Here are highlight placings at the Central Ontario regional Pony Club dressage finals, plus a fourth qualifier show for the Central Canada Zone Championships, which took place at Blue Star Farm near Mount Albert on Sunday, August 15. Competitors could enter either the finals or the qualifier, but not both, although classes ran concurrently. Selection for the Central Ontario team, which will compete against teams from the Western Ontario and St. Lawrence-Ottawa Valley Regions, will be based on scores at this meet and three earlier qualifiers. This year, the Central Canada Zone Championships are being hosted by the St. Lawrence-Ottawa Valley Region near Ottawa, on August 28-29. Central Ontario's team will be announced closer to those dates.
At the highest level for this show, First Level, the Test 1 winner in the regional finals group was Julia McGill of the Durham Pony Club on D'Artagnan. Second place went to Johanna McKeen of the Oshawa Pony Club riding Millgate Braveheart. There was only one entry at this high level in the zone qualifier group, Sabrina Welter of the Toronto & North York Pony Club, riding Santa Rosa, and she was awarded first place. The order of finish was the same in First Level Test 2, so Ms McGill was Division Champion and Ms McKeen the Reserve (Champions and Reserves were declared only for the regional finals groups).
Jessie Ball of Victoria was the winner of the Training Level Test 2 class in the regional finals, riding Corona's Kiowa. Second place went to another Victoria entry, Kourtney Matysek on Rule the Day. There was a tie for third place between Kayla Neil of the Durham Pony Club on Adara and Katlyn Hewson of the Victoria Pony Club on Without a Trace. Again there was only one entry in the zone qualifier group, Karen Foell of the Toronto & North York Pony Club, who rode Teflon Willie. In the Training Level Test 3 class of the regional finals, Kourtney Matysek and Rule the Day placed first, with Jessie Ball and Corona's Kiowa second, and Kayla Neil and Adara third. Karen Foell and Teflon Willie again were the only entry in the zone qualifier group for this test. Jessie Ball was Division Champion and Kourtney Matysek was the Reserve.
The Pre-Training Test 1 winner in the regional finals was Rachel Welsh of the Oshawa Pony Club riding Pippi. Stephanie Rutherford of the Baltimore Hills Pony Club was second on Royal Court Jester, and third place went to Kylie Figueira of the Victoria Pony Club on Baltimore. Among the zone qualifier competitors in this class, Tara Langevin of the Durham Pony Club placed first on Spur of the Moment, Ilona Parenteau of the Toronto & North York Pony Club was second riding Anastasia. There was a tie for third place between another Toronto & North York rider, Maddie Baker aboard Skeeter, and Sarah Wilson of the Kawartha Pony Club riding Gray Wolf. In the Pre-Training Test 2 class, Rachel Welsh and Pippi again took the honours in the regional finals group, with Madison Wilks of the Durham Pony Club second aboard Mega Cool, and Stephanie Rutherford third with Royal Court Jester. Among the zone qualifiers, Kristiana Cope of the Whitchurch Pony Club placed first on Callie, with Tara Langevin and Spur of the Moment second and Ilona Parenteau third with Anastasia. Champion was Rachel Welsh, Reserve was Stephanie Rutherford.
Roberta Spratt of the Kawartha Pony Club won the regional finals section of the Starter Test 1class on Mr. Teds. Second place went to Jodi Hunsley of the Durham Pony Club on Kenny, and third place to Erin Thompson of Oshawa riding Everyone Loves Lily. Mallory Black of the King Pony Club took top spot among the zone qualifiers riding Night Sky, with Taylor Ryan of Whitchurch second on Kyna and another Whitchurch rider, Jazmin Visco, third on Xyla. In the Starter Test 2 competition, Roberta Spratt again won the regional finals group, with Erin Thompson second and Jodi Hunsley third. Among the zone qualifiers, the winner was Taylor Ryan, with Jazmin Visco second, and third place going to Karen Foell of Toronto & North York, this time riding Delicately Refined. Roberta Spratt was Champion and Jodi Hunsley was Reserve.
Christine Oldridge of the Victoria won the Entry Test 1 class in the regional finals group riding Elphin Birdsong. Second place went to Maddy Lang of the King Pony Club on Fat Chance, and another King rider, Nikki Ince, was third on TC. Maxime Weiss of King was the only entry in this class for the zone qualifier, riding Night Sky. In the Entry Test 2 regional finals, Christine Oldridge again placed first, with Nikki Ince second and third place going to Rebecca Adrian of the Durham Pony Club on Narhans Gift. In the zone qualifier, Maxime Weiss again placed first, with second going to Tara Chiasson of the Simcoe Pony Club on Jessica, and another Simcoe rider, Wesley Stubbings, third riding Little Tim. Christine Oldridge was Champion and Nikki Ince the Reserve.
This show offered several freestyle classes, which feature dressage performed to music. In the First Level freestyle, Johanna McKeen and Millgate Braveheart took first place, and Julia McGill took second on D'Artagnan. Katelyn Powell and Sundance of the Durham Pony Club took top spot in the Training freestyle. Jessie Ball was second, with third place going to Jennifer McKeen of the Oshawa Pony Club on Colwyn Tegan. Wesley Stubbings won the Starter Freestyle, with his sister Emily Stubbings second on Jemini and Tara Chiasson third; all three are members of the Simcoe Pony Club. The King Pony Club team of Mallory Black on Lief Alaric and Sarah Cowie on Majestic General won the Starter Pas de Deux, with another King team, Nikki Ince on TC and Maddy Lang on Fat Chance, placing second. These four King riders also performed as a drill team, taking first place automatically.
This show also included a team competition on a branch level, across divisions. First place went to the Victoria Pony Club team of Jessie Ball, Kylie Figueira, Kourtney Matysek and Christine Oldridge. Durham Team 1 took second spot, with contributions by Andrea McGill, Julia McGill, Kayla Neil and Katelyn Powell. A team with members from several branches took third place; it included Katlyn Hewson of Durham, Stephanie Rutherford of Baltimore Hills and Roberta Spratt of Kawartha (this team's fourth member was forced to scratch).
Now here are the details.
First Level Division A
Test 1
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Julia McGill | D'Artagnan | Durham | 60.2 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Johanna McKeen | Millgate Braveheart | Oshawa | 57.2 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Sabrina Welter | Santa Rosa | Toronto & North York | 49.6 |
Test 2
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Julia McGill | D'Artagnan | Durham | 56.8 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Johanna McKeen | Millgate Braveheart | Oshawa | 55.7 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Sabrina Welter | Santa Rosa | Toronto & North York | 46.0 |
Training Level
Test 2
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse/Pony | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Jessie Ball | Corona's Kiowa | Victoria | 68.8* |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Kourtney Matysek | Rule The Day | Victoria | 65.0 |
| Regional Finals | 3 (tie) | Kayla Neil | Adara | Durham | 65.0 |
| Regional Finals | 3 (tie) | Katlyn Hewson | Without a Trace | Victoria | 65.0 |
| Regional Finals | 5 | Jennifer McKeen | Colwyn Tegan | Oshawa | 64.6 |
| Regional Finals | 6 | Katelyn Powell | Sundance | Durham | 61.9 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Karen Foell | Teflon Willie | Toronto & North York | 57.7 |
* High score of the day in any class or division.
Test 3
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse/Pony | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Kourtney Matysek | Rule The Day | Victoria | 65.0 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Jessie Ball | Corona's Kiowa | Victoria | 62.9 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Kayla Neil | Adara | Durham | 62.5 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Katlyn Hewson | Without a Trace | Victoria | 62.5 |
| Regional Finals | 5 | Jennifer McKeen | Colwyn Tegan | Oshawa | 59.2 |
| Regional Finals | 6 | Katelyn Powell | Sundance | Durham | 58.7 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Karen Foell | Teflon Willie | Toronto & North York | 60.0 |
Pre-Training Level
Test 1
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse/Pony | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Rachel Welsh | Pippi | Oshawa | 62.6 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Stephanie Rutherford | Royal Court Jester | Baltimore Hills | 62.3 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Kylie Figuera | Baltimore | Victoria | 62.1 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Andrea McGill | Phoenix Rising | Durham | 60.0 |
| Regional Finals | 5 | Alyssa Stavrakos | Alyssa's Lincoln | Durham | 57.6 |
| Regional Finals | 6 | Madison Wilks | Mega Cool | Durham | 57.3 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Tara Langevin | Spur of the Moment | Durham | 60.6 |
| Qualifier | 2 | Ilona Parenteau | Anastasia | Toronto & North York | 59.7 |
| Qualifier | 3 (tie) | Maddie Baker | Skeeter | Toronto & North York | 58.8 |
| Qualifier | 3 (tie) | Sara Wilson | Gray Wolf | Kawartha | 58.8 |
| Qualifier | 5 | Kristiana Cope | Callie | Whitchurch | 57.1 |
Test 2
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse/Pony | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Rachel Welsh | Pippi | Oshawa | 64.4 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Madison Wilks | Mega Cool | Durham | 59.1 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Stephanie Rutherford | Royal Court Jester | Baltimore Hills | 58.1 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Andrea McGill | Phoenix Rising | Durham | 57.8 |
| Regional Finals | 5 | Alyssa Stavrakos | Alyssa's Lincoln | Durham | 56.9 |
| Regional Finals | 6 | Kylie Figuera | Baltimore | Victoria | 56.6 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Kristiana Cope | Callie | Whitchurch | 65.3 |
| Qualifier | 2 | Tara Langevin | Spur of the Moment | Durham | 62.5 |
| Qualifier | 3 | Ilona Parenteau | Anastasia | Toronto & North York | 61.5 |
| Qualifier | 4 | Sara Wilson | Gray Wolf | Kawartha | 61.2 |
| Qualifier | 5 | Maddie Baker | Skeeter | Toronto & North York | 59.1 |
Starter Level
Test 1
| Group | Place | Rider | Pony/Horse | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Roberta Spratt | Mr. Teds | Kawartha | 62.8 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Jodi Hunsley | Kenny | Durham | 62.1 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Erin Thompson | Everyone Loves Lily | Oshawa | 56.5 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Mallory Black | Leif Alaric | King | 53.8 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Mallory Black | Night Sky | King | 61.0 |
| Qualifier | 2 | Taylor Ryan | Kyna | Whitchurch | 58.6 |
| Qualifier | 3 | Jazmin Visco | Xyla | Whitchurch | 55.2 |
Test 2
| Group | Place | Rider | Pony/Horse | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Roberta Spratt | Mr. Teds | Kawartha | 65.2 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Erin Thompson | Everyone Loves Lily | Oshawa | 61.7 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Jodi Hunsley | Kenny | Durham | 57.2 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Mallory Black | Leif Alaric | King | 57.2 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Taylor Ryan | Kyna | Whitchurch | 60.0 |
| Qualifier | 2 | Jazmin Visco | Xyla | Whitchurch | 56.9 |
| Qualifier | 3 | Karen Foell | Delicately Refined | Toronto & North York | 55.5 |
Entry Level
Test 1
| Group | Place | Rider | Pony/Horse | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Christine Oldridge | Elphin Birdsong | Victoria | 64.3 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Maddy Lang | Fat Chance | King | 60.9 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Nikki Ince | TC | King | 57.4 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Rebecca Adrian | Narhans Gift | Durham | 53.5 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Maxime Weiss | Night Sky | King | 65.2 |
Test 2
| Group | Place | Rider | Pony/Horse | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Christine Oldridge | Elphin Birdsong | Victoria | 64.5 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Nikki Ince | TC | King | 62.8 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Rebecca Adrian | Narhans Gift | Durham | 52.1 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Maddy Lang | Fat Chance | King | 51.0 |
| Qualifier | 1 | Maxime Weiss | Night Sky | King | 64.5 |
| Qualifier | 2 | Tara Chiasson | Jessica | Simcoe | 49.0 |
| Qualifier | 3 | Wesley Stubbings | Little Tim | Simcoe | 48.3 |
| Qualifier | 4 | Emily Stubbings | Jemini | Simcoe | 47.6 |
Freestyle Classes
First Level Division A Freestyle
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Johanna McKeen | Millgate Braveheart | Oshawa | 12.2* |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Julia McGill | D'Artagnan | Durham | 11.6 |
* Scoring for this class uses a different system from all others. Don't ask.
Training Level Freestyle
| Group | Place | Rider | Horse/Pony | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Katelyn Powell | Sundance | Durham | 68.7 |
| Regional Finals | 2 | Jessie Ball | Corona's Kiowa | Victoria | 66.5 |
| Regional Finals | 3 | Jennifer McKeen | Colwyn Tegan | Oshawa | 66.0 |
| Regional Finals | 4 | Andrea McGill | Phoenix Rising | Durham | 63.2 |
Starter Level
Freestyle
| Group | Place | Rider | Pony | Branch | Score |
| Qualifier | 1 | Wesley Stubbings | Little Tim | Simcoe | 53.0 |
| Qualifier | 2 | Emily Stubbings | Jemini | Simcoe | 46.5 |
| Qualifier | 3 | Tara Chiasson | Jessica | Simcoe | 42.0 |
Pas de Deux
| Group | Place | Riders | Ponies/Horses | Branch | Score |
| Qualifier | 1 | Mallory Black & Sarah Cowie | Leif Alaric & Majestic General | King | 64.0 |
| Qualifier | 2 | Nikki Ince & Maddy Lang | TC & Fat Chance | King | 60.5 |
Drill Team
| Group | Place | Riders | Ponies/Horses | Branch | Score |
| Regional Finals | 1 | Black/Cowie/Ince/Lang | Leif Alaric/Majestic General/TC/Fat Chance | King | 68.0 |
Team Competition
| Place | Name | Members | Team Score |
| 1 | Victoria | Jessie Ball/Kylie Figueira/Kourtney Matysek/Christine Oldridge | 73 |
| 2 | Durham 1 | Andrea McGill/Julia McGill/Kayla Neil/Katelyn Powell | 68 |
| 3 | Mixed Team | Katlyn Hewson (Durham)/Stephanie Rutherford (Baltimore Hills)/Roberta Spratt (Kawartha) | 66 |
| 4 | Oshawa | Jennifer McKeen/Johanna McKeen/Erin Thompson/Rachel Welsh | 65 |
| 5 | Durham 2 | Rebecca Adrian/Jodi Hunsley/Alyssa Stavrakos/Madison Wilks | 50 |
| 6 | King | Sarah Angus/Mallory Black/Nikki Ince/Maddy Lang | 40 |
For more details e-mail Bob Inglis, Central Ontario Regional Communications Chair, or call him at 416-493-1223 (office) or 416-491-4230 (home).