The Grand River Pony Club is having the country over this weekend for a little fun in its backyard.
The club's team qualified for the 'A' nationals this season, and the Western Ontario Region will be hosting the Prince Philip Games at Grand River Raceway on Sunday, Sept. 5 - only a concession away from where the GRPC practices.
Members of the qualifying team - Grace Cartwright, Kirsten Radcliffe, Shannon Hogan, Jacquie Kelton and Hayley Chase - finished second at their regional competition before winning the zone competition, and with that the right to take the field at nationals. Kelton said this will be a new experience for everyone on the team, given that none of them had ever made it this far before.
"The fact that we get to compete against the rest of Canada's best riders is big," she said. "I'm really looking forward to seeing what this is like."
For Cartwright, she's anticipating an intense competition that will show her if the Grand River team really is the best in Canada at what it does.
"You don't get to ride your own pony for the competition, so if you don't know what you're doing up there it's really going to show," she said. "Because of that, the Games are a little scary - a lot of things can happen and you just have to trust yourself and that the other riders know what they're doing."
The fact that the Games are being played out so close to home for the Grand River club isn't lost on Kelton or Cartwright. There wasn't a local team qualify the last time the Games were held, and Kelton said there might be a little added pressure mounting up with friends and family in the stands to cheer them on.
"You just have to practice a lot and do whatever you can to get it down pat," she said. "Once you get to this point, you either know what you're doing or you don't."
Cartwright said she's feeling a little more pressure - as a teacher at a Fergus-area farm, she knows a good number of her students plan on coming to see her riding during the Games. With that in mind, she's put a little extra emphasis on doing things clean.
"If I don't win this, all my students will be there to see it," she laughed. "Because of that, I feel 20 times the pressure. I'm just going to try and ignore it all - once I get on my horse, it's all up to me and what I know I can do."
Both girls are going in to the Games with certain expectations - but it won't be win-at-all-costs kind of memories they plan on taking away from the experience.
"We've been competing for seven years, and I'm really looking forward to meeting all the different riders out there," Kelton said. "I see this as more than just another competition."
Cartwright said she was also looking forward to meeting other riders, but it was about more than just the social aspect of it for her.
"I think it's going to be great meeting people you don't know and who are ones you can call your equal," she said. "But this is a competition to find out who's the best at this - and if our team's not the best, it gives us something to look forward to for next year."
The Games will be a double-edged opportunity for Kelton, as she and another local rider (Samantha Squires of the Guelph Pony Club) will head to Edmonton, Alberta later this month for the International Mounted Games Excahnge selection camp. Each year, the Canadian Pony Club sends a team of five riders to represent Canada at the International PPG competition against teams from the United States, Great Britain and Australia.
At the selection camp, Kelton will face off with eight other riders to be one of the five selected to the national team, and it's a chance she's hoping to make the most of.
"I love having this opportunity because it affords me the chance to meet more new people and maybe even make the national team," she said. "That would be a huge accomplishment for me."
It would also be a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, as Kelton pointed out that riders only get one chance at this team. And having her GRPC team qualify for the Prince Philip Games will help keep her sharp in anticipation of the selection camp.
"I'm hoping I'll be able to learn from the pressure of the competition, and maybe it will help get me ready for the try-outs," she said.