Medium Green Hunter Pony Championship
Madeline Schaefer and Leon (Shawn McMillen Photography)
Schaefer (Westminster, Md.) and her and Catherine Nicholas’ Welsh pony gelding, Leon, were in third place heading into the final phase after earning 266.78 in the Model phase and 245.30 in the Under Saddle phase. A strong performance in the Over Fences phase gave the pair a score of 236.51 to finish the phase in third place. Schaefer and Leon’s efforts in the three phases garnered an overall score of 985.10, giving them the Medium Green Hunter Pony Champion title.
Leon was imported from Europe earlier this year and has only been showing Medium Green classes since April, making his US Pony Finals performance all the more impressive. Schaefer noted that his reserved but sweet attitude make him a pleasure to work with and ride.
“You kind of have to kick him in gear but then he just kind of takes over,” Schaefer, a US Pony Final veteran, explained of his workmanlike way of going in the over fences phase.
Another frequent competitor at the US Pony Finals, Daisy Farish (Versailles, Ky.), rode Brighton Heartbreaker to Reserve Champion honors with an overall score of 977.53. She and the six-year-old Welsh Pony Cross mare owned by Phoebe Weseley and River Run Farm LLC scored 259.89, 260.00, and 228.82 in the Model, Under Saddle, and Over Fences phases, respectively, to come in second in the championship division.
The third-place ribbon in the Medium Green Hunter Pony Championship went to Emma Kurtz (Hudson, Ohio) and True Colors. She and Joseph White’s six-year-old Mecklenberg gelding received 251.85 in the Model phase and 237.00 in the Under Saddle phase and won the Over Fences phase with a score of 240.58, boosting them from seventh to third in the overall standings with a final total of 970.01.
Large Green Hunter Pony Championship
Kirklen Petersen and For the Best (Shawn McMillen Photography)
Petersen (Great Falls, Va.) rode Bestee Parker’s For the Best to top honors in the Large Green Hunter Pony Championship, finishing on a score of 992.77. She and the eight-year-old Welsh/Oldenburg gelding garnered scores of 252.64 in the Model phase and 246.43 in the Under Saddle phase on Thursday. The pair sealed the deal Friday evening by earning 246.85 in the Over Fences phase, winning the title by just over nine-tenths of a point.
“He is definitely my [kind of] ride,” Petersen stated. “He just wants you to leave him alone, pick up a canter, and let him do what he does best. He’s an amazing jumper, he has a huge stride. He’s really fun and he is one of my favorites to ride.”
Parker thought Petersen and For the Best would be a good match and she was right, with the pair having much success during the FTI Consulting Winter Equestrian Festival. Petersen last showed For the Best at the end of June but they were right back in sync this week, a true testament to their pairing.
“He doesn’t act like a green pony at all,” Petersen said. “You can just go in there and go around, he’s great about that kind of thing. I was very confident in him.”
To make their evening even better, For the Best was named the Overall Reserve Grand Champion Green Hunter Pony. The title of Overall Grand Champion Green Hunter Pony went to Smitten, a six-year-old Welsh pony cross-bred gelding, owned and ridden by Sophia Calamari.
Taylor St Jacques (Glen Allen, Va.) and Empire’s Victory received the Reserve Champion Large Green Hunter Pony title with a score of 991.84. St Jacques and Kelly Tellier’s six-year-old Welsh Pony Cross gelding had an impressive Model phase score of 264.14, taking home top honors in the first phase of the championship. The pair then collected scores of 249.06 and 239.32 in the Under Saddle and Over Fences phases to round out a solid performance.
Peyton Warren (Rancho Murieta, Calif.) and Chiccobello made their trip from California worthwhile by coming in third in the Large Green Hunter Pony Championship. After scoring 236.89 in the Model phase and 246.25 in the Under Saddle phase, she and Alexa Leong’s seven-year-old German Riding Pony gelding shot up the leaderboard by claiming the win in the Over Fences phase with a score of 250.23. The pair ended up on an overall score of 983.60
The US Hunter Pony Championships presented by Sallee Horse Vans cotinue Saturday with ponies in the Medium Regular Hunter Pony Championship completing their Over Fences phase to determine who will receive the National title.
To learn more about the 2014 US Pony Finals, visit www.ponyfinals.org.
For results, schedules and more, visit http://usefconnect.com/ponyfinals/.