No Guts No Glory-Fall

October 18 dawned foggy and chilly at the Carroll County Equestrian Center in Mt. Airy, MD, but quickly cleared up to become a cool but sunny day, perfect for a full schedule of games. Over 60 players from Novice to Parent, from four Pony Club regions gathered for a day of fun, good food and good sportsmanship.

Novice play began right on time at 8:30 AM, with the Too Hot to Trot Novices from Marlborough and St. Margaret's Pony Clubs going up against the Shiny Things scramble team from Antietam, Annapolis and Rocky Run. After the guardian angels straightened out some fractious ponies, the 6 games were run with fine skill for this division. Final placing was Too Hot to Trot in first with 18 points, and Shiny Things in second with 12.

Junior Division play was a rematch for two of the teams who had competed against each other at USPC nationals this year, the Antietam Love Bugs and the Marlborough Bandits. They were joined by a scramble team composed of Antietam and Rocky Run members, Black and Gold Check. Junior play for these teams was fast and accurate, and the final totals saw the Love Bugs in first with 32 points, the Bandits second with 24 and Black and Gold in third with 12.

The Senior Division was hard fought, with all the teams having members familiar with National level Pony Club games play. The Seneca Valley Bumblebees, Marlborough Hot Hooves, Shenandoah/Redland Galaxy Gals and Antietam/Rocky Run Cheetah Chicks all played with speed and aplomb, and the lead changed hands several times. The final score was Hot Hooves in first with 31, Cheetah Chicks close behind with 28, Bumblebees on their heels with 26 and Galaxy Gals, who had some trouble after a strong start, finishing at 21.

The always entertaining Parent Division was run next, with much instruction, advice, encouragement and ragging from the sidelines. The Parent Division should actually be called the Good Sport division, since many of the competitors are somewhat coerced into playing at the last minute, and of course, the kids just love to see the tables turned on their coaches. The parents also found that the young judges for this division were rather strict, as one team was eliminated for letting go of the reins and one for a line C violation. In the end, the Turn n' Burn team from Antietam and Rocky Run (two DCs playing on this one!) took the blue with 27 points, followed by the Marlborough Mamas and the Papas (only team with dads!) second with 23 points, while the last minute scramble Black and Gold team finished a respectable 3rd with 14.

The Advanced Division had a full slate of teams at 10, and this was a fast and hard fought contest, with some of the best games players on the East Coast participating. Finishes were so close that all of the line and overall judges had to pay strict attention. In the end, the Freakin' Hot team from Howard had a consistently fast and accurate day to finish first with 36 points, closely followed by the Seneca/Shenandoah team Jet Lag with 34. Third place went to Antietam's Playing With Fire with 27 points, then the Redland Allstars 4th with 24, the Seneca Bumblebees 5th with 22. A three way tie for 6th with all teams having 18 points was broken by an exciting run off of the bottle race. The run off resulted in the Seneca/Rocky Run scramble Blue Crush in 6th, the Sunny Delights from Annapolis/Churchville in 7th and the Marlborough/St. John's River Go Pony, Whoa Pony team in 8th. The Annapolis Cracker Jacks finished 9th with 12 points and the Shenandoah Got to Be Gold team rounded out the field of 10 with 7 points. The Shenandoah team should have gotten extra credit for a truly spectacular recovery from being pitched out of the arena performed by one of their members.

All participants, spectators, crew and officials had a great time, and this day showed why mounted games is rapidly growing in popularity across the country. If you're a games player, you should have been there! See you in the spring!!