August 4, 2006 – Lexington, Virginia – The Ontario Junior Show Jumping Team captured the Bronze Medal at the 2006 CN North American Junior and Young Riders' Championship taking place August 1-6 at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, VA.

The Ontario Junior Team, open to riders aged 14-18, consisted of Hannah Anderson, 16, of Caledon, ON, Amanda Knowles, 15, of Toronto, ON, and Lauren Patava, 16, of Toronto, ON. As teams are ideally comprised of four members with the best three scores counted towards the team total, the Ontario Team recruited Bianca Lafontaine, 17, of Hudson, QC, who was competing as an individual for Quebec.

Both Anderson and Patava were fault-free over two rounds of jumping to lead Ontario to the Team Bronze. While Knowles had 12 faults in the first round and four in the second, Lafontaine incurred 12 and eight faults riding Cardoso, an eight-year-old Holsteiner gelding owned by South Shore Farm. The final team score of 16 faults gave Ontario the Bronze Medal. USA Zone 2/5 claimed the Gold Medal with a total of four faults while USA Zone 10 posted a final tally of eight faults to take the Silver Medal. A total of seven teams competed at this year's event.

"It was great, I was really happy," said Patava who was riding Revelin, an eight-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding that she purchased in December. "Coming off of yesterday when I didn't have my best day, there was nothing better. I had nothing to lose. My horse felt great in the warm-up and went into the ring and was perfect."

Patava is competing for the first time at the North American Junior and Young Riders' Championship which hosts the three Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing and show jumping and are considered a 'mini Olympics' for equestrian competitors aged 14-21. Teams and individuals representing Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the U.S. are competing at this year’s event.

"It has been great so far," continued Patava. "Being on a team is something you never have a chance to do at a normal horse show. We also had Bianca come and help us out so we could have a full team, and that was great. This morning we even had a chance to watch the eventing riders competing in steeplechase and cross-country."

Knowles was a member of Ontario's Silver Medal Team at last year's Championship, and the experience of having competed before helped in her preparedness.

"I knew the format, I knew how things were going to run, and right away that makes it easier to compete," said Knowles. However, one thing she didn’t have the advantage of knowing very well was her horse. She had only competed with Mill Creek Marco Taere, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding owned by Mill Creek Stables, at one competition prior to the Championship. Nonetheless, she praised her mount, saying, "He was so good! He is really experienced and he knew his job, and that was a real advantage."

All three Ontario competitors - Anderson, Knowles and Patava, have qualified to compete in the Individual Final on Sunday, August 6, where Individual Medals will be awarded. Anderson is currently tied for the lead with Paris Sellon of USA Zone 10. After three rounds of jumping, Anderson, who was a member of the Silver Medal Team at last year's Championship, has a perfect score of zero faults riding Papillon, her nine-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding. Patava is currently in 10th position individually with a score of 14 faults while Knowles is in a three-way tie for 15th spot with 24 faults.

Ontario is represented by two individuals in the Young Riders' division, open to competitors aged 16-21. Ashton Belcher, 19, of Manotick, ON, and Adrienne Iverson, 19, of Oakville, ON, are both making their debut at the North American Junior and Young Riders' Championship. Iverson incurred eight faults in the first round then returned to deliver a four-fault effort in the second round riding Zerneborg, a 10-year-old Oldenburg gelding owned by Augustin Walch. After being eliminated in the first round on the course set by 1996 Olympic course designer Linda Allen, Belcher returned in the second round to post a score of eight faults riding Karolus K, a 14-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Melissa Brown.

The Ontario Show Jumping Team is supported by chef d'equipe Erynn Ballard, herself an Individual Gold Medalist at the 1999 North American Young Riders' Championship, and Team Manager Sally Sainsbury.