The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) Pony Finals is a well-known annual competition, held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky. It might seem like a daunting goal, but four riders chatted with us about how they work hard year-round to make their competition goals a reality.
Locklyn
Locklyn is 9 years old and lives in Warrenton, Va. Her mother runs Picturesque Farm, so she has gotten to grow up surrounded by ponies!
Locklyn is excited to get to show off what she and her pony have learned over the past year with the goal of Pony Finals in mind. She knows that Pony Finals is a big accomplishment.
“I have a lot of lessons, go to smaller local and rated shows, and I attend as many clinics as possible, and I also did a model [in-hand] clinic,” she says. “I keep my pony fit by riding her in the fields and riding her regularly.”
Like a lot of Pony Finals competitors, Locklyn loves to jump! She says that last year, competing over fences was her favorite part of Pony Finals. She also loved doing the Model division.
At home, Locklyn makes sure that not all of her horse time is hardcore show prep. She says her favorite things to do with her ponies include riding them bareback, trail riding, hunter paces, and just having fun.
When she is at other shows, she likes competing in hunter derbies and handy hunter classes.
“My happiest moment was winning the Warrenton Pony Show Derby, as it’s my hometown show, and all of my friends were there!”
Of course, Locklyn knows that when you’re showing ponies, sometimes things don’t always go as planned.
“Remember that mistakes are OK, even if they don’t seem like it,” she advises other young riders. “They’re helping us learn. If you have a bad show, it’s OK to try to learn from it and practice [more] at home.”
Vivian and Nora
Vivian and Nora have a lot in common. They aren’t just sisters—they’re 13-year-old twins! They also share the same goal of going to Pony Finals this year. During the Covid pandemic, when a lot of activities were canceled, Vivian, Nora, and their other sisters hung on to their riding.
After taking weekly lessons for a while, the girls bought a green pony named Clover. At first, the sisters shared rides on Clover, but soon they learned that if they were going to take their riding goals more seriously, it was time to add more ponies to the herd.
That led them to adding Book Smart (“Carma”) to their barn. She was exactly what Vivian wanted: A green chestnut mare that no other kids could ride.
For Nora, Pony Finals has been a long-term goal.
“Pony Finals is the goal because I have been wanting to do it ever since I started riding, and I really like the competitive aspect of it,” she says. “I think that all the hard work that’s gone into my pony would be showcased in an environment of other riders who have also dedicated a lot of time and work.”
Vivian adds that the prep work for Pony Finals helps to develop a well-rounded pony.
“I also think the training leading up to it is hard, and preparation takes a long time, so ultimately the ponies need to be well-trained and talented.”
Nora knows the importance of keeping both herself and her pony fit to accomplish her competitive goals. She participates in a lot of sports, and she focuses strongly on poles and hill work with her pony. She is careful not to jump her pony too much, and she believes that focusing on flatwork helps develop trust between herself and her pony that translates to the jump courses.
Vivian and Nora’s ponies came to them very green. They don’t have a trainer or fancy facility at home, so they get creative to keep their ponies up to par.
Vivian says she does a lot of research and tries a lot of different approaches to see what works best for Carma’s training, and it’s a lot of trial and error.
“This can be an advantage, because we’ve had to be creative with making scary fill and new ways to challenge the ponies through exercises and courses,” says Nora. “This helps instill more confidence and helps them be less fazed when they see these jumps with an abundance of fill.”
While riders on more trained horses might spend their time practicing complicated courses or advanced flatwork, the sisters start with basics.
“I like to give them a lot of confidence and praise because when they’re confident, they are so nice to work with,” says Vivian. “I also think it’s important to keep them interested in their work and get them out of the ring. I think ponies are honest, quick learners, so they can be sneaky and smart. As long as you have confidence and you and your pony trust each other, training them will be 100 times easier, so trust the process!”
Showing with Hearing Loss
Nora has an extra challenge while riding her ponies: hearing loss. But she doesn’t let it stop her from reaching her goals.
“With my hearing loss, it has been pretty hard with riding,” she says. “I’ve had to do a lot more work to try to hear during my lessons. It can get super frustrating and annoying, especially at shows when people can accuse me of cheating. USEF has been very understanding and has come up with solutions along the way that allow me to keep using my hearing aids while showing. Hearing loss has been difficult because it can be hard for me to understand what is being asked, but it has also provided me with new creative ways to help my pony through growing my patience and feel.”
Savannah
Savannah competed at Pony Finals twice: first in 2017 with small pony Poptart, and again in 2019 with small green Farnley Headline.
Now 17 years old, Savannah has moved on to bigger things—literally. She recently started jumping at the grand prix level.
“Diamo CK Z Harry is a mount I’ve had for just under a year,” she says. “I competed at NAYC [FEI North American Youth Championship], Prix Des States, and the National Horse Show with him in 2023, as well as jumping my first grand prix with him last July.”
She is now also competing Catoki’s Son Z (“Tiki”), whom she hopes to take to NAYC this summer, and Icon NR in the jumper ring.
In the hunter ring, Savannah competes Fine Line (“Woods”). She took him to the ASPCA Maclay Finals and Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Final last year. Their goal for this year is the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship this summer. She is also aiming to do the ASPCA Maclay Finals at the National Horse Show with HM Carleton this year.
While Savannah has moved on from riding ponies, she values her time on smaller mounts.
“My favorite thing about Pony Finals was the atmosphere,” she says. “It introduces young riders to the feel of bigger ‘feature’ classes. It gives kids the stepping stone of learning to control their nerves on a big stage, without being too intimidating.”
Savannah completed her first 1.40-meter class in the same ring where she had competed at Pony Finals years before.
“I guarantee that I was more nervous for the small ponies!” she says. “But two years later, it wasn’t as nerve-wracking. The experience of getting in a big ring and jumping a track like that is so beneficial and was a great step toward bigger classes for me.”
Savannah adds that while everyone wants to do well at Pony Finals, just getting there is a huge accomplishment, so her parting advice to kids aiming to compete there?
“Have fun!”
This article about Pony Finals appeared in the July/August 2024 issue of Young Rider magazine. Click here to subscribe!
