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To add to the excitement of the 2007 Prince Philip Cup Games Competition held in conjunction with Rolex/Kentucky 3-Day Event, the USPC announces the addition of a “Celebrity Challenge Round” where well-known Rolex “Celebrities” (current and former competitors, coaches, course designers and other celebrities) will join the six Pony Club teams for a round of games.

The Celebrity Challenge will be held at noon on Friday, April 7th, in the Walnut Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. The “Celebrities” are graduate Pony Club members, both from the United States and from other countries. While the participation of the celebrities depends upon the final Rolex competition schedule, the tentative list of competitors includes:

Mounted Games is a series of relay races on horseback, where the riders must perform different skills while riding at speed. An example is the Balloon Race, where balloons are placed on a board in the middle of a 180 foot arena. The riders race from one end with a pole and pop one balloon while riding past at a gallop, then hand the pole to a teammate at the other end who returns and pops a balloon along the way. The first team to have four riders successfully pop a balloon and cross the finish line wins. These riders also perform games that require them to dismount and pick an object off of the ground and then vault back on to the pony as it moves out – no stirrups, just jump and pull on! A picture beats a thousand words with this sport.

The United States Pony Clubs, Inc. (USPC) was founded in 1954 as a nonprofit national youth organization to teach riding and horsemanship through a formal educational program. Many of the nation’s top equestrians, including our Olympic team members, have Pony Club roots. Members range in age from as young as 4 through age 25. Activities are English-riding based, and members ride both horses and ponies, depending on the size of the rider and the discipline in which s/he is competing. Pony Club competition is team competition, much like the Olympic games, where members learn the importance of cooperation and teamwork.