Jumper champions Sydney Shulman and Set Sail (USEF Archives/Randi Muster) Lexington, KY—It was a day of champions at the 2009 USEF Pony Finals as ribbons and top honors were handed out in the Regular Pony Hunters as well as the Individual Jumper Finals at the Kentucky Horse Park on a sun-drenched day where the competition was as hot as the weather. Beginning early in the day was the Medium Pony Hunters where there was no shortage of graceful rides and impressive rounds from the ponies....

Team Gold medalists—Zone 8—from the Team Jumper competition. (USEF Archive/Randi Muster) Lexington, KY —Last night the joint was, as they say, jumpin’. Day three of the five-day USEF Pony Finals National Championships kicked off this morning with Phase I for the Regular Pony Hunters (model and under saddle), moved on to the Small Pony over fences class, and segued by sunset into the rousing 2009 USEF National Pony Jumper Team Championship. This year’s Small Pony Hunter title...

The Morgan Open High-Point Award is sponsored by the American Morgan Horse Association (AMHA) and is available to open equestrian competitions around the country. Currently more than 150 events will be offering the award to competitors exhibiting with a registered Morgan. Okan Crescent (Equinox Beaubrook x Okan Li'l Darling) won high-point Morgan at the Beavercreek CDE with Don Curtis at the reins. Don and his wife, Mary, of Oroville, WA, own this beautiful bay mare. The event was held in...

Small equines from all across the nation turned out in a big way for the 121st Shetland Pony Congress Show, resulting in the largest competition in five years. The versatile Shetland Ponies competed at the Crossroads Arena in Cloverdale, IN, for national championship titles in classes such as driving, halter, jumping, youth and costume classes while owners competed for “best groomed” pony and youth members wrote essays hoping to win a Shetland Pony of their own. “Congress was a great...

Imagine the scenario. Sitting under a shaded tent facing a perfectly manicured and maintained hunter ring. Free food abounds. Dozen upon dozen of pony riders are mounted upon the most gorgeous ponies you have ever seen in your life. You get to kick back, relax and take in this awesome environment, free of stress or cares. Just another day in the life of this very lucky journalist and editor. Yes…the 2009 USEF Pony Finals is under way at the Kentucky Horse Park, and for the first time in...

Maddy Darst (USEF Archive/Randi Muster) Lexington, KY—There is a lot that goes into the makings of a champion pony. Just ask Ohio’s Meredith “Maddy” Darst. She would know. And to prove it, two of her mounts—Rock the Boat and Brownland’s Mr. Mac—jumped their way through the over fences phase of the 2009 United States Equestrian Federation Pony Finals National Championships to take the Medium Green Hunter Pony and the Small Green Hunter Pony champion...

Taylor Ann Adams bested the top junior talent in the nation by winning the 2009 Essex Classics/United States Hunter Jumper Association (USHJA) Hunterdon Cup Equitation Class in Saugerties, NY. Adams of Memphis, TN, secured her victory in the third and final round of the prestigious equitation class after switching mounts with reserve champion Quincy Hayes. “Quincy helped me out in the schooling area before the final round,” Adams said. “Her horse was a lot of horse for me to ride and completely...

Hi Hopes Farm, of Charlotte, NC, took home multiple tricolor ribbons and trophies after a successful two weeks of competition at the 86th Annual Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show. Lucille Oken received the Jennifer Cox Memorial Trophy for high-point rider showing horses and ponies. Alise Oken took home the Large Junior 16-17 Hunter championship award after her excellent performance with her top mount, Take Away. Alise and Lucille Oken both train under the tutelage of top instructors Steve...

Spectators were treated to a spectacular display of harmony between athlete and rider with a one day equestrian vaulting demonstration competition during the 2009 Adequan FEI North American Junior/Young Rider Championsip Presented by Gotham North. Top Equestrian Vaulters from the US and Canada competed for honors with their Freestyle and Technical routines in the Van Lennep Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. This marks the first time that Equestrian Vaulting was included in the...

The North American Young Riders Endurance ride took place on Friday, July 24. It was run concurrently with the FEI North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC) and for the first time all three North American countries were represented. Held in the rolling hills of Henryville, IN, riders competed against the clock for team and individual medals. Heavy rains left the ride’s 75-mile course a bit more treacherous, requiring riders to be extra cautious. The Individual Gold and Silver...