Photo by Aileen M Gordon
While the horses at Rebecca Farm were doing boring dressage circles on Friday, the United States Pony Club Championships were being decided with show jumping at the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park.
Jessica Ptak and Kaycee took home the individual preliminary title, while Anne Bellinger and Woodwork finished in a close second with an influential 3 time faults in the show jumping. The Champagne Run cross-country course rode pretty well on Thursday with 7 of 11 starters coming home clear. The Virginia/Midwest team took home the gold by finishing on 135.9 although with only three teams everyone gets a medal.
There are also horsemanship points factored into the championship, which I am sure Coren could tell us all about. Penalties ranged from 2.3 to 4 per team in the prelim, with 2.3 probably being for a spec of dirt on the bottom of one rider’s boot during a course walk, and 4 being for a staple found on the outside of a stall.
The Virginia team, composed of Haley Tucker, Meredith Thomas, Tess Lesesne, and Sarah and Alexis Nelson, won the training division finishing on 108.1. Christina White won one of the two training divisions used to calculate individual results. Caitlin Richardson and Hardeman won the training B division.
The “Southwest/Sunshine/Maryland/Inland Empire” team proved that diversity wins by taking the novice championship by 10 points. That team was comprised of Haley White, Elizabeth Hudson, Briana Price, Courtney Blackwell, and Mikaleh Smith. There ere 23 teams in the novice, which was the largest championship division.
The North Central Prairie team won the beginner novice championship, although the mighty South Central Prairie team didn’t show up, nor did the North Western Prairie team.
Congrats to all of the competitors on a great competition. The Pony Club Festival continues with many great events, including presentations from Jim at FLAIR, through the weekend and into next week.
Go Pony Club.
