Hilary achieves national certification

A flood of emotion set in as the three examiners recapped the three day test letting us know there was one passing candidate. It was me.  We all knew where we stood as we moved through each block of the test and even though I didn't feel great about the last discussion block of the test, I was pretty sure I had made it through. Regardless, the relief of passing sent me over the edge and my face was flooded with tears. They were tears of joy, they were a relief of stress and but mostly they were tears of achieving a goal that for 22 years I had regretted not being able to attain.

I took the H-A certification the summer I turned 21 (in the year 2001). That was also the year I competed in CCI** at the NAYRC and so my studying was... well not the priority. I remember driving out of state to the testing with two other pony clubbers. I vaguely remember the whole test. I remember not doing well on the lunge, I remember not being able to age the horse I was assigned, I remember doing my shipping bandage (which was probably the only thing that went well that weekend) and I remember all 3 of us failing. The fail was absolutely warranted because of my lack of preparedness but it was a bummer. Back in those days, there were no retests on any section. I couldn't redeem myself and I aged out of pony club feeling like I missed out on achieving something I knew I could do if I had another chance.

Fast forward to the year 2020. After a fifteen year break from horses, I bought a 5 year old draft cross to ride alongside my children who had recently started riding. Getting back into horses was just going to be for fun. Lots of trail riding with my children around our farm in New Jersey.  When the pandemic set in, riding became the one activity we could do. By the end of the summer of 2020 we were riding every day and I knew if my kids were going to continue, I wanted them in pony club. We joined Somerset Hills Pony Club and my kids immediately started with lessons and trail riding with friends. It was an amazing horse community of kids the same ages as my kids and like minded adults I desperately needed. Shortly after my kids joined, it came to my attention that adults could join as members in pony club too. 

When 2021 approached, I was asked to join as a joint DC and since I had expressed interest in joining myself, I would be in charge of adult activities and coordinating with our adult members. In 2021, we had several adults join, including me. When I rejoined as an adult, my certifications from my youth transferred over and so I still held my “B” and (now) “H-B” certifications.  I was excited to start this pony club journey as an adult, to help support our youth and adult members as a Joint DC but I also had this little voice whispering, “Now you can get your H-A”!

It took me a couple of years of getting back into the swing of having horses. My goal of just having “fun” quickly escalated to buying a total of five off the track thoroughbreds in a matter of 18 months. The goal was simply to have nice horses for myself, my husband and my kids that I could produce without spending a fortune. Being busy with producing those horses along with running our farm, working part time and homeschooling my kids took time so it wasn’t until the start of 2023 that I felt like I could make the time to fully prepare and attempt my H-A certification. Fully supported by family, my co-DC’s and good friend, neighbor and national examiner, Lindsay Wyglendowski, I took a leap of faith and signed up for an August testing at Firefly Farm in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region.

Studying for the H-A takes a lot of commitment. Trying to fit in quality book studying as well as the lunging, bandaging and teaching practice with my real life adult responsibilities was no easy feat. I spent hours going through the pony club website printing off every H-A supplemental resource listed and created a binder that kept all the different parts of the test organized so I could easily reference. I made flash cards, wrote notes on every disease, nutrition and conditioning. I had my daughter draw me every system of the horse and then I labeled every part with the description and function. I stood with my horses as I filled water buckets going over anatomy. I practiced bandaging for hours in my barn and took the time to relearn and practice lunging all of my horses. 

I attended an upper level prep in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region in February which offered great advice on getting the stable management and design plan as well as the conditioning plan done well before the testing date. I also attended the New Jersey Region Upper Level Testing in July which provided great hands-on experience with national examiners on knowledge, bandaging, lunging and working the triangle. I took as many lunging lessons as I could and taught a couple lessons at our pony club’s annual summer camp. 

The H-A certification is a big commitment and you have to fully commit to not only studying the material but being able to apply and use the knowledge in real life scenarios. In my lunge lessons with Lindsay she kept saying to me, “You’re the trainer. You have to decide why you do or choose something and be able to defend it.” I honestly had a hard time with that. It took me a while to take ownership of being the “trainer”. It had been so long since I identified as a trainer and since I reentered the horse world, I often felt like an imposter in a place that I once felt so confident in.

Once at the testing, I realized that getting through the certification was going to take exactly what I was struggling with, confidence. I had to be confident in why or how I was doing something and be able back it up with the book knowledge I had studied. I had to be the trainer. 

All of my work and commitment paid off and I am beyond proud that I hold the H-A certification and to be considered a trainer. I am fully committed to making sure the standards for all levels are maintained and look forward to helping youth and adult pony club members prepare for certifications in my club, my region and beyond. 

​This process has created a passion in utilizing the pony club curriculum alongside natural horsemanship techniques to attain mental and physical balance in the horse as well as producing safe and effective riders. 

A flood of emotion set in as the three examiners recapped the three day test letting us know there was one passing candidate. It was me.  We all knew where we stood as we moved through each block of the test and even though I didn't feel great about the last discussion block of the test, I was pretty sure I had made it through. Regardless, the relief of passing sent me over the edge and my face was flooded with tears. They were tears of joy, they were a relief of stress and but mostly they were tears of achieving a goal that for 22 years I had regretted not being able to attain.

I took the H-A certification the summer I turned 21 (in the year 2001). That was also the year I competed in CCI** at the NAYRC and so my studying was... well not the priority. I remember driving out of state to the testing with two other pony clubbers. I vaguely remember the whole test. I remember not doing well on the lunge, I remember not being able to age the horse I was assigned, I remember doing my shipping bandage (which was probably the only thing that went well that weekend) and I remember all 3 of us failing. The fail was absolutely warranted because of my lack of preparedness but it was a bummer. Back in those days, there were no retests on any section. I couldn't redeem myself and I aged out of pony club feeling like I missed out on achieving something I knew I could do if I had another chance.

Fast forward to the year 2020. After a fifteen year break from horses, I bought a 5 year old draft cross to ride alongside my children who had recently started riding. Getting back into horses was just going to be for fun. Lots of trail riding with my children around our farm in New Jersey.  When the pandemic set in, riding became the one activity we could do. By the end of the summer of 2020 we were riding every day and I knew if my kids were going to continue, I wanted them in pony club. We joined Somerset Hills Pony Club and my kids immediately started with lessons and trail riding with friends. It was an amazing horse community of kids the same ages as my kids and like minded adults I desperately needed. Shortly after my kids joined, it came to my attention that adults could join as members in pony club too. 

When 2021 approached, I was asked to join as a joint DC and since I had expressed interest in joining myself, I would be in charge of adult activities and coordinating with our adult members. In 2021, we had several adults join, including me. When I rejoined as an adult, my certifications from my youth transferred over and so I still held my “B” and (now) “H-B” certifications.  I was excited to start this pony club journey as an adult, to help support our youth and adult members as a Joint DC but I also had this little voice whispering, “Now you can get your H-A”!

It took me a couple of years of getting back into the swing of having horses. My goal of just having “fun” quickly escalated to buying a total of five off the track thoroughbreds in a matter of 18 months. The goal was simply to have nice horses for myself, my husband and my kids that I could produce without spending a fortune. Being busy with producing those horses along with running our farm, working part time and homeschooling my kids took time so it wasn’t until the start of 2023 that I felt like I could make the time to fully prepare and attempt my H-A certification. Fully supported by family, my co-DC’s and good friend, neighbor and national examiner, Lindsay Wyglendowski, I took a leap of faith and signed up for an August testing at Firefly Farm in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region.

Studying for the H-A takes a lot of commitment. Trying to fit in quality book studying as well as the lunging, bandaging and teaching practice with my real life adult responsibilities was no easy feat. I spent hours going through the pony club website printing off every H-A supplemental resource listed and created a binder that kept all the different parts of the test organized so I could easily reference. I made flash cards, wrote notes on every disease, nutrition and conditioning. I had my daughter draw me every system of the horse and then I labeled every part with the description and function. I stood with my horses as I filled water buckets going over anatomy. I practiced bandaging for hours in my barn and took the time to relearn and practice lunging all of my horses. 

I attended an upper level prep in the Eastern Pennsylvania Region in February which offered great advice on getting the stable management and design plan as well as the conditioning plan done well before the testing date. I also attended the New Jersey Region Upper Level Testing in July which provided great hands-on experience with national examiners on knowledge, bandaging, lunging and working the triangle. I took as many lunging lessons as I could and taught a couple lessons at our pony club’s annual summer camp. 

The H-A certification is a big commitment and you have to fully commit to not only studying the material but being able to apply and use the knowledge in real life scenarios. In my lunge lessons with Lindsay she kept saying to me, “You’re the trainer. You have to decide why you do or choose something and be able to defend it.” I honestly had a hard time with that. It took me a while to take ownership of being the “trainer”. It had been so long since I identified as a trainer and since I reentered the horse world, I often felt like an imposter in a place that I once felt so confident in.

Once at the testing, I realized that getting through the certification was going to take exactly what I was struggling with, confidence. I had to be confident in why or how I was doing something and be able back it up with the book knowledge I had studied. I had to be the trainer. 

All of my work and commitment paid off and I am beyond proud that I hold the H-A certification and to be considered a trainer. I am fully committed to making sure the standards for all levels are maintained and look forward to helping youth and adult pony club members prepare for certifications in my club, my region and beyond. 

Hilary Murphy resides in New Jersey where she and her husband along with their two children raise goats, sheep, pigs, poultry and livestock guardian dogs. Hilary serves as a joint DC of Somerset Hills Pony Club where they currently have 71 members. Approximately half of their membership are adults.  Hilary is passionate about utilizing the pony club curriculum alongside natural horsemanship techniques to attain mental and physical balance in the horse as well as producing safe and effective riders. To learn more visit www.murphysporthorses.com

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