The Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, Va., teemed with activity July 26-29, as young competitors gathered from around the country to represent their regions at the U.S. Pony Club Championships East.

Riding in one national championship a year is usually enough, but not for two members of the Virginia Gold show jumping team. In fact, only one championship title wasn’t either. Two weeks prior, Stephanie Sweitzer and Kevne Hull competed on C-level quiz teams at USPC Championships West, held in Rancho Murieta, Calif., July 13-16. Sweitzer’s senior team finished third, and Hull was a member of the winning junior team.

The two continued their victorious ways in the East by winning the modified show jumping championship with teammates Rebekah Willetts, Taylor Stephens and Hallie Schmitt.

USPC offers two divisions of show jumping–modified and regular. Modified entries jump 3’3″, while horses in the regular division may jump 3’6″, 3’9″, or 4′.

Sweitzer, a 16-year-old C-3, captained the Virginia Gold team.

“We had a great team,” she said proudly. “We worked together and got along so well. We talk to each other all the time now.”

This teamwork and Sweitzer’s leadership were evident in the ring. Going into Round 5 on Saturday, Virginia Gold was in second place. So they sat down and plotted what they needed to do to win. They decided to try absolutely as hard as possible for everyone to go clear the next day. And that determination paid off–all four members made Saturday’s jump-off.

“Round 5 was my favorite course,” said Hull, a 15-year-old C-2. “It was so quiet and smooth; it just fit my ride.”

Unfortunately, Virginia Gold seemed to have a nemesis jump when their first three riders pulled the same rail in the jump-off. But then Sweitzer and Satin Pretty left every jump up. In fact, Sweitzer and “Sadie” only had 7 faults (none jumping) the entire show.

“We were pretty nervous because we’d had some early rails and time faults,” Sweitzer said. “We thought, ‘We won’t be able to win it, but maybe we can be second or third.’ After the final scores went up, we were like, ‘How did this happen?’ “

Their teamwork began months before the championships, just after the qualifiers, as they e-mailed back and forth about who would be in charge of bringing required equipment.

They Scrambled To The Lead
But knowing each other before the championships wasn’t necessary for a strong team. A scramble team from Old Dominion, New Jersey, and South regions pulled off the win in the regular show jumping competition. Amanda Layton, a 15-year-old C-2 from Lakehurst, N.J., didn’t know any of her teammates, and Samantha Clifton, Amy Lee, Kaelin Creange and Tiffany Radnitz didn’t know each other very well either.

Fortunately, “Everybody was pretty easy going,” said Lee, a 20-year-old, B-rated, team captain. “With people you’ve never met, there’s less drama. If you all know each other, it’s so easy to have cliques, but you can’t do that when you’re only together for the weekend.”

In addition, the fact that they were such a mixed team made the girls more proud of their win.

“We were just kind of lucky, being kind of thrown together and ending up first,” Lee added. “But we got along so well. We’d make fun of each others’ accents, but we’ve all swapped e-mails, so I’m sure we’ll stay in touch.”

“We worked great,” agreed Clifton, a 20-year-old C-3 from Abingdon, Va. “We were all friends almost immediately.”

Most importantly, the team performed consistently well. Clifton’s, Lee’s and Layton’s equitation scores put them all in the top six overall.

Clifton’s second-placed equitation round aboard her mare Tally, a 14.3-hand Quarter Horse, came as a surprise. “My horse is definitely more of a jumper horse than an equitation horse,” she said with a laugh. “But I liked the course a lot. My horse keeps things together better if the turns are short like that than if she has long lines to look at.”

Staying Together
Unlike the new relationships of some of the show jumping teams, Amy Bertilson and Alex Lough, have been riding together for nine years. Together, they made up the winning advanced games team, Hammertime.

The games competition includes different variations of relay races. Junior and senior teams are made up of five riders, but advanced teams have only two.

No stranger to championships, Bertilson, an 18-year-old C-3 from Sithian, Ill., rode Smokin’ Joe, who is owned by Lough, an 18-year-old C-3. Bertilson rode Smokin’ Joe at championships three years ago, but she didn’t ride him a lot between then and this year, her sixth championships.

Although usually good in every race, Smokin’ Joe did make the hula hoop race and hurdle race a little more difficult, because he spooked at Bertilson when she moved toward him to remount from the ground.

“In hurdle, we were the team closest to the crowd, and when they started screaming, he kind of lost it,” Bertilson said with a chuckle. “We weren’t sure we’d make the finals for that one, but we were fifth in hula finals and sixth in hurdle.”

Smokin’ Joe redeemed himself by teaming up with Lough’s pony, Dixieland Band, to win the stepping stone race.

“We both play that one really well,” Lough said proudly. “We pretty much dominated that one.”

Unfortunately, Hammertime did not make it to the finals in Bertilson’s favorite race, two-flag, where riders work in a relay to place flags into a cone from horseback. Lough was the first rider, and the flag got caught in his hand when he tried to put it in the cone.

Earlier in the week, Bertilson and Lough had to put their heads together to get rid of another hiccup in their goal of winning. The first day, Bertilson’s reins came unbuckled three times.

“We finally taped them up with duct tape,” she reported. “Fortunately, they only messed me up on one race. But they definitely made a few races more interesting than they needed to be!”

No Sibling Rivalry Here
When it comes to lasting relationships, none are more enduring than those of siblings. And the members of Top Gun, the winning senior games team from the Maryland Region, put that relationship to good use. Sisters Brea and Brett Calhoun are two members of the team, along with Jacob Cone, Samantha Welniak and Regan Whitehair.

“It helps having my sister on the team,” said Brett, a 16-year-old C-2. “If I have a bad race, she knows how to cheer me up better than anyone else.”

That good relationship shone through in the team’s cooperation. Both sisters said that the relay races (sock, hula hoop, hurdle) were their best.

Cone, 17, of Carnestown, Md., said that the team’s participation in the Mounted Games Across America league gave them the winning advantage.

“We compete year-round and world-wide,” the C-3 reported. “A lot of us practice every day. When we’re not competing, we’re practicing, so we’re almost always ready.”

Cone also believes in promoting the sport through the MGAA. He has organized a demonstration of mounted games at the Montgomery County Fair near his hometown, scheduled for Aug. 11.

But even lots of practice couldn’t prevent every mistake.

“Stepping stone was not pretty,” Brett said with a laugh. “Samantha and I both did the same thing. We kicked over the last stone, and then our ponies took off across about three lanes. Fortunately, we didn’t interfere with anyone.”

Like their advanced and senior counterparts, the members of the winning junior games team, S.W.A.T., knew each other pretty well. Evan Becker, Isabelle Brace, Aron Cone, Shelby Kepner and Gabrielle van Tassel made up the team from the Capital Region.

All five members have been in the Frederick Pony Club (Md.) for nearly two years, and when they’re not playing games, they foxhunt with the New Market/Middletown Valley Hunt (Md.).

Not all the relationships within the team were time-tested, though. Becker, a 12-year-old D-3, had to find a new pony just a month before the qualifying rally when his pony came up lame. Luckily, the new mount was a good fit.

“Skip’s not real bulky, but he’s built to run for a long time,” said Becker. “He’s a good athlete, and he really knows what he’s doing. I think he likes the carton race the best because it’s fast and he likes to run.”

Becker enjoyed his second trip to championships this year, having been on the eighth-placed team last year.

“I liked it because, in the Coliseum, there’s a lot of people watching and a lot of excitement,” he said. “You get to make a lot of friends with other teams too. It’s a social experience. I had a great time.”

The five S.W.A.T. members hope to stay together and participate in the Prince Phillip Cup at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** next spring. Because Cone will age out of juniors, they also plan to move into the senior division next year rather than replace him.

It Takes More Than Good Riding
Horse management judging is one thing that separates USPC from other youth horse competition, and the eventing crowd all agreed that this year’s horse management judges were the best yet.

“This was my favorite horse management at any rally. They were really awesome this year,” said Virginia Horne, a C-3 from Loudoun Hunt P.C., who was a member on the winning training level team from Virginia. She was joined by Retsy Holliday, Amy Giordano, Christina McKitrick and Erica Jacquay.

Horne, 16, guided her eye-catching, 17.2-hand pinto gelding Touchstone Tuxedo to fourth individually. In April she finished in second place at Redlands Horse Trials (Md.) in the training division behind her teammate, Holliday.

Holliday, a C-2 from Difficult Run P.C., placed first individually in the training division with a score of 27.0 on her Irish Cob, King. The 15-year-old gelding competed at intermediate until he sustained tendon injuries.

Since Holliday began leasing him in 2005, they’ve won many events and now have their sights set on competing at the American Eventing Championships (N.C.).

Also riding a former upper-level eventer for Virginia was Giordano. The C-2 from Difficult Run P.C. not only helped her team clinch a victory, but also earned the Frank Bierman Challenge Cup, which was given to the training level competitor who best demonstrated excellence on cross-country. Giordano was quite impressed with the cross-country course and said that her 20-year-old, Thoroughbred mare Savannah managed the hills well.

Only six riders contested the preliminary level, so new friendships were formed between the teams.

“All of us were really close, and since there weren’t many people in the prelim division, we weren’t competitive with each other,” said Dana Cannon, a B Pony Clubber from Redland Hunt P.C., who was on the winning team from Maryland.

The 18-year-old won the preliminary division at Waredaca (Md.) earlier this year on her Thoroughbred mare Majestic Falcon and is planning to ride in her first CIC* event this fall.

Her teammates, Tracey Bienemann and Brooke Garman, raved about the organization of this year’s championships. “It definitely made it worthwhile to attend,” said Biene-mann, a C-3.

Bienemann and her 15.2-hand, chestnut Thoroughbred Paul’s Legacy, moved up to preliminary last fall and finished fourth individually.

The winning novice eventing team of Ethan Burst, Katie Dernowski, Stephanie Morrongiello, Jennifer Ryan, and Aislinn Duke traveled down from the Delmarva Region.

The team overcame several setbacks in order to beat out nine other teams. Dernowski, a C-2 from St. Augustine P.C., considered herself lucky to even compete. Her Thoroughbred gelding Feriello’s Halo was diagnosed with Lyme disease in June but recovered in time for championships.

Burst, the 16-year-old captain of the team, admitted his dressage ride wasn’t the best because “[his] horse wasn’t a big fan of the noisy tractor dragging the ring beside us.”

But cross-country went well for Burst, and he rode a clear round with only a few time penalties due to a malfunctioned stopwatch.

The C-3 from Shore Riders P.C. has only been eventing his 7-year-old, Thoroughbred gelding Sonic Endeavor for one year, after the horse recovered from a tendon injury. The pair snagged the best score this year at their regional eventing rally.

Morrongiello, 17, and her 6-year-old, homebred Thoroughbred mare Spanish Eyes enjoyed the challenging cross-country course. “The course was very hilly, and there were lots of difficult questions, but that’s what made it exciting,” said the C-3 from Shore Riders P.C. in New Jersey.

Ryan, a C-3, also comes from Shore Riders P.C. She finished on her dressage score of 32.5, which placed her first individually. She’s competed Bailey, an 8-year-old, off-the-track Thoroughbred gelding for several months. She admitted that he’s often sticky on cross-country but added that he was brave on the Lexington course.

Clear show jumping rounds from Morrongiello and Ryan secured the team’s first-placed position.


Girls Just Want To Have Fun
An all-girl team from the Maryland Region (Blair Losak, Emily Barnsley, Ashley Oman, Alexandra Zaremba and Shaina Asbury) took home blue in the training level dressage.

Losak, a 16-year-old C-2, guided her bay, Thoroughbred mare Ocean Trip, whom she usually events, to three progressively better rides. She ended with a freestyle choreographed to the tunes of Justin Timberlake.

Barnsley, a 16-year-old C-1 from Redland Hunt P.C., said, “We were surprised we won because we were all having so much fun!”

Barnsley piloted her 17-year-old, Selle Francais event horse Risky Business to consistent scores in the high 60s.

Oman, a C-1 from Manada Creek P.C., put in three high scoring rides, the highest being 73.80 percent, on her Thoroughbred gelding Nothing To Prove, to help lead the team to victory.

In the first level and above division, a scramble team from the Carolina and Capital regions (Alexandra Hoffman, Weslee Maddox, Erin Kathleen Rose, Kimberly McNamee and Devon Shoemake) grabbed first place.

A C-2 from Greenville Foothills P.C., Maddox consistently scored 69 percent on her 17-hand, Hanoverian gelding, Sir Ivanhoe. Maddox and her gelding won individually at her regional dressage rally this year as well as last year, both times at first level.

She was pleased with all her tests, especially her freestyle. “Our music was French parlor music, and I think it suited him really well,” she said.

Rose, a 16-year-old C-1 from Triad P.C., recently rejoined Pony Club after living abroad and enjoying the riding schools of England, Switzerland and Singapore.

She obtained her imported Irish Sport Horse, Emerald Traveler, from her mother, an A Pony Clubber who is also her trainer. Erin spent a lot of time training for her freestyle, which was ridden to the smooth sounds of jazz.

From the Maryland Region, Meredith Baker, a C-3, won the first level and above division of the freestyles with a score of 73.75 percent. In the training level division, Samantha Presicci, a C-2 from the Metropolitan Region, also snagged a first in the freestyles with a 72.29 percent.

Each of these girls received a Robert Dover replica pin given to those riders who excel in the freestyle competition.

Emily Macaulay and Kimberly Achorn, both C-1s from the White Mountain region, won the pas de deux.

These Riders Do It All
Every member of the four-man international tetrathlon teams had to compete in four events: shooting, swimming, running, and riding. Because the international Pony Clubbers couldn’t bring their own mounts, each rider drew a horse at random for the show jumping phase.

Elizabeth Liver from Great Britain placed first individually and helped the ladies clinch a win over Ireland, the United States and Canada. Hugh Forde from Ireland won the men’s individual and helped Ireland beat out Great Britain and the United States.

Liver, an 18-year-old from Shropshire, England, has competed in tetrathlon for more than eight years. She also competes in pentathlon, which has the same events as tetrathlon, but also includes fencing.

“This has been amazing,” she said. “Being with other teams abroad that you don’t normally ride against is a great opportunity.” She usually competes Galliano, her 15-year-old, 7/8 Thoroughbred in Pony Club events at the national level.

Forde, a 21-year-old from Moynalty, Ireland, was competing in his last year of Pony Club. He placed in each of the four events, winning the shooting phase. He was impressed with the high standards his fellow competitors set as well as the quality of horses, which were borrowed from Pony Club members.

Forde had competed in international tetrathlon events in 2000 and 2004.

A Learning Game
What made this year’s Pony Club Championships East memorable for the advanced polocrosse team, The Incredibles, wasn’t just their victory. Instead, it was one of the keystone concepts of Pony Club–learning and teaching. The team consisted of Lizzie Cook, Dori Wiseman, Michael Purdy and Kallan Ludden.

“My favorite game was one we played against Carolina Crush,” Cook said. “They just moved up to advanced from being national intermediate champion last year, and we got to teach them as we were playing. One of their players got hurt the game before ours, so we played the other two and spent the whole game helping them.”

Cook, 18 and a C-2, does a lot of teaching anyway. In fact she coaches the intermediate team, Nick With Chicks.

“There’s satisfaction in being able to help someone else get better,” she said sincerely.

At the same time, though, The Incredibles did plenty of winning. Out of 12 games, they won 11, giving them a final score of 44 points.

Polocrosse is a combination of lacrosse and polo, with the goal of throwing the ball through the opposite goal from horseback, using lacrosse sticks. Teams are made up of three people–a forward, offensive player who is the only member allowed to score, a midfielder whose duties include both offense and defense, and a defensive/goalkeeper.

With Carolina Crush gone from the intermediate division, Sirocco, the team of Kaitlyn McCrossin, Jessica Brown, Dalles Phillips and Adriane Gill, stepped up to win the title. This team was a scramble team from Delmarva, Eastern Pennsylvania and Midsouth regions.