Tryon, N.C. – The Katydid Combined Driving Event at Tryon International Equestrian Center was the host for the 2025 USEF Driving National Championships for Ponies last week, and a total of 10 new national champions emerged from the event.
Advanced Single Pony: Fferm Gwenffrwd Onyx Star with Sarah Reitz
The longtime partnership of Sarah Reitz (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and Fferm Gwenffrwd Onyx Star (Hilin Peredur x Cotrell Charmer), her own 2017 Welsh Pony gelding, added another accolade to their resume by earning the top spot in this year’s championship. Scores in the division were close, making for an exciting three phases.
“We’ve been working on dressage a lot over the winter, so I was glad that we were all close in numbers,” said Reitz. “The shoulder in is sort of a new movement in [the CDI3* pony] test, so that’s something we worked on quite a bit. And the canter departures—we’ve worked on being rounder and more supple in the canter work. There’s a lot of canter in that test, so they have to be pretty strong. It’s a fun test.”
The marathon is the strongest phase for “Onyx,” and the pair pulled into the lead after earning the best score of the day in that phase.
“It seems that Onyx’s happy place is running the marathon,” said Reitz. “He put in a good marathon despite the mud, which just made it more fun! We were completely destroyed by the time we got back—completely covered in mud. It was excellent, and it didn’t bother him. He still put in a good performance.”
Reitz and Onyx were far enough ahead that they kept the lead despite having a ball down in the cones phase. Their win on a score of 154.17 gave them a razor-thin margin ahead of reserve champions Amy Cross (Chestertown, Md.) and Wendy O’Brien’s 2010 Welsh Cob gelding, Eulenhof Spencer, who finished with a 154.5.
“It’s a fun group, that whole group that shows in the Advanced Pony. We all get along,” said Reitz. “We all hang out together, so it’s kind of fun. We definitely have pushed each other, because it’s a tight-scoring group, so I’ve worked really hard on my dressage and my cones, and I was glad to get my dressage scores better.”
Reitz has had Onyx since he was a weanling, and over their 18 years together, they’ve earned plenty of top finishes. Reitz hopes to add the FEI World Championships to their record and is working toward making the team this September. Reitz said that if he does get to compete at this year’s world championship, that would most likely lead to a transition in his career.
“When he comes back from pony worlds, I’d probably let him go back to teaching the next generation,” she said. “He was on lease to a junior driver before I started driving him again, so he does a good job of teaching other people, so we’d let him go back to prelim or intermediate. We have a junior driver who drives with us and would like to move up to intermediate, so that’s an option.”
Advanced Pair Pony: Jack and Jill with Colten Parker
First-time 3* competitor Colten Parker (Batavia, Ohio) came to compete with his pair of full-sibling Welsh Pony crosses, Jack and Jill. Though the pairs division was uncontested, Parker’s successful completion was the result of years of dedication to reaching the level. Tryon had been on his radar as a 3* opportunity once he’d met his qualifications.
“We always like going to Tryon,” he said. “It’s a super facility, run really well, and [competition manager] Jennifer Matheson always does a great job putting on the event. Unfortunately, the weather was a little crummy up until Friday morning—they were getting monsoons there. But the marathon wasn’t as slushy as we were anticipating and wasn’t too hard on the horses.”
Parker and his team had an inauspicious start together when he first acquired the ponies around 14 years ago.
“We found these two ponies on Craigslist, of all things,” he said. “Jack is 18 this year, and Jill is 17, so I got them when they were around three and four. We didn’t do too much driving when we first got them—we literally got the horse before the cart. I didn’t have any carriages or harnesses at the time. I was around 14 or 15 when we got these ponies. It was a lot of groundwork, a lot of ground driving, and just getting acquainted with these two ponies.”
Parker now works with his friend and trainer, Jacob Arnold, who he credits with helping him reach the FEI levels with his ponies.
“I don’t think I would have had the encouragement to start showing at the FEI level without his help,” said Parker. “Sometimes you get so comfortable at a certain level, but he’s been really supportive with the ponies and taking them to another level.”
Jack and Jill are still going strong in their late teens, and Parker is happy to keep driving them as long as they’re still fit and happy in their work.
“We keep up with all types of vet work,” he said. “They get really good nutrition. We have the bodywork, laser, joint injections—everything that we can do to make the ponies comfortable at their age and at the level we’re competing at. We always want to make sure that their vet care is really outstanding so they’re able to do what we ask them to do and not be uncomfortable.”
Parker does have a young pony in the wings who he hopes to start working into pairs competition. Keeping on theme, “Joker” was a Facebook marketplace find by Parker’s wife, Kiri, a dressage rider and trainer. Joker is a 7-year-old Hackney who shows a good temperament for the sport horse world. He’ll be making his driving debut as a single pony this year.
“We’re going to take him up slow,” said Parker. “I’m certainly not trying to rush his career. So he probably won’t be showing in a pair for another two years, but he’s going to be in it for the long haul.”
Intermediate Single Pony: Chardonnay with Tracey Turner
Tracey Turner (Windsor, S.C.) and Chardonnay (Casino Royale K x Bella Bagira), her own 2009 German Riding Pony gelding, earned a hard-fought victory in the Intermediate Single Pony championship. They climbed up from fourth place after dressage, earning the second-best finish in the marathon and a winning cones round to secure victory on a 133.1. Hilary Mroz-Blythe (Leverett, Ma,) and Sultan, her own 2018 Anglo European gelding, were close behind as Reserve Champions.
Intermediate Pair Pony: Odden’s Ildar and Odden’s Tellinor with Phillip Odden
Phillip Odden (Barronett, Wisc.) took home the Intermediate Pair Pony National Championship with Odden’s Ildar (Smedsmo Graen x Odden’s Wood’s Eirose), his own 2008 Norwegian Fjord gelding, and Odden’s Tellinor (Unknown x Odden’s Josefine), his own 2019 Norwegian Fjord mare, on a score of 153.41.
Preliminary Single VSE: Sassy and Kim Ciulla
Kim Ciulla (Bloomfield, N.Y.) with Sassy, her own 2013 Miniature Horse mare, were the wire-to-wire winners of the Prelim Single VSE division. They finished with a winning score of 112.86. Mary Baldwin (Morris, Okla.) and her own 2017 Miniature gelding, Mac, took home Reserve Champion honors.
Preliminary Pair Small Pony: Gaslight Andras and Gaslight Armani with Carole Grimsley
Carole Grimsley (Ringgold, Ga.) drove her own pair of Welsh Pony full brothers, Gaslight Andras (Ceulan Lwcus x Randan Absolutely Fabulous) and Gaslight Armani, to a win in the Preliminary Pair Small Pony division with a score of 130.13
Preliminary Single Pony: Ragtime Up In Smoke and Alice Baughman
Alice Baughman (Ridgeville, S.C.) drove her own Ragtime Up in Smoke (Robbie Sue’s Sweet Success x Velvet Midnight Lace), a 2007 Morgan gelding, to victory in the Preliminary Single Pony championship. Scores were close in the division, but the pair clinched the win thanks to a dressage score within 2.5 points of the leader, a second-place finish in the marathon, and a clear cones round to complete their weekend with a 107.23. Felicity Demitry (Geneva, N.Y.) drove Sarah Reitz’s High Hopes Bugatti, a 2009 Welsh Pony stallion, to a score of 112.19 and the Reserve Champion title.
Preliminary Pair Pony: Bayshore Pastime and Tulipkings Maverick with Megan Fullgraf
Megan Fullgraf (Reidsville, N.C.) earned the Preliminary Pair Pony championship with Bayshore Pastime (Farnley Swing Time x Shenandoah Atlantis), her own 2011 Dartmoor Pony mare, and Tulipkings Maverick (Bayshore Thorn x Tulipkings Gipsy Queen), her own 2016 Dartmoor gelding. Fullgraf and her pair moved up from second place after dressage with a winning marathon and a fault-free cones to finish on a 117.05. Patti Rozensky (Archer, Fla.) drove her own LLF Lucent, a 2012 Hackney gelding, and LLF Bella Luce, a 2017 Hackney mare, to the Reserve Championship.
Training Single VSE: The Flying Ace with Sammie Jo Allen
Sammie Jo Allen (Versailles, Ky.) with The Flying Ace, her own 2016 American Miniature/Shetland gelding, had three good phases, including a double-clear cones run, en route to winning the Training Single VSE National Championship on a score of 103.62
Training Single Pony: White Tie Affair WRP and Sonia Williams
Sonia Williams (Paris, Ky.) with White Tie Affair WRP (Liam Bec x Zahra), her own 2020 Gypsy Sport Horse mare, topped the Training Single Pony division, winning both the dressage and cones phases and finishing a close second in the marathon. They finished on a score of 90.26. Ashley Mount (Towanda, Pa.) and Fancy, a 2015 Dutch Harness Horse cross mare owned by Sarah Reitz, finished as Reserve Champion.
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