Jennifer McKeen, a 17 year old member of the Oshawa Pony Club, has won the National Show Jumping Championships at the Cochrane Agricultural Society near Calgary. Jennifer is a student at Clarke High School in Newcastle.
This was a true national competition, with entries from coast to coast. Regions were limited to one entry each. All competitors rode borrowed horses, selected the day before the actual competition. Ms McKeen drew a 17 year old Dutch Warmblood called Charlie, described by the McKeens as "easy-going, loving and well-tempered".
The Championships used a flat class, a gymnastics course and a jumper equitation (medal) class on Day 1 and the morning of Day 2. Riders were marked not only on how their mounts jumped, but also on their equitation (riding technique), and even on their tack and turn-out. Ms McKeen won the flat class and placed second in the other two phases for the overall win.
As part of the weekend, the young competitors visited Spruce Meadows Friday night to watch the Masters (jumps somewhat higher than those they had to deal with), and also to take in the Evening of the Horse plus a fireworks display. On Saturday evening they enjoyed a banquet with Olympian Sandra Donnelly as guest speaker.
The complete order of finish is as follows:
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).