Jordan Gibbs and her pony Party Time caught spectators’ attention when they debuted together at the 2017 USEF Pony Finals presented by Collecting Gaits Farm, thanks in large part to Party Time’s flashy looks. The 15-year-old chestnut pony’s liberal splashes of white and his blue eyes made him a striking companion for his nine-year-old rider. But he’s more than that. He’s also Jordan’s best friend.
Gibbs came from Colorado Springs, Colo., along with her brother Dominic, 13, who rode in the large regular pony division. Jordan rode Party Time in the small regular pony hunter division. After finishing 88th in the model, or in-hand, class, Gibbs and Party Time leaped up to 42nd position after a stellar under-saddle performance, finally placing 74th overall out of 122 entries after their jumping round.
“I was very nervous, but once my mom or my trainer or anyone who supports me helped calm me down, I was quite excited,” Jordan said. “They said I should think about the good things and they had me breathe, and that helped me a lot, because I was getting choked up on my thoughts that things could go wrong.”
“From a mom’s perspective, it was educational, lots of fun, and very exhausting!” said mom Erin. “It’s a family affair for us. Jordan’s older brother rides, and I ride. We cheer for each other, and we are at the barn together in the wee hours of the morning and the late hours of the night. We know the joyous ups and the heartbreaking downs. After all the work, preparation, and dreaming about Pony Finals, to have it all come down to 10 fences—it’s a life lesson to always keep going forward. No matter what happens, you can fix mistakes and do better the next day or the next round. Just because you end up in a certain place after one phase, that isn’t necessarily where you’re going to be at the end.
“It wasn’t perfect, but Jordan came out of the ring every time and picked out the best of her experience in each class,” Erin added. “She’d say, ‘Did you see that lead change?’ or ‘Did you see him perk his ears up when we went by the judge?’ or ‘Did you see his extended trot?’ For me, the most special thing was the true joy she had showing off her pony.”
Jordan and Party Time have shared a lot of joy since they first met in April 2016. The Gibbses first leased Party Time from Tim and Sue Herrick after Erin and coach Karen Catov-Goodell saw the pony in Scottsdale, Ariz. The Herricks had gotten him from Arizona horseman Ira Schulman, who found the pony languishing in a pen for horses that had been bought for slaughter.
Party Time and Jordan showed successfully together in 2016 and bonded so closely that Jordan became distressed as the end of the lease neared.
“It seemed that more and more each day, a part of Jordan’s heart became attached to Party Time,” Erin recalled. “It was clear that it wouldn’t just crush her heart if we didn’t find a way to make Party hers—it would change her life. He’s given her that first feeling of true love.”
The Gibbses bought Party Time but kept it a secret from Jordan until the Colorado Fall Classic horse show last September. When the show announcer called Jordan and Party Time as winners of the Children’s Pony Hunter Under Saddle class, he corrected himself when he named the pony’s owner, saying there had been “a last-minute change of ownership” and Party Time now belonged to Jordan.
“I hugged him so tightly around his neck and was sobbing tears of joy,” Jordan remembered.
The trip to Pony Finals was a bonus, but mom Erin says life with Party Time is its own reward for Jordan.
“In May, I lost my horse of a lifetime,” Erin said. “He was 20, and I’d had him since he was two. You Betcha was a champion in every sense. He did everything I could ever imagine doing and more than anyone ever expected he’d do. We evented through preliminary, we did sheriff’s posse and state fair parades, we did jumpers and equitation, we camped out one weekend and the next he’d be at an A show. I leased him out a few times—he was the type that always gave 100% to his rider, and he taught so many to ride with confidence. He truly did everything.
“I knew how Jordan felt,” she said. “It’s not fancy that matters. It’s the chemistry and the love and the lessons they teach that matter.”