Central Ontario Team Wins National Championship
The Uxbridge-Scugog Cowboys, representing the Central Ontario Region and the Central Canada Zone, won the National Masters Games Championships at a meet held Saturday, August 12 at the Panorama Ridge Riding Club in Surrey, hosted by the British Columbia Lower Mainland Region. The team was made up of Mike Durward, Jesse Durward, Mori Cruikshanks, Samantha MacDonald and Laura Parliament, coached by Mike and Charlie Durward.
Second place went to a team from the Alberta North Region, representing the Prairie Zone. Members of this team were drawn from a variety of Alberta North Branches, and called themselves the “Mohicans.” The members of the Mohicans were Morwenna Goodliffe, Stephanie Grundke, Emilly Heffering, Angela Pettilt and Gabriella Sundstrom.
Third and fourth places also went to mixed teams, third to one from the BC Lower Mainland Region in the Pacific Zone and fourth to another Pacific Zone team, this one from the BC Islands Region. The members of the BC Lower Mainland team were Shira Daltrop, Meg Foster, Amelia Izadpanah, Kim Roman and Natalie Wood. The member of the BC Islands team were Teresa Johnson, Karly Sargent, Amanda Zinger and Candace Zylak.
The Games are a team competition played by Pony Clubs around the world, played by teams of five riders and five ponies, four of which participate in each game. All are variations on the relay race, and all are great fun for players and spectators alike. Many of the Games require the riders and ponies to run a slalom course around a series of poles from one end of the playing field to the other, where they hand-off something to the next rider on their team. In many races, riders have to vault off of and onto their ponies.
The Masters level is for players between 15 and 21 years old.
Final scores were:
| Place | Team | Points |
| 1 | Uxbridge-Scugog Cowboys | 93 |
| 2 | Alberta North Mohicans | 70 |
| 3 | BC Lower Mainland | 69 |
| 4 | Vancouver Island | 42 |