Pony Club Association of Qld Dressage, Combined Training and Horse Trials Championships

Winner of the Percy Bishop Trophy for the best performed Horse and Rider Combination over the whole week - Hannah English from Zone 16 riding Fletcher Jones - with Grace Brodie from Taroom, a member of PCAQ Chief Instructors Panel and showjumping judge for Horse Trials. Grace is a very good friend of Percy Bishop who donated this perpetual Trophy

From 4 - 8 July the Pony Club Association of Queensland State Championships for Dressage, Combined Training and Horse Trials, hosted by Zone 26, were held at Caboolture and Burpengary with competitors aged 8 to 26 years attending from far and wide.

Queensland competitors travelled from as far North as the Cairns, Townsville and Rockhampton areas and as far west as Roma, plus New South Wales were also represented by a team.

The Dressage competition was held on the Monday and Tuesday at Caboolture Showgrounds, where more than 200 competitors each rode three dressage tests over the two days, which meant eight rings with two judges on each ring. The competition ran very smoothly with all riders ready and waiting at their alloted time and the high standard was commented on by judges. The younger riders rode in age groups - 10 years and under; and 11 years and under 13 years. Riders over 13 years of age competed according to the grading of their horse - Preliminary, Novice or Elementary.  "A mounted presentation was held on Tuesday afternoon and the sight of such a large number of riders beautifully presented in their uniforms was wonderful", commented member of the organising committee, Louise Howard.

On Wednesday the Combined Training was held at Caboolture Showgrounds with 150 riders competing. Each rider completed a dressage test followed by a round of showjumping. Once again everything ran smoothly and Zone 26 Pony Club members volunteered their time to gear check, steward, score, set up rings and other jobs.

On Wednesday afternoon, all riders who were continuing on to compete in the Horse Trials, packed up camp and moved to the Burpengary Equestrian Centre. That night saw everyone enjoying a barbecue and gathering to watch State of Origin on the big screen at the club house. It was great to enjoy the Queensland win amongst a happy crowd (apart from the New South Wales visitors, who weren't quite as happy!)

Thursday was another day of dressage and an earlier finish to the day, which gave the visitors from New South Wales and other parts of Queensland time to look around the local area and catch up on shopping, washing etc - as some had been away from home for a week by this time and camping with small children.

Friday was another beautiful day and for many riders the part of the championships they had been most looking forward to - cross country day! The cross country course at Burpengary had seen tireless work over the last few months as much of the course had been inundated and destroyed in the January floods. Rebuilding jumps and constructing new obstacles had taken many hours of work by volunteers.

Amelia Fitzgerald and Moonlight Blitz - showing fine showjumping style and on the way to a clear round, which secured them first place in the 1* Horse Trails

Gary Bryce, president of the Burpengary Equestrian Centre, advised that in addition to all the hard work from volunteers, many thousands of dollars had been spent on the grounds in recent months, to ensure facilities were up to scratch.  The Burpengary Equestrian Centre were extremely grateful for Government grants and sponsorship from companies that included Commonwealth Bank and Macdonalds.

After cross country the positions on the leaderboard had changed for many riders as the challenge of some obstacles caused penalties. Riders then had to jump their showjump course, with faults incurred affecting their overall scores. The crowd was treated to some great jumping with the added excitement of watching the 1* riders finishing the program. TD for the Horse Trials, Rod Howard, commented, "the level of competition was high and the cross country and showjump courses were a credit to the organisers."

All the riders again assembled mounted for the final presentation of the Championships after several outstanding performances during the Horse Trials.

The champion of each class received an embroidered rug donated by Horseland. The last trophy to be presented was the Percy Bishop Trophy for the best performed Horse and Rider Combination over the whole week, which was won by Hannah English from Zone 16 riding Fletcher Jones. Hannah placed second in her Dressage, and won the Combined Training and Horse Trials, which was a fantastic effort.

The Horse Trials winning Queensland Team L-R: Amelia Fitzgerald and Moonlight Blitz; Selena Madsen and All Bling; Hannah English and Fletcher Jones; and Evelyn Williamson and Olney Park Flash

Congratulations to all the competitors and organisers of this wonderful event on a job really well done!

Horsezone were one of the proud sponsors of the Championships and we were very impressed by the fine examples of horsemanship and sportsmanship being displayed by Pony Club Competitors throughout the competitions.  The mounted presentation after the Horse Trails was very impressive and all pony club members appeared to have enjoyed a fantastic week of competition.

Be sure to check out the Horsezone photo gallery - link provided below!

Quick Links

• Visit the Horsezone Pony Club Championships photo gallery.
• View full results at the PCAQ website (being posted this week).
• View pony club horses for sale on Horsezone.