with all the members. They brought this back during Covid, dedicating time to check in with all its members. This level of dedication to the club proves the close community that the Vintage Riders Equestrian Club has created amongst its members. During Covid, the club continued to run meetings over Zoom and initiated a Meet the Member feature, shared by email and over the club’s private Facebook page. The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club also has a private Facebook page for just its members, where members are often asking questions to one another, posting educational tips, and seeing who wants to go for a trail ride that day! The club’s strong community pulls together in times of need. The club consists of the ‘sunshine Committee’ that provides cards and words of sympathy for any of its members who are having a hard time. The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club has a monthly article featured in Saddle Up that consists of the topics they are learning about and updates about events happening in the club.

The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club is full of fun days. Every winter holiday, they get together for a potluck and have a secret Santa gift-giving. The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club Secret Santa is full of gift stealing and fun. During other times of the year, they also have a regifting party, where members would bring something that is no longer of use to them and regift it instead of buying new gifts. They have a playday in the middle of summer, a day dedicated to many games! Some of these games are incredibly challenging, like putting a bridle together blindfolded, which results in lots of laughs from all members! One of the members, does a games night. The game night tests the member’s knowledge of all different types of genres about horses.

The club has tack cleaning parties, where members sit outside in someone’s backyard, clean tack, have drinks and food, and catch up with each other. Members exchange knowledge of tack cleaning products and help each other sparkle up their tack while enjoying the company of others. The Vintage Riders Equestrian hold a scavenger hunt around Aldergrove Park, where they ride around and have to solve all types of clues and rhymes. They have hosted days for members to learn polocross and drill team; one member even taught square dancing on horses. The riders had to complete square dancing on the ground before do-si-do on horseback. The club hosts theme rides such as Easter rides and Valentine’s day rides, where members show up dressed in themes to ride around together. Since the club exposes horses to so many different aspects, they also have had a bomb-proof day where a trainer set up all types of bomb-proofing exercises for the horses.

The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club takes a yearly ranch trip. The members interested pack up their horses, food, and drinks and head to a working ranch just past Merritt. The group stays for three or four days and spends their time pushing cows, riding the trails, socializing, sharing stories, and having fun. The Ranch has its own saloon, where the Vintage Riders Equestrians Club hosts a potluck with its members and spends the night dancing away.

The club has held, in the past, a local overnight camp in the lower mainland where members bring their horses and stay for two or three days that are filled with fun and educational lessons. Every year the local camp has a theme that is followed throughout the days. Another aspect of the Vintage Riders Equestrians Club AGM is a slideshow of all the members and memories made throughout the year. Members can reflect on how far everyone has come and share a laugh over the fun times. Once every few years, they showcase international and out-of-province riding trips that members have taken. The club enjoys following Silvia Hall along on her journey as she hauls her horse from the west coast out to PEI every year. Silvia shares her insightful knowledge of where to stay while camping with horses across Canada and many helpful tips on long travels with horses. There are also door prizes at all meetings!

By joining the club, you can get anything you want out of it. Whether you are looking for educational clinics, a riding partner, friendship, or something to do, the Vintage Riders Equestrian Club has something for everyone. The Vintage Riders Equestrian Club is full of diversity, and they believe that is a reason why their club is so successful. Through the club, members have built friendships that extended far beyond horses. They enjoy company in other endeavours such as cycling trips, paddling trips, and international travel. So, if you are a horse lover in the Fraser Valley over the age of 21 who wants to have fun and educational opportunities with your horse while being a supportive community member, then be sure to check out the Vintage Riders Equestrian Club page on Facebook and send them a message with any questions or requesting a membership form.