HIGHLIGHTS

Here are "highlights" overall results of the 2002 Central Ontario Region D Rally, held at Glen Oro Farm on Sunday, August 4, presented from the least to most difficult levels.  Details to tenth place overall at each level follow the highlights.

"Rally" is the Pony Club term for Eventing, an Olympic discipline in which competitors must ride a formal Dressage test, follow with a Cross Country or endurance phase across open country and over fixed obstacles, and finish with a Stadium Jumping competition. Scoring is done on a penalty points basis, with all errors of course, refusals, rails down and falls counted as penalties. Penalties are also incurred for taking too much time, or too little, to finish the Cross Country phase. The rider with the fewest penalties wins. Placing ribbons are awarded for dressage, cross country and overall, with a "Clear Round" ribbon for all those who make no mistakes in the Stadium phase.

The "D" in D Rally refers to the minimum level riders must have passed in the Pony Club testing system to enter. There are actually three "D" levels: D, D1 and D2. To get each of them, pony clubbers must pass a written examination in horsemanship, an oral test of stable management, and a riding test. Each level competes in a different division at D-Rally, with Dressage tests, fence heights in both Stadium Jumping and Cross Country phases, and the time allowed for Cross Country all adjusted to their skill levels.

At the D level, Justina Phippen of the Temiskaming Pony Club was the winner on Beautiful Star, with Sam Elsenaar of the Ajax Pony Club second on Champagne Cocktail. Third place went to another Ajax competitor, Laura Grant, riding Silverado.

Katie Stephenson of the Maple Pony Club won the D1 level championship on Masquerade. Second place went to Jenny Fulton of the Baltimore Hills Pony Club on Whirlabout, with Courtney McFarlane of the Oshawa Pony Club third aboard Dreams Do Come True.

At the D2 level, Eliza Gravel of the Temiskaming Pony Club led the way on Rubix Cube, with Stephanie LeFebvre and Cadbury from the Ajax Pony Club in second place and Maddie Baker of the Toronto & North York Pony Club third on Skeeter.

One major difference between Pony Club rallies and "regular" events is that Pony Clubbers compete in horse care/stable management on a Branch team basis, as well as individually in the riding phases. This year's Stable Management Award winner was the Ajax Pony Club.

According to an eye-witness report, "Well-prepared riders enjoyed challenging and inviting obstacles on the cross-coutnry and stadium course, however eliminations were the order of the day for many of the younger D and D1 riders, particularly in the stadium jumping ring as the multi-coloured and varied jumps proved tough for all but the most focused riders and mounts.

The organizers wish to give special thank-you's to:

• Leslie Saila, owner of Glen Oro, who donated her fabulous facility for the benefit of the Pony Clubbers
• Tony Zergiewicz, course designer, who set challenging but inviting courses for cross-country and stadium jumping
• Michel Lefeuvre-Watson, Rhonda Hutcheson and the Centaurus Pony Club parents and children who made this Rally possible.

DETAILS

Note that all scores are expressed as penalties.  When more than one rider goes clear cross-country, placings are awarded based on how close each comes to the optimum time.

D Level

Rider	Horse/Pony	Branch	Dressage Score	Dressage Place	X-Country Score	X-Country Place	Stadium Score	Overall Score	Overall Place
Justina Phippen	Beautiful Star	Temiskaming	21.0	2	0.0	1	0.0	22.8	1
Sam Elsenaar	Champagne Cocktail	Ajax	25.8	6	0.0	1	0.0	25.8	2
Laura Grant	Silverado	Ajax	30.0	9	0.0	1	0.0	30.0	3
Alexandra Kelly	Firefly	Victoria	34.8	14	0.0	1	0.0	34.8	4
Lauren Cappelletti	Trigger Appy	Ajax	30.6	10	0.0	1	10.0	40.6	5
Rebecca Simmons	Bianca	Durham	41.0	18	0.0	1	0.0	41.0	6
Amanda Carl	Jazzin' Time	Temiskaming	21.6	3	20.0	9	0.0	41.6	7
Chiara Meneguzzi	Sweet Annie	Maple	36.0	15	0.0	1	10.0	46.0	8
James Cruikshanks	Eskimo Pie	Uxbridge-Scugog	26.4	7	20.0	9	5.0	51.4	9
Lauren Kelly	Skylark	Victoria	37.2	17	20.0	9	0.0	57.2	10

D1 Level

Rider	Horse/Pony	Branch	Dressage Score	Dressage Placing	X-Country Score	X-Country Placing	Stadium Score	Overall Score	Overall Placing
Katie Stephenson	Masquerade	Maple	27.6	1	0.0	1	0.0	27.6	1
Jenny Fulton	Whirlabout	Baltimore Hills	30.0	4	0.8	5	10.0	40.8	2
Courtney McFarlane	Dreams Do Come True	Oshawa	43.2	11	15.6	3	0.0	58.8	3
Courtney O'Brien	Bocephus	Brooklin	38.4	7	34.4	6	5.0	77.8	4
Sean Cruikshanks	Cennabar	Uxbridge-Scugog	40.8	9	40.0	7	5.0	85.8	5
Elyse Marks	Secret Recipe	Pickering	41.4	10	44.4	9	0.0	85.8	6
Candace McMahon	Spirit of Dreams	Temiskaming	54.6	17	64.8	10	5.0	124.4	7

All other D1 competitors (15) were eliminated.

D2 Level

Rider	Horse/Pony	Branch	Dressage Score	Dressage Placing	X-Country Score	X-Country Placing	Stadium Score	Overall Score	Overall Placing
Eliza Gravel	Rubix Cube	Temiskaming	42.6	2	2.4	3	0.0	45.0	1
Stephanie LeFebvre	Cadbury	Ajax	48.6	3	0.0	1	5.0	53.6	2
Maddie Baker	Skeeter	Toronto & North York	56.4	7	0.0	1	5.0	61.4	3
Ian Hutcheson	Meaghan	Centaurus	61.2	10	4.0	4	10.0	75.2	4
Madison Reeves	Pandora	Uxbridge-Scugog	39.6	1	32.8	5	5.0	77.4	5
Michelle Nearing	Dodger	Baltimore Hills	53.4	5	32.8	5	15.25	101.5	6
D'Arcy Hutcheson	Irish Park's Fair Erin	Centaurus	54.0	6	65.6	9	0.0	119.6	7
Jessica Figas	Simply A Miracle	Green Lane	61.8	11	60.0	7	0.0	121.8	8
Amy Caldwell	Ramblin' Rose	Ajax	63.6	12	96.8	11	5.0	165.4	9
Ian Sharpe	Lady Kane	Brooklin	71.4	15	139.2	13	5.0	215.6	10

For more information, get in touch with Liz or Bob Inglis, Central Ontario Region Pony Club Communications Co-Chairs, at 416-493-1223 (office) or 416-491-4230 (home).