Ridin' high

The Western Reserve Pony Club swept all three sessions to win the novice division championship in the North American Challenge Final in Lexington, Ky., earlier this month.
Members of the Spitfires team that won the competition are Laura Crowl of Columbiana, Amanda Robb of New Waterford, Monica Scarsella of Boardman, Devin Pingree of Beaver, Pa., and Kevin Smith of Hanoverton.
The team traveled to the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington on Nov. 5 for its first United States Mounted Games Association open competition.
Team members are 13 and 14 years old.
This was the final of a series of competitions between Canadian and United States Mounted Games Associations of which the Spitfires are a member.
Their coach is Jim Dunn from Canada, who also coaches the Canadian mounted games team.
Team members say credit for the victory should go to their ponies: Marian, ridden by Laura; Coco, ridden by Amanda; Comet, ridden by Monica; Star, ridden by Devin; and April, ridden by Kevin.
How they compete
Mounted Games combines action with teamwork and horsemanship skills. It is unique among horse sports because riders compete on teams, not individually.
There are more than two dozen races in the sport.
Riders burst balloons, joust at targets, pick up flags from cones, and vault on and off horses as they race to hand off to their teammates. Riders must develop a mastery of horsemanship as well as hand-eye coordination and other athletic skills. The rider and horse learn to work together as a team.
The Spitfires won blue ribbons in all three sessions plus trophy horse blankets for being winners overall in their division. Twenty-five teams competed in the North American Challenge, including six in the novice division, which is for riders 15 and under.
Team members practice outdoors in all seasons.
Carroll Crowl, team member Laura Crowl's mother, owns most of the team ponies and provides the team with a facility on Garfield Road in Columbiana to practice. All the parents assist.
The team is still practicing and is hoping to be invited to an international competition next year