Liz Ashton of Victoria, BC, is leading the 1.30m division of the $25,000 Western Canadian Championships taking place at the Rocky Mountain Classic III at Anderson Ranch in Calgary, AB. Cansport

September 3, 2010 – Calgary, Alberta – The $25,000 Western Canadian Show Jumping Championships are underway at the Rocky Mountain Classic III show jumping tournament taking place September 1-5 at Anderson Ranch in Calgary’s south end.

A Western Canadian Champion will be crowned in five divisions – 1.10m, 1.15m, 1.20m, 1.30m and 1.40m, with a total of $25,000 in prize money being distributed among the winners. Riders count their scores over three days of competition held Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Following the first two days of competition, Macaela Sobie of Calgary, AB, currently leads the 1.10m division. Riding Cha Ching, Sobie has a perfect score of zero while her sister, Tayah Sobie, lies in second position riding Buster Brown with a score of 1.32 faults. Kate Jackman-Atkinson of Neepwa, MB, is in third position riding Neopolitan with a score of 2.78 faults.

Calgary’s Lynne Teasell is dominating the 1.15m division, holding down first and second position in the standings. Riding Calida, Teasell has a perfect score of zero while her other mount, Verina, has a two-day score of 1.03 penalties. Glynis Barnes of High River, AB, is currently in third position with 1.80 faults riding Millennium Z.

Calgary athletes hold down the top three positions in the 1.20m division. Melissa Macdonald is in the lead with four faults riding Fate. Breanne McAllister and Santos are second with 6.68 faults while Elizabeth Easton is third with 8.45 faults riding Cetro Z.

The race is extremely tight in the 1.30m division, with three big names in the sport filling the top three positions. A member of Canada’s Gold Medal Team at the 1978 World Eventing Championships, Liz Ashton of Victoria, BC, has been fault-free with Vibrance, her eight-year-old chestnut Dutch Warmblood gelding. Canadian Olympian John Anderson is in second position with Valentino with a score of .29 faults while Gary Brewster of West Vancouver, BC, is third with .77 faults riding Cinque Cento Z, an eight-year-old grey Zangersheide gelding owned by Okanagan Show Jumping Stables.

Tamie Phillips of Strathmore, AB, is at the top of the leader board in the 1.40m division. Riding Dressman, Phillips has incurred 6.03 faults over the first two days of competition. Shannon Haney and Natrolite are in second position with 8.95 faults while Germany’s Enrico Suessenbach is third riding Grosso Gold with 11.71 faults.

The $25,000 Western Canadian Championships, introduced in 2010 by the Canadian Equestrian Development League and the Alberta Hunter Horse Society, two Alberta equestrian organizations formed to encourage and grow the sport of show jumping at the grass roots level.

The Rocky Mountain Classic III is the third and final week of show jumping offered in the series. Rocky Mountain Show Jumping hosts its tournaments at Anderson Ranch in Calgary’s south end, a world-class facility featuring permanent stabling for 300 horses and a grass grand prix field complete with natural obstacles. For more information on Rocky Mountain Show Jumping, please visit www.rmshowjumping.com.