2009 Pony Finals Bound

The USEF Pony Finals National Championships is considered the Mecca for ponies, and the competition is a popular goal for many riders throughout the country.

The competition attracts the best of the green pony hunters, regular pony hunters and pony jumpers from all over the country to one location. Unlike at a typical show, each competitor can only show one pony in each division, and the entered rider is the only person who may school the pony throughout the week. It’s truly a showcase of that special child and pony relationship.

This year three young riders, Katie Ramsey, Louise Graves and Amanda Patton, will attend the finals at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, on Aug. 4-9.

For Ramsey, competing at Pony Finals has always been a major goal.

“She’s pretty tenacious about forming goals and making them work,” trainer David Wright said of the 13-year-old native of Mount Juliet, Tenn.

That tenacity and determination has been useful for Ramsey, whose road to Pony Finals has not been easy. She owns and shows one pony, Champlain Charade, a 6-year-old Welsh-Thoroughbred mare. Wright found the medium pony in Florida 21⁄2 years ago, recognizing the pony’s raw talent. But working with a young, inexperienced pony was a challenge for Ramsey, then 11.

“When I got Charade, she was really green,” remembered Ramsey. “I had to work really hard to get her to where she was rideable. She was a stopper, and she couldn’t canter that well.”

Ramsey never dreamed that the palomino pony would take her to her first Pony Finals 11⁄2 years later. In 2008 the pair placed eighth in the medium green under saddle, but a bobble in their over fences round kept them out of the overall placings. That experience only served to make Ramsey more determined to do well this year.

“I beat myself up some because I could have ridden better, and we could have done a lot better,” Ramsey said.

Still, she enjoyed the competition and is excited to return this year, and not just to improve upon her performance.

“Last year was really fun. I like Pony Finals because all of my friends are there. You also get to see where you are compared with all the other ponies in the country,” she said.

One of Ramsey’s biggest goals for the 2009 show season is to be in the top 20 percent of all the medium ponies at Pony Finals. Despite her rocky start with Charade, this isn’t an unreasonable goal. The two clinched the 2008 USEF National Medium Green Pony Championship.

“She’s come a long way,” Ramsey said of Charade. “She’s still hard enough so that it’s not boring, but she’s not bad. She has a good brain, she just didn’t know what she was doing when I got her.”

Ramsey’s understanding of green ponies has helped her take Charade to the top, and the experience will help her with her new 5-year-old junior hunter prospect.

“I like working with green horses,” Ramsey said. “It’s more fun because you get to see how much better you made them.”
    
Wright is confident that Ramsey is well up to the task of working with a young horse as she moves up from the pony divisions.

“Katie is great to work with,” Wright said. “She follows directions very well and has good feel. She’s good about staying on the plan. She’s shown all over the map–some green ponies, some made. She hasn’t owned many, but she’s been pretty successful with the ones she’s had.”