PONY CLUBS’ VISIT

Bay of Plenty Beacon, Volume 13, Issue 40, 12 January 1949, Page 4

PONY CLUBS’ VISIT

If the visit of the Waikato l Pony Clubs to Ohope does not ; suggest an idea to' those district ; citizens who realise the value of L instilling a love of the open ; spaces in the youth of the counL try, it should do so. Here we , have the ideal district for a Pony i Club. And behind the idea of giving : the youngsters healthful exercise and an enduring outdoors inter- !. est should be the thought that : this could be possibly one of” the best t ways to interest young people in careers on the land, by helping them to realise the : advantages the country dweller has over his town cousin. All too often in rural communities the youngsters hear nothing of country life except interminable moans about long hours, hard work, land tax, income tax, the Government and what-have-you. Years later, cooped up in a city office with a two-roomed flat and a matchbox-sized garden to go home to they may come to realise that there is something worthwhile in being up early in the dewy freshness of a country morning. They might come to i ealise, screwed down to a weekly wage the Government does not consider worth collecting income tax from, that there is some advantage in having an income big enough to be taxable in hundreds of pounds. They might come to realise that the responsibility of looking after broad acres has its compensations, not only in cash, ; but in other things the regimented efficiency of the big city can- J not give. ; There, is a great chance here, 1 through a Pony Club, to give those youngsters a chance to realise what they have, before the + +