Here are "highlights" overall results of the 2003 Central Ontario Region D Rally, held at Glen Oro Farm on Sunday, July 27, presented from the least to most difficult levels.
"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 Club members 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, Amanda Bell of the Ajax Pony Club was the winner on Silverado, with Sondra Shantz of the Prince Edward County Pony Club second on Pyra. Third place went to another Ajax competitor, Kristi Abe, riding Oreo Cookie.
Laura Fiume of the Maple Pony Club won the D1 level championship on Equus Maximus. Second place went to Lauren Kelly of the Victoria Pony Club on Skylark, with Laura Grant of the Ajax Pony Club third aboard Rambling Rose.
At the D2 level, Johanna McKeen of the Oshawa Pony Club led the way on Mya, with Karen Foell and Silver Jubilee from the Toronto & North York Pony Club in second place and Megan Chalmers of the Brooklin Pony Club third on Skip the Command.
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.
Now here are the 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 | Pony/Horse | Branch | Dressage Score | Dressage Place | Cross-Country Score | Cross-Coutnry Place | Stadium Jumping Score | Overall Score | Overall Place |
| Amanda Bell | Silverado | Ajax | 54.0 | 3 | 0.0 | 8 | 0.0 | 54.0 | 1 |
| Sondra Shantz | Pyra | Prince Edward County | 54.0 | 3 | 10.0 | 11 | 0.0 | 64.0 | 2 |
| Kristi Abe | Oreo Cookie | Ajax | 65.4 | 7 | 0.0 | 5 | 0.0 | 65.4 | 3 |
| Holly McGill | Trigger Appy | Ajax | 69.6 | 9 | 0.0 | 4 | 0.0 | 69.6 | 4 |
| Jennifer McKeen | Colwyn Tegan | Oshawa | 49.8 | 1 | 0.0 | 7 | 20.0 | 69.8 | 5 |
| Jocelyn Donaldson | Freckles | Simcoe | 82.2 | 14 | 0.0 | 9 | 0.0 | 82.2 | 6 |
| Thomasin Element | Frosty | Pine Ridge | 77.4 | 12 | 0.0 | 2 | 10.0 | 87.4 | 7 |
| Hannah Galway | Phineas | Maple | 61.2 | 6 | 26.8 | 13 | 0.0 | 88.0 | 8 |
| Kyle Chester | Indy 500 | Temiskaming | 91.2 | 18 | 0.0 | 6 | 5.0 | 96.2 | 9 |
| Kataryna Borsiak | Phantom | Oshawa | 96.6 | 19 | 14.0 | 12 | 0.0 | 110.6 | 10 |
D1 Level
| Rider | Pony/Horse | Branch | Dressage Score | Dressage Place | Cross-Country Score | Cross-Country Place | Stadium Jumping Score | Overall Score | Overall Place |
| Laura Fiume | Equus Maximus | Maple | 80.4 | 13 | 4.0 | 4 | 0.0 | 84.4 | 1 |
| Lauren Kelly | Skylark | Victoria | 87.6 | 21 | 0.4 | 2 | 0.0 | 88.0 | 2 |
| Laura Grant | Rambling Rose | Ajax | 93.6 | 27 | 4.0 | 4 | 0.0 | 97.6 | 3 |
| Kayla Byer | Thunder Wings | Kawartha | 97.8 | 30 | 0.0 | 1 | 0.0 | 97.8 | 4 |
| Alexandra Kelly | Firefly | Victoria | 99.6 | 32 | 1.6 | 3 | 0.0 | 101.2 | 5 |
| Jessie Ball | Corona's Kiowa | Victoria | 88.2 | 24 | 13.6 | 7 | 5.0 | 106.8 | 6 |
| Sean Cruikshanks | Cennabarr | Uxbridge-Scugog | 87.6 | 21 | 22.0 | 9 | 0.0 | 109.6 | 7 |
| Kim Munroe | Mischief | Centaurus | 70.8 | 2 | 23.6 | 10 | 16.66 | 111.06 | 8 |
| Samantha Galway | Eli | Maple | 73.8 | 5 | 41.6 | 14 | 0.0 | 115.4 | 9 |
| Chiara Meneguzzi | A Wee Bit Tipsy | Maple | 92.4 | 25 | 17.2 | 8 | 10.57 | 120.17 | 10 |
D2 Level
| Rider | Horse/Pony | Branch | Dressage Score | Dressage Place | Cross-Country Score | Cross-Country Place | Stadium Jumping Score | Overall Score | Overall Place |
| Johanna McKeen | Mya | Oshawa | 48.0 | 4 | 23.6 | 1 | 5.0 | 76.6 | 1 |
| Karen Foell | Silver Jubilee | Toronto & North York | 37.2 | 1 | 58.0 | 2 | 10.0 | 105.2 | 2 |
| Megan Chalmers | Skip the Command | Brooklin | 48.0 | 4 | 87.6 | 3 | 0.0 | 135.6 | 3 |
| Kim Carty | Exponential | Maple | 60.6 | 9 | 129.2 | 4 | 5.0 | 194.8 | 4 |
| Katelyn Powell | Sundance | Durham | 38.4 | 2 | E | 10.0 | E | 5 | |
| Courtney McFarlane | Dreams Do Come True | Oshawa | 53.4 | 7 | E | 0.0 | E | 6 | |
| Erin Boyles | Lacey | Pine Ridge | 42.6 | 3 | E | E | E | 7 | |
| Erin McLaughlin | Spring Fever | Toronto & North York | 51.6 | 6 | E | E | E | 8 | |
| Dana Kenedy | Napolean Brandy | Eglinton | 54.0 | 8 | E | E | E | 9 |
For more details, call Liz or Bob Inglis, Central Ontario Region of Pony Club Communications Co-Chairpersons at 416-493-1223 (office) or 416-491-4230 (home) or via E-mail at bobinglis@technalysis.on.ca or lizinglis@technalysis.on.ca.