Little sisters frequently get their older sisters’ hand-me-downs.  Abbie Ross isn’t complaining—she got the winning pony jumper TNT from her older sister, Lillie. 

Lillie had done her share of winning on TNT, including the 2006 Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.) circuit championship, but Abbie proved she wasn’t to be outdone by winning the NAL Pony Jumper Final at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show on Oct. 9. 

Clean rounds were hard to come by in the class, with eight of the 23 starters getting eliminated for refusals or falls.  Abbie was one of just three to go clean in the first round, joining Elizabeth Solomon on Hip-Hop and Gillian King on Crum Creek in the tie-breaker. 

King led off, but three rails fell for her, leaving the door open.  Abbie and TNT, a firey black mare, left all the rails in the cups and stopped the timers in 31.99 seconds.  Solomon did her best on Hip-Hop, but finished clean more than a second slower.

“I was so excited to ride her; I’d been watching my sister ride her for three years!” Abbie, 12, said.  “She’s so fast, and I can turn on her and control her pretty well.  I was really nervous here because I’d shown at Pony Finals and I knew how competitive all these riders are.” This was Abbie’s first NAL Pony Jumper Finals appearance.