At the recent Equestrian NSW CCI*** Three-Day Event in Sydney, Australia, Megan Jones was in third place at the end of the dressage phase and maintained that position throughout her cross-country ride. In the stadium jumping phase, her mount Kirby Park Allofasudden knocked down one rail to slip to fifth place out of fifteen riders who completed the event. In an extremely close finish, Jones was only two points behind the eventual champion.

At the same event, Jones claimed a first-place finish on Kirby Park Irish Empress in the Equitak Excel CIC*.

Jones is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research.

To add to her impressive achievements, world-class eventer and KER-sponsored rider Megan Jones was recently named Coach of the Year at Equestrian Australia's 2011 Sport Achievement Awards of Excellence. A well-respected coach, mentor, and role model, Megan has achieved many accomplishments during her career. Megan coaches the South Australian State Interschool's team, and the elite athletes on that squad speak highly of her dedication and passion. A role model of many young Australian athletes, Megan's coaching skills were evidenced when she trained Grace Bowman, who competed in the 2010 World Para-Equestrian Games.  

Adding to her list of accomplishments, the Olympic silver medalist established Kirby Park Stud in South Australia, which focuses on breeding, training, and competing high-quality performance horses. Among the horses at Kirby Park Stud is Kirby Park Irish Jester, named Equestrian Federation (EA) South Australia Eventing Horse of the Year and leader of the FEI World Rankings in 2009.

Megan feeds her horses KER-formulated Barastoc feeds from Ridley AgriProducts, as well as nutritional supplements by KER. Megan is a great supporter of KER products, "Full-fat, no grain, plenty of energy. I can't rave enough about Equi-Jewel! Kirby Park Irish Jester was diagnosed with stress founder from international travel in 2010, but he has now returned to work and competition at the four-star level. He did it on Equi-Jewel and Barastoc Competitor feed. He gets all of the energy he needs from those feeds, and I have no fears of him foundering again."

Event rider Megan Jones, a Beijing Olympic Games silver medalist, won the Camperdown Horse Trials in mid-April, bolstering her hopes for London Olympic selection. She was leading at the end of the dressage phase and carried her lead through the cross-country round. In the stadium phase, Jones knew she would have to jump a clear round to win, and her horse Kirby Park Allofasudden put in a flawless performance to place first at the end of the competition.

Jones' next event is the Australian national Olympic team selection event in Sydney. She is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research.

Megan Jones, a top international eventing competitor, is sharing her training and experience by coaching and mentoring up-and-coming riders. Jones recently coached New Zealand rider Abby Lawrence and her mount Pseudonym at Lawrence's first three-star effort at the Lakes and Craters Three-Day Event. Lawrence said, "Being coached by Megan is hard work, but it is very rewarding. I'm learning new stuff every day. Megan puts things in an easy way to understand; she puts it in your language."

After helping Lawrence warm up for her dressage test, in which she rode to a fourth-place standing, Jones' advice for cross-country day consisted of many helpful tips but was summed up in a simple final tip: "Don't fall off, and jump all the fences!" Obviously this was a good plan, and horse and rider had an excellent round.

Lawrence had one rail down in the stadium jumping but she finished in second place overall, a very commendable result for a first effort at the three-star level.

Jones is sponsored by Barastoc and Kentucky Equine Research (KER). Barastoc is a Brand Alliance Partner of KER.

Equestrian Australia (EA) has announced the 2012 National Squads. Megan Jones and her nine-year-old Thoroughbred gelding Kirby Park Allofasudden have been selected for the Eventing National "A" squad. The Elite- and "A" Squad-listed combinations for dressage, eventing, jumping, and para-equestrian will form the Shadow Teams for the 2012 Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Brett Mace, Equestrian Australia's High Performance Manager, explained the composition of the Shadow Teams. "Elite-listed combinations are presently the front-runners for the Olympic and Paralympic teams," he said.  "However, I am sure our "A" Squad members will make the most of every opportunity to claim a place on the team through exceptional performances in the lead-up to London. Through the National Performance Directors and selection panels, we will continue to monitor our combinations at major events prior to nominations being due to the Australian Paralympic Committee and the Australian Olympic Committee in May and June."

Megan Jones is sponsored by Kentucky Equine Research (KER) and Barastoc, a KER Team Member. Jones and Kirby Park Allofasudden have had a consistent season and will certainly be looking to catch the selectors' eye at events in the near future.

Megan Jones finished sixth and twelfth on Kirby Park Allofasudden and Kirby Park Irish Jester respectively at the Australian International Three Day Event held at Adelaide.

Kirby Park Irish Jester made an impressive return to top-level eventing, winning the dressage with a formidable score of 43.3. Unfortunately, a stop at the water complex on cross-country saw the pair drop out of contention. Despite the stop, Megan is ecstatic that Jester, who has been out of competition for over a year, had a great round and "felt like he had never been out of work." One rail in show jumping saw the pair finish commendably just out of the top ten.

Megan's other ride, Kirby Park Allofasudden, had a consistent event, finishing fifteenth after dressage, then picking up four time penalties cross-country and one show jumping rail to finish sixth overall.

Kentucky Equine Research (KER) and Australian Team Member Barastoc recently returned from a successful four days at Equitana Sydney.

Barastoc/KER booth at Equitana

KER and Barastoc offered competitions, diet advice, merchandise, and products at their stand. They also took the opportunity to launch Barastoc Cool Command and Barastoc Competitor, two exciting new products containing beet pulp. Beet pulp is a highly digestible fibre source that has not previously been available in Australian complete feeds.

The stand was a hive of activity, and the new feeds attracted plenty of attention. A competition to win an all-expenses-paid trip to South Australia and a trail ride with KER/Barastoc- sponsored event rider Megan Jones also proved very popular, with a record number of entries.

After the success of the event in Sydney, the team is now looking forward to the Melbourne event next year.

For more information on the new Barastoc feeds, contact KER or Ridley Agriproducts.

The best eventing and show jumping riders in Australia will compete at the inaugural equestrian grand final jumping and exhibition eventing, held as part of Equitana.

The field of 18 includes the cream-of-the-crop, including international star and KER-sponsored rider Chris Chugg, who will be riding Diamond B Vigo, a daughter of his 2010 World Equestrian Games mount Vivant.

In the exhibition eventing, the field of 15 will boast many of Australia's leading riders, including KER and Barastoc sponsored rider, Megan Jones.

Traditionally the exciting sport of eventing requires wide-open spaces. However, exhibition eventing has been developed to capture the spirit and skill of eventing in a more confined area, providing the opportunity for fans to get close to this adrenaline-packed sport.

The equestrian grand final jumping will be held from 7:30 to 9:00 p.m. Friday, 11 November, in the spectacular 5,000-seat indoor Dome Arena at Sydney Showground.

The exhibition eventing final will be held from 4:30 to 7:30 p.m. Sunday, 13 November, in the main arena at Sydney Showground.

Megan Jones' four-star event horse, Kirby Park Irish Jester, has made a successful return to eventing following a relatively tough year.

Megan Jones and Kirby Park Irish Jester

Megan said she is extremely happy with how "Festy" has come back into work.

"The team here has been working really hard on him in conjunction with my wonderful farrier to get him back to the Festy we all know and love," Jones said. "He is building up more body bulk as he can be fed more now that he is being worked. He is on a diet of Barastoc and KER feed.

"He started back to work in June with quiet longeing and then I started riding him in mid July. He has jumped half a dozen times and with each session he feels more confident in his feet and is feeling pretty much normal, if not better than last year!"

Festy made his first appearance at a CNC two-star at Mount Gambier in late August.

"He was super happy to be out and I didn't even have to go really slow cross country. He loved it. So now we take it one week at a time and see if he can get to Adelaide in November," Jones said.

The Megan Jones Eventing Team (MJET) had another highly successful weekend at the Reynella Horse Trials on its home turf in South Australia.

Kirby Park Allofasudden and Megan produced another smashing dressage test, scoring 75% and winning the class from start to finish. Megan's second ride, Westbury Park Grove, took second place in his first-ever three-star start after dressage. A minor error on cross-country saw them have a glance off at one fence, but they certainly made up for the green error by going clear in the showjumping to take second place in final standings. 

The youngsters of the team, Kirby Park Irish Tom, Kirby Park Irish Empress, and Dashwood Westerly, all produced solid dressage tests, and went well cross-country and showjumping to place second, third, and fifth respectively in the Pre Novice.

Results included:

Kirby Park Allofasudden - First Place CNC***
Westbury Park Grove - Second Place CNC***
Kirby Park Irish Tom - Second Place Pre Novice
Kirby Park Irish Empress - Third Place Pre Novice
Dashwood Westerly - Fifth Place Pre Novice