Ottawa, Ontario— It was a bronze medal day for the Canadian Juniors and Young Riders competing at 2008 CN North American Junior Young Riders’ Championships (NAJYRC) was held at the Colorado Horse Park in Parker Colorado from July 29–August 3, 2008.

Young Rider Stephanie Rhodes-Bush won individual bronze medal in the Two star Championship division while the Canadian Junior Riders’ Team took the bronze medal with team member Sarah Talaga collecting individual bronze as well.

Rhodes-Bush of Summerland, BC, and her partner Port Authority, a 10 year-old Selle Francais/Thoroughbred gelding, were the lone Canadian entries in the Young Rider Two Star Championship division. The pair was sitting in 12th place following dressage with a score of 57.9. Flawless performances on  both the cross-country course  and the show jumping ring moved them in to the bronze medal spot finishing on their dressage score.

“I am very thrilled with my week in Colorado, and the bronze medal is the icing on the cake. I could not have asked for a better performance from my horse, and I really look forward to getting ready for a 2009 Advanced season,” remarked Rhodes-Bush. “It was fun to be at NAJYRC with the Canadian bronze medal winning one star team. They really made me feel like I was part of their team, even though I competed as an individual. They had an incredible week too. It was fantastic to be part of the whole competition.”

The gold medal went to American Jennifer Brannigan with a score of 36.3. Karen Shull, also of the US, finished with a score of 55.7 for silver.

The Junior one star Championship division, the Canadian team comprised of riders from Ontario and British Columbia included Jacqueline Bradshaw of Sebringville, ON, Julia Norman of Kelowna, BC, Talaga of Richmond Hill, and Marissa Wolfe of Pitt Meadows, BC. Coached by BC’s Rebecca Howard the team worked together to finish with a fantastic team total score of 170.1, just 3.5 points off the silver medal position.

Talaga led the team, partnered with her nine-year-old Polish bred mare Vena. The pair scored 45.9 in dressage, and had no jumping and just 0.8 time faults cross-country to move up to fourth place. One rail for four faults in show jumping resulted in final score of 50.7, and the individual bronze medal.

Wolfe scored 45.5 in dressage, before moving on to cross-country, where she and her horse The Maestro, a 12-year-old Thoroughbred gelding, had a perfectly clean performance. The pair had two rails in show jumping for 8 faults, making their final score 53.5, for sixth place finish individually. Bradshaw and her horse Wizard of Oz, a 13-year-old thoroughbred gelding, received a score of 57.9 in dressage. The paid also had a fault-free cross-country performance, but added eight faults during show jumping to finish on a final score of 65.9, and an individual placing of 16th. 

The US Area IV Team won gold with a score of 161.4, while the US Area VIII & X Team took silver with a score of 166.6. Callie Judy of the US was the individual gold medalist, with fellow American Lindsay Crnkovich earning silver.

The North American Junior/Young Riders Championships are held annually under the rules of the Federation Equestre Internationale (FEI)—the international governing body for equestrian sport. The competition hosts the Olympic disciplines of Eventing, Dressage and Show Jumping and for the first time this year the competition includes the sport of Reining.  Many of the world’s top event riders, including many Olympic gold medalists, got their start at NAJYRC. 

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