Stillwater Open

BRRRRR …. It was a cold OHIO competition weather-wise. However, the day was sunny and bright and the fellowship and sportsmanship was warm and comfortable.

The Stillwater Pony Club Games Open held at beautiful Paxton Farms just outside of Cincinnati, Ohio brought in a multitude of All-American players. The Paxton Farms facility had a huge arena that easily held our seven lanes of games with room to spare. Players came from OH, KY, IL, IN, MD, VA, WV, MI, and PA.

Saturday started with the Masters divisions. Ten teams played hard through two ground sessions of twelve games each for the chance to play in the A and B Finals on Sunday. After sixteen more games in each Final on Sunday, we had our A and B final placings: A Masters Final: Walmart Stringers, Figjam, Road Runners, Punk Rock Ponies, and Sporks B Masters Final: Commandos, Yellow Jackets, Psychos, Allstars, and Scrambled Eggs With plenty of room on the arena field, the Fossils and Novice divisions were run at the same time. Sometimes with close finishes, things were a little dicey for the scorers but all was sorted out after discussions with judges and equipment crew after each race.

The trash-talking Fossil division was hotly contested with veterans Zippy Chicks going up against the newcomers, Cowpokes. Desperados continued their steady improvement in their second competition and won several races and were pushing the others in several more. The finals showed the Cowpokes first; Zippy Chicks, second; and Desperados third. But the trash talking continues until the next time.

The four-team Novice division was hotly contested and close for most of Saturday and Sunday with the lead changing several times. Speedy turtles got off to a slow start by missing the Saturday morning session because of a flat-tire. Some of their players had never played games before. However, you would not have known that with their play on Sunday when they finished second in the Sunday session. Overall, the final finish was Midnight Riders, first; Daredevils, second; DragonFire, third; and Speedy Turtles, fourth.

Most Memorable Moment from the 2-day competition: Novice Pony, Blueberry, drinking all the water from the Windsor Castle "moat" because she was very thirsty and just could not go on another step!

Second Memorable Moment: Having our pizza party in the lovely Paxton Farms lounge.

I would like to send my thanks to Deb Bush and her Stillwater Pony Club group for organizing such a wonderful games competition. Thanks also to all the outstanding parents and riders who worked tirelessly throughout the weekend to keep the competition moving and on time in all that cold weather. I can hardly wait until the SnowBall Series starts on December 13!!!!

With much gratitude and heartfelt thanks,

Sharon Brown