JOHN Bentley School student Katie Smyth has booked a ticket to the first Pony Club Championship of the year, after success at a qualifying round in Hampshire.

The 13-year-old, who rides for the Avon Vale branch, had come through the first rounds of the Dengie Winter League Pony Club show jumping series to make the Area 14 regional final at Sparsholt College.

This offered just four tickets to the Championship final, held each year at Warwickshire College in the Midlands at the end of March.

“There were 57 starters and 22 made the jump-off, so it was quite some class,” said her mother Ingrid.

“Katie was second to go in the jump-off, so it was a long wait – she’s just had to go for it as you couldn’t aim for a steady clear with that many behind you.”

At first Smyth thought she had just slipped out of the tickets so she was delighted when it was announced that she’d stayed in fourth place and was on the way to the national finals.

“Her pony Sobranie really turns and jumps and she would have been even quicker, but for a slight miss on the turn to the penultimate fence,” added Mrs Smyth.

“She had to jump the last with no stirrups but she sat tight. The first fence, a big spotted oxer, caught out two-thirds of the field, including her brother Michael.”

Smyth, who is trained by Jill Holt, now hopes to perform at the final in front of dad Geoff, who should have returned from serving abroad with the Forces just in time.

“It will be Katie’s first time at the Championships, although she’s made the regionals twice before with her little pony Lemon Twist,” added Mrs Smyth.

“It will be a quite a challenge for them both – Sobranie is still only a young pony – but they’re looking forward to it.”

The duo are also going well in BS affiliated show jumping, qualifying for the Junior finals at the 2010 Bath and West Show. They will also be contesting the Pony of the Year Show in Essex early next month.

The Area 14 show jumping regional final saw Wilton Hunt Pony Club duo Phoebe Gregory, who led from the start, and Jamie Matthews fill the top spots.

St Mary’s Calne School pupil Jessica Mendoza has continued her impressive run in the British Showjumping (BS) ‘Pony Premier’ series, which runs across Britain from January to March.

The Tockenham 13 year old was in action in the top John Whitaker International Winter JA Classic qualifiers at the Towerlands Pony Premier in Essex, contested by most of the best show jumping ponies in the country.

Mendoza and her great mare Tixylix, who were on the GB team at the 2009 Pony European Championships, stormed home to win in the third and final round against the clock.

“There were 43 starters – 15 made the second round and just six got into round three,” said dad Paul. “Jessica was last to go and won, beating Abigail Newbury and Pocket Rocket by over a second. Just three riders jumped treble clears.”

The hugely-talented youngster will be among the favourites for the Winter Classic final, which takes place for the first time at the British Open Show Jumping Championships, one of the country’s top indoor international shows, held at the NEC, Birmingham. The pair also won this class at the Aintree Pony Premier recently and are coming into top form.

Mendoza also won a 148cms class at Towerlands on the highly promising bay mare Ultrador, as well as collecting seconds in two Foxhunter classes.

Marlborough-based New Zealand Olympian Andrew Nicholson gave some idea of what is to come this season when he rode to a hat-trick at the Tweseldown BE event in Hampshire.

The event was the first major British eventing competition of the season in the south and attracted a world-class field, including fellow Kiwi Mark Todd, Aussie Olympian Matt Ryan and top British names such as Mary King and Pippa Funnell.

Despite this Nicholson, now 48 but as busy as ever with eight rides on the one day, dominated the top Open Intermediate (OI) sections with two victories.

He opened with a win on Oplitas, 8th at the Blenheim three day event last year, who was several seconds quicker than his rivals cross country to move up 16 places after dressage. Highworth’s Paul Tapner was third on his top ride Inonothing.

Nicholson’s second OI win came on Rosemary and Mark Barlow’s grey gelding Avebury, who led from start to finish. Tapner filled fourth spot, this time on Killfinnie II.

He completed his treble with an Intermediate win on the six year old Viscount George, who he owns jointly with Nicola and Robin Salmon and who was again the fastest in the section cross country to win by a distance.

Australian 36 year old Stephen Way, who is based at Oare, topped his OI section on the mare Secret Picnic, who has competed at four star level in the past.

The horse, now 14, won OI sections at Longleat and Knaptoft Internationals last year.

Lower Stanton St Quintin’s Kitty King, who married former National Hunt jockey Ben King over the closed season and is best known under her maiden name of Boggis, was fifth on her OI ride Bee Animas.

Marlborough’s Arthur Duffort won an Intermediate section by one mark on the seven-year-old mare Roxanna VI, who managed one of just three show jumping clears in the class.

Chippenham’s Lucie McNichol won the Open Novice section on her successful two-star international horse Zeus of Rushall, beating Tapner and Yogi Bear VIII by three marks.

Tetbury’s Jay Halim was also among the victors, claiming a BE100 section on Seaview Soft Touch by an emphatic eight and a half marks.