Article & photos by Vonna Read
The Midsouth Region of U.S. Pony Club returned to a Mega Rally format for Tetrathlon, Show Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing rallies this year. This means the shows all happen during the same week. The rallies were held in Lexington, Kentucky at Masterson Station Park (Tetrathlon) and the Kentucky Horse Park. The Midsouth Regional Eventing rally for D2s and D3s was held June 22 – June 24, 2016. The D1 Eventing Rally and D2 Combined Test were held June 22, and Midsouth Regional Eventing rally for Cs was held June 23 - all at the Kentucky Horse Park.
There are opportunities for all level of riders to compete. Competitors at Pony Club rallies are judged not only for the riding skills, but also for their horse management skills. And best of all: for rallies, parents not allowed in the barns! However, there are adults around the barns as advisors, plus the ever-watching Horse Management Judges. But the competitors have to do all the work themselves – from horse care, feeding, watering, and stall cleaning to grooming, tacking up, and warm up. Interfering parents can cause the team to be charged unauthorized assistance points. And the competitors have a real sense of pride in doing it all themselves!
Gretchen Nunnelee, Sarah Beth Slaughter, Grace Read and Ethan Read of WTPC, along with Libby Butler of the Nashville-based Middle Tennessee Pony Club as Stable Manager, comprised a very strong team for Show Jumping Rally. We were very pleased to have former West Tennessee Pony Club member, Alissa Heeren, join the team as coach for Show Jumping Rally.
At Show Jumping rally, each competitor had to jump 3 rounds. Two of the rounds were regular knock-down rounds, with one round also scored as an equitation round. The third round was a Take-Your-Own-Line class, which is an exciting competition to see who can come up with the fastest course in which each jump must be jumped at least once and only once.
At the end of rally, the team finished in second place overall, out of 12 teams, for riding and sixth in Horse Management.
In individual awards, Gretchen Nunnelee, riding Imp, won the Sue Lockhart Memorial Perpetual Trophy for highest scoring D level competitor at the entire rally! Grace Read was first place in the Developing Horse and Rider division (2'9"-3'), Sarah Beth Slaughter was 5th in Horse 1 (3'3"-3'6") and Ethan Read was 5th on his new horse in the Introductory division (2'6").
Ethan and Grace Read stayed for the C Eventing rally, which is also run as an Open Horse Trial. The Midsouth Region Horse Trial is a large event which usually fills before the closing date, with a long list of people waiting to get in. This year was no exception - there were 400 competitors!
There are separate eventing rallies held for the more beginner riders, including a D1 rally that allows older pony Clubbers as advisors and helpers for the riders.
Ethan and Grace joined a scramble team with competitors from other regions -two were from a club in Indiana and one was from Knoxville. This is one of the best things about rally - meeting kids from other clubs and making new friends that you look forward to seeing at other shows and rallies.
The scramble team was a strong one! They won first place out of seven teams for riding and they were tied for first in Horse Management as well, but lost the tie breaker to earn a second place ribbon in Horse Management.
In the individual placings, Ethan Read was fourth overall and Grace Read was ninth. They both qualified to head to the U.S. Pony Club Championships for eventing, which will be held at the new Tryon Equestrian facility in North Carolina July 28 – 31, 2016. The Pony Club championship competitors will be the first ones to try out the all-new cross country course at Tryon!
Full results of the Midsouth Region Pony Club Horse Trials, held June 25-26, 2016, are posted at: http://eventingscores.com/eventsr/midsouth/ht0616/
The Midsouth Region of U.S. Pony Club returned to a Mega Rally format for Tetrathlon, Show Jumping, Dressage, and Eventing rallies this year. This means the shows all happen during the same week. The rallies were held in Lexington, Kentucky at Masterson Station Park (Tetrathlon) and the Kentucky Horse Park. The Midsouth Regional Eventing rally for D2s and D3s was held June 22 – June 24, 2016. The D1 Eventing Rally and D2 Combined Test were held June 22, and Midsouth Regional Eventing rally for Cs was held June 23 - all at the Kentucky Horse Park.
There are opportunities for all level of riders to compete. Competitors at Pony Club rallies are judged not only for the riding skills, but also for their horse management skills. And best of all: for rallies, parents not allowed in the barns! However, there are adults around the barns as advisors, plus the ever-watching Horse Management Judges. But the competitors have to do all the work themselves – from horse care, feeding, watering, and stall cleaning to grooming, tacking up, and warm up. Interfering parents can cause the team to be charged unauthorized assistance points. And the competitors have a real sense of pride in doing it all themselves!
Gretchen Nunnelee, Sarah Beth Slaughter, Grace Read and Ethan Read of WTPC, along with Libby Butler of the Nashville-based Middle Tennessee Pony Club as Stable Manager, comprised a very strong team for Show Jumping Rally. We were very pleased to have former West Tennessee Pony Club member, Alissa Heeren, join the team as coach for Show Jumping Rally.
At Show Jumping rally, each competitor had to jump 3 rounds. Two of the rounds were regular knock-down rounds, with one round also scored as an equitation round. The third round was a Take-Your-Own-Line class, which is an exciting competition to see who can come up with the fastest course in which each jump must be jumped at least once and only once.
At the end of rally, the team finished in second place overall, out of 12 teams, for riding and sixth in Horse Management.
In individual awards, Gretchen Nunnelee, riding Imp, won the Sue Lockhart Memorial Perpetual Trophy for highest scoring D level competitor at the entire rally! Grace Read was first place in the Developing Horse and Rider division (2'9"-3'), Sarah Beth Slaughter was 5th in Horse 1 (3'3"-3'6") and Ethan Read was 5th on his new horse in the Introductory division (2'6").
Ethan and Grace Read stayed for the C Eventing rally, which is also run as an Open Horse Trial. The Midsouth Region Horse Trial is a large event which usually fills before the closing date, with a long list of people waiting to get in. This year was no exception - there were 400 competitors!
There are separate eventing rallies held for the more beginner riders, including a D1 rally that allows older pony Clubbers as advisors and helpers for the riders.
Ethan and Grace joined a scramble team with competitors from other regions -two were from a club in Indiana and one was from Knoxville. This is one of the best things about rally - meeting kids from other clubs and making new friends that you look forward to seeing at other shows and rallies.
The scramble team was a strong one! They won first place out of seven teams for riding and they were tied for first in Horse Management as well, but lost the tie breaker to earn a second place ribbon in Horse Management.
In the individual placings, Ethan Read was fourth overall and Grace Read was ninth. They both qualified to head to the U.S. Pony Club Championships for eventing, which will be held at the new Tryon Equestrian facility in North Carolina July 28 – 31, 2016. The Pony Club championship competitors will be the first ones to try out the all-new cross country course at Tryon!
Full results of the Midsouth Region Pony Club Horse Trials, held June 25-26, 2016, are posted at: http://eventingscores.com/eventsr/midsouth/ht0616/
