A NEW cross country course at Tamborine Pony Club is starting to take shape, with the first jump under construction.
The two and a half kilometre course will traverse the club's grounds and have 14 permanent jumps, including a water jump, as well as relocatable jumps.
The club is building the course with the help of a state government grant of more than $75,000.
Club secretary Melinda Hughes said with the relocatable jumps bought and the start of construction of the permanent jumps, it was an exciting time for the club.
"Having the cross country course will give our riders the opportunity to try another discipline," she said.
"We will be able to hold eventing competitions, which involves dressage, cross country and showjumping, as well as hunter trials, which is just cross country and showjumping."
The cross country course will be built to both Pony Club Association Queensland (PCAQ) and Equestrian Australia (EA) standards.
It will have jumps over five height ranges, from an unofficial class of 600mm jumps to an official one star class with 1100mm jumps.
Ms Hughes said the club would be the only one in its zone, which includes pony clubs from Greenbank to Cedar Creek, Canungra and the Gold Coast, to have a cross country course built to PCAQ and EA standards.
"The course will be of benefit to many cross country riders in the region and we hope it encourages more to get into the discipline," she said.
"We also hope it helps grow club numbers and that may have already started because as of next year we will have five instructors, compared to just one last year."
The club also recently received a $2200 grant from Scenic Rim Regional Council, which was used to start renovating the brick building at the grounds into a clubhouse, with an office and canteen.
