If the Trillium Hunter Jumper Association (THJA) events provide a path to Provincials for young local riders, then the Northern Equestrian Circuit (NEC) is the houseleague, providing an introduction to competition for Sudbury and area participants.

A number of aspiring young athletes gathered Sunday at Trevella Stables in Hanmer, site of the third of four meets for NEC riders this summer. With her horse, Chester, enjoying one of his better days in the "Hack" disciplines, Acacia van Tol of Hillsview Stables emerged as Hack Division grand champion, sweeping to victory in all three facets - show hack, pleasure hack and road hack.

Competing with Chester since March of this year, van Tol noted that things are starting to come together with horse and rider. "The first show, I couldn't get him to jump at all," she said. "Nothing."

"This one, I had a few refusals, but he jumped everything in the end. He's moving a lot more forward." A 13 year-old from Lively, van Tol was first initiated to riding partially on the interest of her twin sister Koral, with both siblings busy on the weekend in Valley East.

The results at Trevella provide a nice surge of momentum for the van Tol-Chester tandem, with the pair looking forward to enjoying "home stable advantage" when the NEC returns to Hillsview for the final show of the season on September 28th.

"He's more familiar with Hillsview, whereas here, everything is new," explained van Tol. "At Hillsview, he has how own stall to stay in. But overall this year, he's been really good at adjusting."

Likewise, Emily Koski of Foothills Farm was equally pleased with her mount, Shall We Dance, through both the show hack and road hack events, finishing second in both.

"I thought he was going to be the perfect horse on hack today," Koski suggested. "He's a very open horse, with a nice open stride. He's showy, a good moving horse, but somebody got too close to him," Koski continued.

"He's very sour about the horses that aren't in his herd, so we ended up with an unplanned dismount." A polite way of saying that she was thrown from her horse, though landing softly on her feet, no damage was done.

With six years of riding under her belt, Koski has noticed an improvement of late, for good reason apparently. "I was happy with my riding today," she said. "I took a week long camp at Foothills and it really corrected my position."

"I was happy that I could sit properly today and I was very vigilant," Koski added. "I was a lot better than usual. I tend to lean to the outside - it's a balance thing." While Koski is now quite at home in an English riding setting, working with a variety of horses during the summer, she acknowledged that it was Western riding, with the flashy shirts, tassels and barrel racing that first caught her eye many years ago.

"They say that English is more disciplined, but I'm not exactly sure because I've never competed in Western," Koski stated. Joining van Tol among the list of "Grand Champions" were Kassidy Portelance (Strider), Katey Kirkwood (Dez), Carolynn Strum (South Pacific), Leah Blanchette (Grand Saluut) and Connie Smith (Grand Saluut).

Following is a breakdown of all of the divisions that were contested, along with the top three riders and horses in each category:

Beginner Division (5 riders)
Hunter Over Fences 1
1st - Kassidy Portelance / Strider
2nd - Kaylynn Senior / Dez
3rd - Nathan Leonard / Nipper

Hunter Over Fences 2
1st - Kassidy Portelance / Strider
2nd - Kaylynn Senior / Dez
3rd - Nathan Leonard / Nipper

Hunter Under Saddle
1st - Kaylynn Senior / Dez
2nd - Melanie Rancourt / Theodora Bellamina
3rd - Courtney Kinsella / Frosted Flakes

Champion – Kassidy Portelance / Strider
Reserve Champion – Kaylynn Senior / Dez

Novice Hunter Division (7 ridrers)
Hunter Over Fences 1
1st - Janessa Filion / Captain
2nd - Katey Kirkwood / Dez
3rd - Morgan Kirkwood / Chloe

Hunter Over Fences 2
1st - Morgan Kirkwood / Chloe
2nd - Amika Gauthier / Cinnamon
3rd - Roxanne Bourgeois / Theodora Bellamina

Hunter Under Saddle
1st - Katey Kirkwood / Dez
2nd - Amika Gauthier / Cinnamon
3rd - Roxanne Bourgeois / Theodora Bellamina

Champion – Katey Kirkwood / Dez
Reserve Champion – Janessa Filion / Captain

Modified/Novice Equitation
Modified Equitation Over Fences (9 riders)
1st - Carolynn Strum / South Pacific
2nd - Caleigh Fera / Highland Fling
3rd - Zoe Burke / Dallas

Novice Equitation Over Fences (6 riders)
1st - Morgan Kirkwood / Chloe
2nd - Katey Kirkwood / Dez
3rd - Janessa Filion / Captain

Equitation Under Saddle (16 riders)
1st - Katey Kirkwood / Dez
2nd - Carolynn Strum / South Pacific
3rd - Janessa Filion / Captain

Modified Hunter Division (8 riders)
Hunter Over Fences 1
1st - Carolyn Strum / South Pacific
2nd - Caleigh Fera / Highland Fling
3rd - Katelynn Fitzhenry / Cash

Hunter Over Fences 2
1st - Carolynn Strum / South Pacific
2nd - Zoe Burke / Dallas
3rd - Makenzie Thibault / Strider

Hunter Under Saddle
1st - Caleigh Fera / Highland Fling
2nd - Layne Pattison / Ariel
3rd - Makenzie Thibault / Strider

Champion – Carolynn Strum / South Pacific
Reserve Champion – Caleigh Fera / Highland Fling

Hack Division (11 riders)
Show Hack
1st - Acacia van Tol / Chester
2nd - Emily Koski / Shall We Dance
3rd - Zoe Burke / Dallas

Road Hack
1st - Acacia van Tol / Chester
2nd - Emily Koski / Shall We Dance
3rd - Zoe Burke / Dallas

Pleasure Hack
1st - Acacia van Tol / Chester
2nd - Zoe Burke / Dallas
3rd - Caleigh Fera / Highland Fling

Champion – Acacia van Tol / Chester
Reserve Champion – Zoe Burke / Dallas

Intermediate Division (13 riders)
Hunter Over Fences 1
1st - Leah Blanchette / Grand Saluut
2nd - Evelynn Hoffman/ Cohiba
3rd - Leah Blanchette / Dee

Hunter Over Fences 2
1st - Leah Blanchette / Grand Saluut
2nd - Laurel Scott / Mad About You
3rd - Olivia Fera / Just a Little Splash of Colour

Hunter Under Saddle
1st - Suzanne Beaudy / Reverence
2nd - Evelynn Hoffman / Cohiba
3rd - Leah Blanchette / Dee

Champion – Leah Blanchette / Grand Saluut
Reserve Champion – Evelynn Hoffman / Cohiba

Intermediate Equitation (13 riders)
Equitation Over Fences
1st - Leah Blanchette / Grand Saluut
2nd - Evelynn Hoffman / Cohiba
3rd - Laurel Scott / Mad About You

Equitation Under Saddle
1st - Leah Blanchette / Grand Saluut
2nd - Jessica Leonard / Metropolis
3rd - Olivia Fera / Just a Little Splash of Colour

Open Hunter Division (4 riders)
Hunter Over Fences 1
1st - Connie Smith / Grand Saluut
2nd - Blayr Legris / Carst
3rd - Alicia Groom / Frosted Flakes

Hunter Over Fences 2
1st - Connie Smith / Grand Saluut
2nd - Alicia Groom / Frosted Flakes
3rd - Blayr Legris / Carst

Hunter Under Saddle
1st - Alicia Groom / Frosted Flakes
2nd - Blayr Legris / Carst
3rd - Connie Smith / Grand Saluut

Champion – Connie Smith / Grand Saluut
Reserve Champion – Alicia Groom / Frosted Flakes

Open Equitation
Equitation Over Fences (3 riders)
1st - Connie Smith / Grand Saluut
2nd - Alicia Groom / Frosted Flakes

Equitation Under Saddle (4 riders)
1st - Samantha McLean / Cedarmist Teagan
2nd - Kelly Scott / South Pacific
3rd - Alicia Groom / Frosted Flakes