Written by guest Sydney Flashman
There’s really only one way to put it: if you’re a pony kid, you know about Pony Finals. For ponies,it’s the biggest show of the year, where hundreds of four legged equines under 14.3 hands travel from all over the country to compete at the Lexington Horse Park in the United States National Pony Finals. Riders with big names, little girls in their first year of the Smalls, and everything in between show up, dying to win one of the coveted titles at the finals, whether it be Grand Pony Hunter Champion, US Pony Jumper National Champion, or United States Marshall and Sterling Pony Medal winner. The winners of these titles become sort of celebrities: articles are published in a variety of well established horse show magazines, pictures published in varying media types, and thousands of little equestrians following their every move, liking their every Instagram picture, dreaming of being just like them when they grow up. But Pony Finals doesn’t start when your mount sets its first hoof in the well-known Walnut and Alltech rings-- not even close. There are weeks, months, years of preparation, thousands of lessons, hundreds of falls, and yes, the stereotypical blood, sweat, and tears. Naturally, not everybody’s journey to Pony Finals is the same, each one unique in its own special way, and mine was no different. This year will be my third year competing at the prestigious finals, but my first time representing Zone 10 in the jumper division. Coming off of last year’s finals, I felt pretty good--I had earned eighth place in the Large Green Pony Model and tenth place overall-- and was, of course, already looking forward to coming back to the horse park in 2016 for another year. I never imagined that a year later, I would be preparing my Belgian Jumping Pony for her first time at the horse park. And while every journey to Lexington’s famous horse park is different, they all start the same way: getting your pony. After I returned from last year’s Pony Finals, my trainers, David and Caroline Sterckx, spoke with my parents in a special, private meeting. I had no idea what was going on, no idea that they were showing my parents a video of Karamel, a beautiful bay mare who was competing in the 1.25 meter divisions in Belgium easily, clearing the huge jumps with no problem. In fact, I didn’t find out until the middle of September, after my parents, grandparents, and a multitude of other relations decided to do their bests to get me my little mare. When I found out, I think I deafened the entire neighborhood with my celebration-- I was very excited. And one vet check and a few weeks later, my pony was stepping her dainty little hooves onto an airplane, ready to fly to her new home in California. The two weeks of quarantine that Karamel was forced to sit through seemed more like two years, but finally, in the beginning of November late on a Friday night, my pony arrived, and my road to Pony Finals began. Let me just say this-- the beginning was not easy. Sometimes, when moving from one mount to the next, the adaptation is smooth, easy to manage. Mine was not. Karamel was nothing like any pony I’d ever ridden before, and there were multiple panicky spook and bolts, a lot of really ugly distances, and a fall or two before we reached our first show, a Verdugo Hills show in Sylmar, California, where my pony and I competed against my barn mates and future teammates Avery Kim and Tabitha Okitsu in our first Pony Jumper class, held at 1.05 meters. There, again, was one panicky spook and bolt and a couple of ugly distances, but we ended up winning our first class. However, we still had our issues. Problems that would take months to surmount, some of which I’m not totally positive I’ve been able to get over, even at this point. Thousands of lessons, hundreds of horrible distances, sweat, blood, and tears. That should be the motto for my journey this year. But for every bad lesson, there was a good one, for every ugly distance, there was a good one, and for every bad round, there was a win, a new achievement, something good. And now I’m here, the Monday before I leave for Pony Finals 2016. Typing this, reminiscing, thinking about how much help I’ve been given, (shoutout to my trainers, my parents, Sophie St. Clair & Stephanie Don for all your help, just a few among a thousand people who deserve thanks) and generally being a mess of excitement, fear, apprehension, terror, impatience, and a thousand other emotions. Looking at the calendar taped up on my door. My pony begins her physical journey to Kentucky in three days. I begin mine in six. Pony Finals 2k16, here we come.
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September 2016
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