Lexington, Ky. – Friday marked the start of the second half of the 2025 USEF Pony Finals presented by Marshall + Sterling and added another four national championships to the record books. In the Rolex Stadium, the medium green and large green ponies concluded their championships. On the jumper side, the team competition for the large ponies wrapped up while the small/medium pony jumpers closed out their week with the individual finals.
Medium Green Pony Hunter National Championship
The medium greens had their turn over fences on Friday. Out of the more than 60 ponies in the class, it was IDream, a 2015 Welsh Pony cross gelding owned by Orion Farm and Linda Evans and ridden by Samantha Smith (Montvale, N.J.) with the winning round. True Story, a 2013 German Riding Pony gelding shown by owner Morgan Stewart (King George, Va.) finished second. Qualen’s Mystical, a 2018 Welsh Pony cross gelding owned by Allrsfarm LLC and shown by Finley Baras (Bedford Corners, Conn.) finished third.
With their win in the model and a fourth-place finish under saddle, Qualen’s Mystical (Maple Side Mr. Magic x Foxmor Ooh La La) and Baras managed to clinch the national champion title by less than a point. Fourteen-year-old Baras is a seasoned Pony Finals competitor, but Qualen’s Mystical is the pony who will go down in history as her first national champion.
“This is definitely my best result,” she said. “I’ve been close to winning, but it’s never actually happened. It feels very exciting; it almost doesn’t feel real yet.”
Qualen’s Mystical is a catch ride for Baras, who just started riding him a few weeks ago.
“I wanted to make sure I gave him a good, confident ride,” she said. “It didn’t really matter about the outcome, just that he had a good experience. He likes to know that [his rider is] there with him and that you’re not going to abandon him at the jump. He just needs someone to help him around, because he’s still young.”
This national champion title marks the second one going to Baras-ridden ponies this week. Finley’s sister Logan won yesterday in the small regulars. Both sisters ride with Michael DelFiandra and his team at Grafton Ridge.
“Sometimes we do argue, but we cheer each other on all the time,” said Baras. “This morning I was really nervous, and she was like, ‘Don’t be nervous! You’re going to do great!’”
Taking home the reserve national champion title was IDream and Samantha Smith, followed by True Story and Morgan Stewart in third.
Large Green Pony Hunter National Championship
It was a close finish in the over fences phase for the large greens, but in the end, Mufasa, a 2019 Warmblood gelding owned by Julian Steward and shown by Sienna Rossano (Fishers, Ind.) secured the blue ribbon by less than two-tenths of a point. Gentleman, a 2017 Welsh Pony cross gelding shown and owned by Ellie Wexler (Houston, Texas) took the second spot while Jax Sparrow, a 2019 Warmblood gelding owned by Peter Pletcher and shown by Faith Schuttemeyer (Boynton Beach, Fla.) finished in third.
Mufasa (Coer Noble x Ma Jolie) and Rossano earned their spot on the top of the overall large green leaderboard to secure the national champion title. While this was “Mouf’s” first Pony Finals outing, Rossano is a veteran who showed to a national championship in 2024 as well. An in-demand rider, she has a busy week at this year’s Pony Finals.
“Yesterday I showed a medium and he was good,” she said. “My small was good, and I have another one tomorrow. Today was really good.”
Rossano trains with Cara Cheska, who attributes her success as a catch rider to a combination of her talent, work ethic, and the opportunities she’s had starting at a young age.
“Nerves of steel and experience,” said Cheska. “She’s been here many years; there are children older than her who don’t have the experience. She’s been in these high pressure situations. She’s strong and accurate, and soft at the same time. A really fantastic thing about Sienna is that nothing bothers her. She’s very good at handling things if they’re great or if they’re not going great, she doesn’t give up. She comes right back at it and tries harder.”
Mufasa is trained by Anna Schierholz for her clients, the Steward family.
“I had my very good friends, Steven Cottrell and Matt Piccolo searching far and wide to find the exact right pony,” said Schierholz. “Matt was in Ocala and found this pony.”
“He was a stallion until a year and a half or two years ago, and he has just the right amount of machismo,” said Cottrell. “He wants to win, and you look at him and you just feel it. It’s hard to pass up a horse that gives you that feeling.”
“That was our hope for today, that he could go out and show everybody the type of pony that we know he is,” said Schierholz. “He’s special. He actually is perfect.”
Orchard Zweed, a 2015 Dutch Warmblood gelding owned by Rivers Edge and shown by Charlotte Morassutti (Toronto, Ont.) was the overall reserve champion. Jax Sparrow and Faith Schuttemeyer finished in third.
Large Pony Jumper Team National Championship
Team competition for the 2025 USEF Pony Jumper National Championship concluded on Friday with the large ponies as 18 teams vied for the podium. After two rounds of Nations Cup-style jumping, the Zone 4 Team 1 athletes were able to edge out the team from Zone 8/9 by just one second during the timed second phase.
For the team competition, the goal was to complete clear rounds and teams could have one drop score. The winners were determined by the combined times from the second round, where they jumped the same track as the first round. Zone 4 Team 1 included Clementine Jordan with Cillbhrid Pippa, Maddyn Vatland with Class Act George, Callan O'Toole with Drumlane Oscar, and Brooke Buras with Blue By You. Jordan, O’Toole and Vatland all completed double clear rounds to end with a team score of zero faults and the fastest combined time of 156.70 seconds.
Ten-year-old Jordan enjoyed the course for the day’s championship saying, “The course was great – nice and twisty turny, which Pippa and I love. My round was awesome and so was Pippa!”
Fourteen-year-old Vatland added, “I've never been to Pony finals, but it has been great! The course was a little challenging, but my pony loves those turns, so it made it fun.”
Bringing home the gold medal was exciting for all the athletes. “It feels great, and I had no idea this was going to happen,” said 9-year-old O’Toole. “I've had my pony for a year and we've developed a very good bond. My pony thought the course was a little challenging, but it was fun.”
Sixteen-year-old Buras was very complimentary of the new format that debuted this year, which lowered the heights to qualify and divided them by pony size. She said, “I've been to Pony Finals in the hunters, but without the rule change, I probably would've never gotten to experience the jumpers on my pony.”
The silver medal went to Zone 8/9, who were hot on their heels with 0 faults and a time of 157.53 seconds. Their team included Zahara Henderson with Star Wish, Jacqueline Sherer with Diarado Des Cibaudes, Lillian Thomas with The Duchess, and Elin Uhrig with Juan Bay.
After the conclusion of the competition, the team athletes took to the podium to receive their medals, cheered on by their friends and family. The gold and silver medal teams were joined by the bronze medalists from Zone 5/6, which included Caroline Sather with Wildcard, Vivian Erickson with Book Smart, Nora Erickson with Chance of a Lifetime, and Lucy Rofidal with Laced With Grace.
The final event for athletes will be Saturday’s Large Individual jumping finals to conclude this year’s USEF Pony Jumper National Championships.
Small/Medium Pony Jumper Individual Championship
An impressive field of 44 athletes was whittled down to 15-way jump-off on Friday afternoon in the Claiborne Ring during the 2025 USEF Small/Medium Pony Jumper National Championship. Cisy Zhou (New York, N.Y.), was the best of the day to claim the gold medal, topping the speed phase with a blazing time aboard Ka-Chow, a 2012 Welsh Pony mare owned by Southside Equestrian, LLC.
“It feels amazing to win today,” said Zhou. “The new format is really cool - it feels like going to a mini Olympics. During the jump-off, I was just trying to put in a smooth round, do all the tight turns and trust my pony.”
It was a strategy that paid off, going straight to the top of the podium as they crossed the finish line with all the rails intact in a time of 28.882 seconds, a full second ahead of the silver and bronze medalists. Grace Green came the closest to catching them with Bjerregards Katja, breaking the beam in 30.155 seconds for the silver medal. Lacey Powers took home the bronze medal with A&M Betty's Secret after finishing the track in a clear 30.616 seconds.
All the three athletes returned to the center of the ring to stand proudly on the podium with Zhou earning the top spot.
Zhou has been riding Ka-Chow for two years, starting in the Itty Bitty Jumpers at the Winter Equestrian Festival in 2024. Zhou explained, “She needs a soft hand, steering, but she does all the work for you. She's amazing!”
While Ka-Chow lives in Florida, Zhou is based in New York. Zhou is able to ride her other ponies every day in the summer with her trainer Patricia Griffith at Heritage Farm, and every weekend during the school year.
“Cisy rode great – today was amazing,” said Griffith. “We were a little conservative yesterday, but that actually worked to our advantage because she's like, ‘Okay, I didn't go as fast as I thought I was going and I can go much faster.’ We haven't shown this pony in a ring that big, so I think she underestimated that yesterday – that she could have let it rip a little bit more. But the way the format worked for our pony was actually better…I thought the format was great because we're trying to encourage good riding and not just speed. Even the jump off was more about the turns than it was about flat running – I liked the course a lot.”
While Friday concluded the small/medium pony section of the championships, the final event will be Saturday’s large individual jumping finals to close out this year’s USEF Pony Jumper National Championships.
How to Watch
The 2025 USEF Pony Finals presented by Marshall + Sterling is streaming live on USEF Network. US Equestrian fans, subscribers, and members can access the live stream, and subscribers and members will be able to watch replays on demand. Learn more here.
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