One pony rider makes history with an incredible clean sweep of the pony hunter championships.

Not many pony riders would dare imagine a clean sweep at the Wild Horsefeathers/USEF Pony Finals. But when Lillie Keenan laid her head on her pilow after competing at the competition, Aug. 15-19 in Lexington, Ky., that remarkable dream had come true.

Keenan, 10, New York, N.Y., won the grand championship and medium pony championship aboard Enchanted Forest, the large pony championship and reserve grand championship on Vanity Fair, and polished it off with top honors in the small pony division on Blackberry.

After Keenan started the day with the small pony championship on Blackberry, she began to think that winning another championship on Enchanted Forest might be a possibility.

“I was so nervous because I was the last one to go,” said Keenan. “After every single fence I closed my eyes and took a deep breath and said ‘OK, I caught that one.’ ”

The fifth-grader also placed sixth in the USEF Pony Medal Finals aboard Enchanted Forest, and the gleaming pony earned the best turned out equitation pony award, gratefully collected by groom Asunsión Capuchin Jimenez.Enchanted Forest, 12, owned by Chansonette Farms, boasts a striking résumé that includes championships at the fall indoor shows and Devon (Pa.). In fact, until this year one of the only remaining pony hunter trophies without his name engraved on it was the Beagle Brook Farm Perpetual Trophy, awarded to the top medium pony at Pony Finals.

On the first day of competition, Keenan and Enchanted Forest (Sufoatiks Fire Ball—Muleander) won the under saddle and placed second in the model, putting the pair in the lead going into the final over fences class.  

Despite her nerves, Keenan kept her concentration as she guided the New Forest Pony to the winning performance, which was the highest over fences score at the competition 90, 84 and 89. 

“ ‘Forest’ is wonderful,” said Keenan. “He’s always there for you if you make a mistake. He’s honest and so comfortable. He’s really perfect.

“I definitely felt more pressure with only one jumping class, but I have a lot of support from my trainers, family and friends,” added Keenan.  “But I do get nervous.  Sometimes I ride a little better with some pressure.”

She Dominates
At his first Pony Finals appearance in 2005, Vanity Fair made a splash when he earned the grand green championship with owner Adrienne Sternlicht. This year, Sternlicht gave the ride to Keenan, who entered the over fences class .5 points off the lead after a second in the model and the blue under saddle.

Having already won the first two over fences classes, Keenan was relaxed and added solid scores of 88, 86, and 88 to win the blue ribbon and clinch her third championship.

Keenan started riding “Cocoa” after the Dutch Pony captured the large pony championship with Sternlicht at the Devon Horse Show (Pa.) this year. 

“Cocoa is really in a class by himself,” said trainer Patricia Griffith. “He is one of my all-time favorite ponies.” 

Heritage Farm’s small pony Blackberry finished just out of the ribbons in the model and the under saddle classes, entering the over fences phase standing 15th.

A near-flawless performance over fences class earned scores of 88, 90 and 84 from the three judges, and they vaulted to the top.

Whitney Roper’s Strike A Pose, ridden by Lulu Farish, earned the same score over fences as Blackberry, but Blackberry earned a higher score from judge No. 3, breaking the tie. Strike A Pose earned the reserve honors in the smalls.

“I always tell the kids that at Pony Finals it doesn’t really matter who’s on top after the first day, it’s all about the jumping,” said Griffith.  “I think they finally saw that today.”

Blues For The Greens
Victoria Colvin starred in the green pony divisions. The 9-year-old from Loxahatchee, Fla., won the grand green pony championship aboard Scott Stewart’s medium pony Cortina. 

The beautiful dark bay won the model and over fences phases and tied for fourth under saddle. “She’s a great pony,” said Colvin.  “She has really easy lead changes and a big stride.  You can loop the reins with her.”

Colvin paired up with the 9-year-old mare at the Lake Placid Horse Show (N.Y.) in late June, and by the second week of competition the pair captured their first championship together.

Colvin also earned the small green pony championship with her Ballou, who placed third in the model, fourth under saddle and sixth over fences. 

Colvin’s accurate riding helped her other mounts to top finishes as well, including a ninth-placed finish for Stewart’s large green pony Follow The Laughter, seventh for Richard Cunkle’s Anakin in the regular small division, and a fifth for her own Sunday Best in the regular larges.

Boggs Hill’s Valentine, ridden by Kaitlin Campbell, Upper Black Eddy, Pa., clinched top honors in the large green pony division and the reserve grand green championship. The pair topped the model, were second in the under saddle and second over fences.

Campbell began riding the mare during the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.). 

“She’s only 5 years old, but she’s so good,” said Campbell, who trains with Tim and Kelly Goguen of Boggs Hill. “Sometimes they get in the ring here in Kentucky and get so spooky, but she was great.”

From The Ground Up—Keenan’s Start
Lillie Keenan commutes from New York City to Katonah, N.Y., six days a week to ride with Patricia Griffith at Heritage Farms. When she arrived at the stable three years ago, she had barely cleared a jump. She was versed in the most fundamental aspects of riding from her lessons at Claremont Stables in Manhattan, however. 

“The first time Lillie fell off was shortly after she came to us. I asked her if she was OK and started to tell her that everyone falls off sometimes,” recalled Griffith.  “And she was like, ‘Oh, I’m fine. I’ve fallen off plenty already. Don’t worry.’ “
After a few short months Keenan was showing in the children’s ponies then the regular division. She debuted at Pony Finals in 2005 where she was reserve champion in the small division aboard Dreamworks.

Keenan followed in the footsteps of her mother, Pam Keenan, a successful junior rider in her day. The family’s farm name, Chansonette, was derived from the names of Pam’s two top junior hunters: Lansonette and Chance Step. 

Pam Keenan (neé Carmichael) rode in an early precursor to Pony Finals, then run as an international team competition. These days  she prefers to attend the horse shows as a cheerleader for her daughter rather than a  rider.

In addition to her three champions, Keenan showed Peter Pletcher’s small pony Pink Floyd and Baskin Farm Inc.’s Northwinds Times Square in the green divisions. Griffith has also recruited Keenan to catch ride for Heritage and school the younger students’ mounts on show mornings. 

“I’m really lucky I get to ride a lot of different ponies,” said Keenan.  “My mom and I wanted it to work like that so that as I get older it wouldn’t be difficult for me to ride anything.” 

Keenan noted that in addition to help from Griffith, Heritage Farms’ pony guru Dominique Vonsiatsky provided extra guidance.

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