Just 16 points separated Armidale Horse and Pony Club from overall winners Glen Innes at Zone 13’s annual Jamboree on the weekend.
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While they missed out on the major trophy, the local club snagged a number of huge wins including the award for the best dressage team and a host of individual awards at the event in Guyra.
Lilly Meredith was crowned the competition’s best flat rider across all age divisions as well as picking up age champion, her brother Brodie also took out a reserve champion. Jazz Kennett won reserve, Anna Jarvis earned reserve, Michael Paull his age division boys with Will Wood in reserve while Salvana Kalinowski was champion of the associate division. Jarvis, Paull and Wood combined with Charlie Aitken to secure the highest scoring senior team.
Zone 13 chief instructor Belinda Williamson credited the host club for a “very well run” event and was thrilled with the high level of riding and sportsmanship on display.
“Their manners, their horsemanship, it was really good to see kids cheering other riders on irrespective of what club they're from,” she said.
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“They ride competitively and are out to ride for their club and it's on to beat whatever club but at the same time when it comes to cheering riders on and wanting their mates to do well, they do.”
She said there was vast improvement in the riders since the beginning of the competitive season while the team of fours event was the highlight of the weekend.
“We had kids there that, from when we started in the September-October school holidays in our camps and then into our interclubs, the level of progression in some of those riders was absolutely mind-boggling,” she said.
“At the end of the day, that beautiful presentation in the teams of four and that level of riding and horsemanship the riders have come up to since the start of our season in September. Look out State Championships, Zone 13 is on it's way.”
There was plenty of banter and prank pulling between the teams outside of the arena to keep the friendly rivalries among the clubs.
Walcha even went to the extent of chaining and padlocking their banner to prevent it from being stolen.
“That tradition of snavelling another club's banner and 'what are you going to do to get it back?' has been in as long as Pony Club has,” Williamson said.
“They're all the good antics and the good side of Jamboree.”