[Weatherford]

So, I have a young FB friend from Dublin last year - I was taking random photos and got her and she friended me... Nice kid (as most of these Irish kids are) and lovely rider...

So she has to sell her Connemara pony jumper. Which is very sad.

And the reason?

IT ISN"T UP TO JUMPING 1.30m any more!! So it needs to "move down"... 1.3 m is 4'3"....

Yikes!!!

Kudos to her and her family to recognize the pony's limitations (which have come with age - it did the 1.30 very successfully on the Sunshine Circuit in Spain a few years ago.)

Can you imagine having that kind of a pony to learn on as a kid??!!

I am really sorry the US pony jumpers aren't up to the Europeans yet. I thought it might happen, but it hasn't...

[SugarAndSpite]

I knew a pony at my last barn very much like that. The thing was a BEAST. It was winning the the 3'6" divisions at the local shows and they jumped him up to 4'3" at home. He didn't even touch the rails. Ugliest thing you've ever seen on four legs and a nasty pony to fall off of (he would aim right for your head if you were on the ground), but I've never seen anything like him in the U.S.!

[3eme]

For your amusement, Weatherford -- a random video that I found of some of the more famous pony jumpers on the continent :

http://www.dailymotion.com/video/x3r...s-de-cso_music

My favorite of all time is one of the last ones shown -- Wayland Red Pepper. I would like exactly the same, but around 15.2 hands please!!

And I agree with you -- it is a shame that pony jumpers isn't at the same level in the States. I wonder why that is?

[ExJumper]

It's the culture. If our eighteen year old soon to be pros were expected and encouraged to still ride ponies and not move up to horses, then the pony scene over here would be vastly different.

[GingerJumper]

I flipping love pony jumpers. Not gonna lie.

I think part of it is that we don't have as many people wanting to stay on ponies anymore. I mean, why get a pony when you could get a massive WB?

Another part, IMO, is that the ponies with the guts and scope for it are often... ruined. Not kidding! I think if we eval'd sales ponies over here a little more and had a good rider max them out, we'd be pleasantly surprised. That being said, a lot of ponies are ruined by juniors who don't know what on earth they're doing and just run around as fast as they can over as many low courses as they can live through, with bits getting bigger and bigger as pony gets more and more immune to the constant hauling on its face.

One of the nicest ponies I tried, with the most scope and potential and the best disposition of any of the ponies I'd looked at, had been absolutely ruined... He could have done 4'3 no problem, but with all the retraining he would have taken, it just wasn't worth it. I'd have spent the rest of my junior eligibility trying to get him calmed down and not thinking the world was going to end if he did more than jig and gallop.

Tons of cute mutt ponies over here with athleticism for miles, just no riders who can ride them properly, and the ones who can, generally don't want to.

[Rel6]

I could be wrong about this, but I think another difference is that what we consider "honies" would be ponies over seas. A girl at my old barn moved from france and brought her pony jumper. It had a french perm card as a pony, but was not considered a pony the in us. Its not that it didn't stick at its stated height, but that its stated height is not considered a pony in america. Sucked for the girl, the pony was a machine.

[Perfect Pony]

Do the "pony jumpers" even exist as a class here in California? I know if it does I have never seen it. It seems around here ponies are only doing the hunters, and by the time kids are 12 they are riding big horses.

I have to say that as the adult owner of a uber cool 14.2hh Connemara I just don't get it at all. I may look a little silly, but riding my pony is the best feeling ever, I'd love to see more ponies around and more kids riding them!

[3eme]

I could be wrong about this, but I think another difference is that what we consider "honies" would be ponies over seas. A girl at my old barn moved from france and brought her pony jumper. It had a french perm card as a pony, but was not considered a pony the in us. Its not that it didn't stick at its stated height, but that its stated height is not considered a pony in america. Sucked for the girl, the pony was a machine.

Perhaps a small side factor, but does not in my mind address the whole issue, because some (many, in fact) of these ponies jumping 1.30M here would indeed stick as a pony and not a "hony" in the USA.

[OveroHunter]

We had 2 (13.1 and 13.2) pony jumpers at our ranch that each schooled 3'9 with 5'8 and 5'9 riders, respectively. I only have a pic of my jumping one of them (I'm the 5'8 rider on the 13.1 pony) like 2'6, but I can scrounge around for the pics of us jumping bigger.

We always wanted to find a kid ballsy enough to jump them, but never did before we sold them as lesson ponies, so there's no telling if anyone jumps them that high anymore.

[HRF Second Chance]

We have a great little pony jumper here in our area that just BLOWS my mind how huge it jumps. There's a picture of it and it just looks like it's flying. I love to watch the ponies! I've always been too big to do much with them so it's pretty amazing to see what they can REALLY do!

[Weatherford]

There is a HUGE difference between jumping 4'6" at home and jumping a 1.3m course at an international show (which these ponies do)!!

And, yes, the kids aren't there (in the US) to ride them.

As far as size, that's been a big blowout on the international level, with measuring now happening during the shows. 148 (they are measured in cms) IS bigger than 14.2 by an inch or so. And of course, many of the European (especially the Irish) honey's don't stop growing until they are 7 or 8.... Oops...

I think having a good jumping Connemara as an adult would be awesome (if I were significantly shorter and, uhm, thinner ) The top ones here could do the Hi Adult or Modified Adult/a/o jumpers easily.

But, I really really wish the US kids could see these kids ride and jump. Maybe I will post some photos after Dublin. Would be a GREAT way to get more boys interested in the sport, for sure! Along with the Pony Eventing.

[Renn/aissance]

You left out the most important part... whom should I contact, I want to buy this pony!

[3eme]

As far as size, that's been a big blowout on the international level, with measuring now happening during the shows. 148 (they are measured in cms) IS bigger than 14.2 by an inch or so. And of course, many of the European (especially the Irish) honey's don't stop growing until they are 7 or 8.... Oops...

This may be true, but if there were (and I don't think there are but I could be wrong) CSIOP competitions in the States, they would be subject to the same pony size standard as in Europe as per the FEI regulations. Therefore, a pony which stands at 148 cm (i.e., > 14.2H) would indeed be valid to compete in this type of competition in the States as well.

And correct me if I am wrong, but I actually thought that the FEI pony definition was more like 150 cm? (again, not sure) If this is correct, then the field would be even more wide open in the USA, allowing lots of pretty honies to compete.

Are there CSIOP in the States? If not, there should be!


ETA : just looked up the FEI definition of a pony, which = 148 unshod (=14.57 hands) or 149 cm (=14.67 hands), so not 150 cm as I thought, and not much over 14.2 either. So the maximum size of the super European ponies you see is (theoretically) not far off from 14.2 hands.

[GingerJumper]

If someone wants to buy me an awesome pony jumper I'd be more than happy to go show it in the 1.30 for you hehehe

[Moocow]

I had been toying with the idea of buying a pony and showing it in the jumpers (would ideally do 1.20m++) but.... how the hell would I ever sell something like that in North America?? :P Too risky.

[S A McKee]

It's the culture. If our eighteen year old soon to be pros were expected and encouraged to still ride ponies and not move up to horses, then the pony scene over here would be vastly different.

Not really
FEI rules for Pony Jumpers only allow the rider to compete through their 16th year so yes, they have to move up to horses just as happens here.

But I do agree on culture being a factor only that the culture issue is because we have pony Hunters which is not the norm in Europe.

[LowerSaxony_Jumper]

and there i an other advantage europe has because of the pony jumpers

Our kids can do their first international championship before they are in their mid-teens. At the Pony Euro you often have kids make their irst appreance at the age of 12. And many of the young stars showed in the pony top classes and did the euros. Some of these kids did all championships from Ponys to Young Riders. Often few years in a row.

[Savoy 8]

I have a pony jumper who is 13h and does the 3'6 like it's nothing. He has done 4'6... prob couldn't do a whole course (but who knows)... with me on his back. I am 5'9. He is a little beast!

Oliver:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m_LUsYE_5Lg (4ft oxer)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9cDdL..._order&list=UL (NAL finals first round)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hTA6q...eature=related (NAL finals jump off)


I too would like to see more pony jumpers!

[prosefullstop]

As a British ex-pat, I *really* miss watching pony SJ classes at the big US shows. The Pony of the Year show footage online is pretty incredible, as is the footage from HOYS. Some of those turns (especially in the 128 cms division)--yikes!

Pony jumping highlights: Darby Ward on More than Milton in the 138 cms Grand Prix: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SRnw-gb7iuc

Rider Under 11 class: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8otn80HQv3M

And one of the best ponies of recent years--Spot the Lady! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ZLfsPuqeHo

[mgarzon]

I agree, I'd also love to see more pony jumpers over here - and if enough of us show an interest, maybe it'll happen!! It sure is more fun for kids that doing the same boring 4 lines in the pony hunters. I'm on the small side, so I rode ponies well into adulthood, and always wished I could show them.

And Weatherford, your point about getting/keeping boys interested in the sport is an important one!! As the mom of a boy who loves ponies, it worries me somewhat what will happen when he gets older and realizes that not many boys ride...