All About Quiz
What is Quiz?
Quiz is intended to test a Pony Clubber’s theoretical knowledge of horses, riding, horse and farm care and various Pony Club activities and disciplines, such as Dressage, Show Jumping, Prince Philip Games, Le Trec, Tetrathlon, etc.
Education is the primary focus of Pony Club. As such, the format for quiz is intended to support Pony Club testing procedures so that our members are best prepared.
The Regional Quiz competitions also qualify pony club members to participate in the annual National Quiz. Generally, the top four Regional finishers among the A/B and C levels qualify for the National Quiz in the Fall of that year.
Quiz is the one event where all members, even those without access to a horse can compete. It
is also a great opportunity for every member to be involved, to meet the members from other
clubs and to promote team spirit! Pony Clubbers can compete at Quiz even if they have not yet been tested.
How do Quiz participants demonstrate team spirit?
There are a couple of ways that clubs can exhibit their team spirit. There is a “best dressed” club recognition award. This is a lot of fun and many clubs come up with new costumes or “identities” annually. Some are club-wide or some are individualized by team or level of team. This is where creativity really shines!
Another opportunity is through the Club projects. Here clubs can create and submit projects
according to the annual project themes. Again creativity shines, especially when combined with
team spirit. Quiz gives our pony club members a chance to practice their know-how in a friendly, fun oriented way. It encourages group efforts and promotes the pony club motto “Loyalty, Character, and Sportsmanship”.
How does Quiz work?
Pony Club members compete as teams, without horses or ponies. There are four parts to the
Central Ontario Regional Quiz – written , visual, oral and games.
Teams are generally composed of 3 members, although in past practice, a team of two can be permitted to participate when necessary. Note that this may involve some additional fees to cover expenditures of a team nature. Ribbons are awarded to sixth place for overall individual and overall team placings.
To get on a Quiz team, a Pony Club member must be selected by their Branch. Team members normally attend frequent Quiz practices with coaching provided by Branch volunteers, or by higher level Pony Club members. It’s up to each Branch and its members how best to prepare their teams.
The divisions in Quiz are based on age and knowledge level:
• A/B level for the oldest and most experienced,
• C level for the intermediates, and
• D, D1, D2 level is for the youngest and least experienced pony clubbers
What happens on Quiz day?
Quiz includes oral, written and visual tests in which competitors must identify unusual horsy objects.
The written test contains a number of multiple choice, fill-in-the-blank and true and false questions. Each level writes a different test, roughly corresponding to the types of areas they would be tested on at their respective level. Questions may cover all areas of knowledge expected at each level including but not restricted to lameness, feed and nutrition, saddlery, breeds and colours, conformation, shoeing, veterinarian, teeth, diseases, bones and muscles and animal care. In addition, some special categories can be included for Pony Club (including such things as key people in Pony Club, famous past Pony Clubbers, organization, rules and activities, etc.), as well as other famous horses and riders, Olympic and PanAm equestrian events, etc. D and D1 level teams write the tests as teams; all other levels complete the test individually.
The Visual portion of the testing involves competitors identifying objects of a horsey nature by
sight, smell and touch. These items can be any item involved in horse care, nutrition or sport or used by Pony Club and horse people, in general. This can be done individually or in a team structure depending upon the level. In the team format, the team can confer prior to answering the questions.
The Oral portion is intended to prepare members for the oral aspect of testing. It is very important that members are able to organize their response and to use appropriate terms and
adequate descriptions. This is excellent practice for public speaking engagements.
Games are a unique part of quiz that our members repeatedly tell us that they enjoy. In all cases, games are completed as a team. There will be some sample games setup in the youth area at this education session. If you have a chance, I would encourage you to have a look and
perhaps give them a try.
Note that younger teams can have a “scribe” or “reader”, if requested. Also, any member
requiring an accommodation is encouraged to notify the Regional Quiz chair in advance, so that
appropriate arrangements can be made.
When does it take place?
Typically, Regional Quiz is organized in the Spring, so that members have an opportunity to
utilize the winter months to prepare and to study for Quiz. Each club is responsible to provide
volunteers, chaperones and to assist with running the games on the day of the Quiz.
The National Quiz competition always takes place on the Thanksgiving weekend in October. This is to allow the competitors time to travel and to take part in the competition. Only top placing competitors competing at the C and A/B levels are eligible to take part in the National event to represent our Region.
National Team Selection: When the competition takes place out of Province, one team each consisting of up to 4 C level members and up to 4 A/B level members is selected from the highest placing individuals at the Regional Quiz. Note that C-Level requires a minimum of 3 individuals in order for the Region to submit a C-Level team. At the A/B level, the Region can send as few as one individual if that is all that has qualified or has expressed an interest in participating. At this level, National will create a mixed team to allow for participation. Competitors who do well at the National level may even qualify for the International Quiz Exchange.
Where do I find the rules for Regional or National Quiz?
Regional Rules:
COR QUIZ Rules
National Rules:
Quiz Rules and Handbook
Who do I contact for more information?
Check out the COR Contacts Page for this year’s Quiz Chair.