International Selections – Junior Mounted Games Team

Dingley Pony Club Grounds – 13 February 2010

Report by David Harris/IMG Coach

Twelve riders from around the country converged on Melbourne for selections on Saturday 13 February at the Dingley PC ground, near Frankston, Victoria.  Riders came from as far as Carnarvon and Perth in Western Australia, Darwin in the Northern Territory, Warwick and the Gold Coast in Queensland, Mount Pleasant in the Adelaide Hills and Launceston in Tasmania.

Pony Club members representing their States / Territory were:

Tasmania, Skye Ranicar with Barry Harper the selector; 

Queensland, Taleeka Adams and Timothy Burraston with Russell Duncan the selector and Tamara Bondfield, chaperone;

Victoria, Kate Ross and Pat Dyson with Frank Scarce the selector; 

South Australia, Jamie Kah and Molly Murphy with Sue Young the selector;

The Northern Territory, Grace Simmons with Ros Beckhouse the selector; 

New South Wales, Lauren Slater and Patrick Ryan with David Harris the selector; and

Western Australia, Mitchell Hutton and Tom Van der leuen with Sean Corbin the selector and Michelle Wilkie representing the national governing body for Mounted Games. 

All riders rode with confidence, showed, empathy for their ponies and demonstrated outstanding skill and expertise in each of the 16 games that were conducted. 

The team selected was Lauren Slater, Patrick Ryan, Mitchell Hutton, Jamie Kah and Pat Dyson.  Molly Murphy was nominated the reserve.   

Pony Club Victoria funded the selections, and on behalf of all the state contingents I would like to thank their organising committee and workers for hosting us so warmly.  The Victorian Pony Club Mounted Games community provided the ponies and equipment for the selections and I would also like to extend our sincere thanks to the horse owners who offered their outstanding ponies for the selection process.

The team will now travel to the United Kingdom to participate in the Pony Club International Mounted Games Exchange from 2 – 17 August.  The Exchange will culminate with a Competition of at least 16 games, known in Canada and the UK as Prince Philip Games, which will be part of The Pony Club’s (UK Pony Club) National Prince Philip Games Championship.

As one of the national selector I was impressed with the standard of horsemanship and level of skill demonstrated by all the riders representing their states / territory and I congratulate Lauren, Patrick, Mitchell, Jamie and Pat on their selection.

I would like to thank Dingley Pony Club for allowing us to use their club house and grounds on both the Friday and Saturday.  I would particularly like to thank Frank Scarce for his energy and infectious dedication to Pony Club, and to promoting Games (Pony Club and Prince Phillip Games) in Victoria.   Tim Ling, Chris and Rosemary Dyson, Ian and Sarah Ross, Andrea and Ryan Davis, Laurie and Ro Cruise all provided energetic and thoughtful support to the weekend and nothing was too much trouble for them. 

It was also wonderful to see Marilyn Healey who dropped in to watch proceedings.  Marilyn recently retired as PCV’s most experienced mounted games coach and we will all miss her sense of fun and advice at the Nationals later in the year.

Barry Harper from Tasmania feels that being part of the mounted games community in Pony Club has extended his family.  After the hospitality shown to the riders and officials in Melbourne during the International Mounted Games Selections, I have to agree with Barry’s sentiments.

I look forward to meeting new and old friends in energetic, friendly competition at Nambour in July.