A one-month suspension, fine and order to be re-measured were handed down by the U.S. Equestrian Federation to one of the owners of the 2016 U.S. Pony Finals small green champion So Enchanted, Michaila Zandri.

A statement released by the USEF on March 9 stated: “Michaila Zandri, of London, Ontario, Canada, violated Chapter 9, GR907.4 of this Federation, in that she knowingly and falsely recorded the age of the pony, So Enchanted, with the Federation for the purpose of obtaining a permanent measurement card.”

The Chronicle first reported on Zandri’s falsifying of documents in October of 2016. After So Enchanted captured the small green championship at the 2016 U.S. Pony Finals (Ky.) with Caroline Passarelli in the irons, Zandri responded to inquiries regarding the pony’s breeding, texting a Chronicle reporter and explaining she had lied about the pony’s age and breeder to obtain a standard measurement card before the pony was 6 years old, which was then the age dictated by USEF rules for receiving the card. (Now the age to receive a standard measurement card is 8.)

“Before reaching a decision, the Federation recognized that Ms. Zandri was both forthcoming and cooperative in the efforts to resolve this matter,” the USEF’s statement continued. “Accordingly, on the basis of the information provided, the Federation issued the following penalty.”

Zandri and any pony she owns, leases or shows “in her name or for her reputation” will be suspended from participating in USEF-licensed competitions from Aug. 1-31. Zandri was also ordered to pay a $3,000 fine and present So Enchanted for re-measurement by a USEF-licensed steward.

So Enchanted was permitted to keep the 2016 Pony Finals title and is not included in Zandri’s suspension, as the USEF granted the pony’s current leaser a relief of suspension.

Read the original story on So Enchanted in the Oct. 24 and 31, 2016, issue of the Chronicle, available to subscribers in full. A short excerpt of the article is available online here.