Central Ontario teams dominated the Central Canada Zone Prince Philip/Masters Games Championships, held near Frankville, Ontario (north of Brockville) on August 1.

At the A level, the Uxbridge-Scugog Pony Club "Eh" team, representing the Central Ontario Region, took top spot. The members of the "Eh" team are James and Sean Cruikshanks, Chelsea Geer, Stephen Hall and Jane Stephenson, coached by Michelle Cruikshanks. Second place went to the other Central Ontario team, the "Victorious Rising Stars," a team with members from both the Victoria and Rising Star Pony Clubs. The "Victorious Rising Stars" include Stacy Bootsma, Emily Lindsay and Chloe Raitt from Rising Star, with Kylie Figueira from Victoria, coached by Teri Lindsay. Both teams now advance to the National Championship, to be played near Edmonton on September 1-2, where they will compete against other Zone Champions. Western Ontario teams finished third (Guelph) and fifth (London/Mill Ridge), with the lone Saint Lawrence-Ottawa Valley team , Appleton, in fourth place.

At the Masters level, for older riders, the Uxbridge-Scugog "Black and White" team finished on top, edging out defending national champions, the Uxbridge-Scugog "Cowboys". The members of the "Black and White" team are Kendra Abbey, Mori Cruikshanks, Jocelyn Davidson, Mitchell Hall and Samantha Macdonald, coached by Jeff Couch. The "Black and Whites" now go on to play for the National Masters Championship, to be held August 24-26 in Nova Scotia. The members of the second place "Cowboys" were Whitney Brennan, Jesse and Luke Durward, Jessica McVittie and Laura Parliament, coached by Doug McVittie.  Western Ontario and Saint Lawrence-Ottawa Valley both sent multi-Branch mixed teams at the Masters level, with WOR third and SLOV fourth.

At the National Championship level, all teams ride borrowed ponies, since transporting ponies across the country is impractical. Mounts are normally contributed by the host Region, but if a team from the host Region represents its Zone, its members would not be allowed to ride their own ponies in competition, as this would give them an unfair advantage over the other teams. In fact, all teams generally switch ponies after a certain number of games, often several times.

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).