| Tetrathlon as a Pony Club competition originated in England and was
introduced to the USPC in 1972 when Lt. Col. Patrick Langford, then
Chairman of the British Pony Club, was a guest at the USPC s Annual
Meeting in New York. A number of District Commissioners and Regional
Supervisors in attendance felt the idea had merit. As a result
Tetrathlon programs, originally viewed as added incentive for boys to
join Pony Club, began to appear across the country. The first USPC
Tetrathlon Championship was held in 1974 at the Modern Pentathlon Center
at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. From 1975 through the early 80s, Tetrathlon
competitions were held at the Kent School in Connecticut. As the numbers
increased and girls teams were added, the rally was moved around the
country, often in conjunction with USPC National Championships.
One of the special highlights of the Tetrathlon program is an
international exchange and competition involving teams from the United
Kingdom, Ireland, Canada, and the United States. This series began when
a team of USPC senior boys was invited to compete in England in the late
70s. Competition for girls was added when USPC and The Canadian Pony
Club hosted the exchange in 1980.
USPC Tetrathlon provides a challenging competition requiring sound,
practical horsemanship and general athletic ability. It encourages Pony
Club members to broaden their interest in riding, condition their own
bodies, and become multi-sport athletes.
Tetrathlon is a sport requiring skill and physical endurance. It
includes four events: riding a mount over a course of obstacles,
shooting an air pistol, running cross country and swimming. It derives
from the Modern Pentathlon originated by Baron Pierre de Coubertin, the
father of the Modern Olympic games, during the first decade of the 20th
century. In designing the Modern Pentathlon, de Coubertin incorporated
the traditions of the classical Greek Pentathlon, one of the oldest
sporting events of the Greek Olympics dating back to 708 BC, and
modernized the events... hence the name. The five events de Coubertin
selected for the Modern Pentathlon were those he considered to be most
representative of the skills necessary for a military courier of
Napoleonic France to carry out his duties: riding a strange mount,
fencing with epee, pistol shooting, swimming, and cross-country running.
The rules for the Tetrathlon which follow are based on the rules used
by the Union International de Pentathlon Modern for all Modern
Pentathlon competitions, with the exception of the fencing event, which,
because of its complexity, is excluded from the Tetrathlon. Ref. http://www.pentathlon.org
The United States Pony Club
Tetrathlon consists of the following elements:
Riding: Shall be a Show
Jumping competition.
Running: Shall be a
cross-country run of predetermined length with points awarded depending
on the time for completion.
Shooting: Shall be a done
with any 4.5mm (0.177) caliber compressed air or CO2 pistols fired at a
standing target from a distance of 10 meters.
Swimming: Shall be a swim of
predetermined length with points awarded depending on the time for
completion.
The Tetrathlon is scored in a manner similar to the Modern
Pentathlon. Points are awarded in each event with the overall winner
scoring the highest total for four events. The maximum score which can
be earned in any phase of the rally is 1100 points. Hence 4400 points is
a perfect score.
It is important that competitors in Tetrathlon strike a balance
between the skill events, riding and shooting, and the physical
endurance events, running and swimming. Rules for the Tetrathlon differ
in some respects from the established rules for the separate sports.
Rule differences, as well as the objectives of the Tetrathlon, should be
clearly understood by those who train and coach Pony Club Tetrathletes. |
