71 young riders from 14 Pony Club branches - Brooklin, Durham, Kawartha, Centaurus, King, Maple, Oshawa, Rising Star, Springwater, Toronto & North York, Uxbridge-Scugog, Victoria, Waussnodae and Whitchurch - have entered the first of the Central Ontario Region's qualifiers for the Regional Show Jumping Finals. This show takes place next Sunday, May 27, at Dreamcrest Equestrian Centre, between Oshawa and Port Perry, hosted by the Uxbridge-Scugog Pony Club. Selection for the Regional Finals will be based on scores achieve at this meet and two other qualifiers, both to be hosted by the Ajax Pony Club.

In this show, three divisions of Pre-Entry riders will compete in two classes each, a medal class and a single round plus jump-off, preceded by a warm-up round. A schooling division will follow the same format. Medal classes involve judgement of the riders' equitation skills, not the horse or pony, in two phases - with and without fences.

The higher classes - Entry, Starter, Beginner, Novice and Intermediate - compete in three classes each: a medal class, a single round plus jump-off, and a power and speed round, to determine a Champion and a Reserve in each division. The single round plus jump-off is the type of competition most often televised, and will be familiar to anyone interested in show jumping. The power and speed class consists of two phases, run without interruption, the finish line of the first, "power" phase being the start line for the second "speed" phase. Only those who complete the first phase without penalties are allowed to go on to the second phase. Jump heights increase for each division, with the Intermediate riders facing obstacles ranging from 3'0" to 3'3".

Pony Club is an international organization to promote riding and horsemanship skills among young people. Nearly all of Canada's international show jumpers got their starts in shows like this. Show jumping is the most familiar of Pony Club's activities to most spectators, but there is also competition in dressage, mounted games, rallies (which include dressage, cross-country and stadium jumping, plus stable management competition), tetrathlon (which includes swimming, shooting, cross-country riding, stadium jumping and cross-country running by the riders) as well as academic competition in quiz format.

Dreamcrest Equestrian Centre is at 2130 Shirley Road, east of Simcoe Street between Raglan and Port Perry. The show starts at 8:30 am and spectators are welcome without charge.

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).