This winter circuit first-timer takes home the medium pony hunter circuit championship.

To say that Ashley LeCroy is a fast learner would be an understatement.

Just 11⁄2 years ago, she was competing in the children’s small pony hunters. Six months later she took home the medium pony hunter circuit championship at the 2008 HITS Ocala Winter Circuit (Fla.) on an unknown green pony whom she’d met only two weeks beforehand.

LeCroy, 14, piloted Bill Schaub and Ashley Kennedy Whitner’s Halo to the win after Schaub matched her up with the young pony during the Jacksonville (Fla.) circuit in January.

LeCroy started taking lessons at the Biltmore Estate (N.C.) when she was 6 but didn’t begin competing until she was 12.

“I got my first horse from Santa when I was 12. She was a really bad crossrails pony,” said LeCroy with a laugh.
The pair competed in the short stirrup division for a few months before LeCroy began riding a friend’s small and medium ponies at the local horse shows.

A few months later she met Schaub and started her A-rated career. “I met Ashley at the Biltmore show when Jeanne Smith asked me to help her there. After that, she came to Florida and rode some ponies for me and I began letting her ride more and more,” said Schaub.

“Jeanne sent her to me because Ashley wanted to go to Florida for the winter and Jeanne couldn’t go,” added Schaub. “She started spending more time at the farm, and she and Halo just really bonded.

“Her pony was hurt, so at Jacksonville I let her show [Halo],” he said. “It was a little rough at first, but then they worked it out and she rode him great.”

LeCroy, Asheville, N.C., said that Halo is the type of pony who doesn’t want to be fussed with in the ring, so it took some time to get used to the ride.

“He takes a certain ride, and if he doesn’t like his rider he can be tricky, so it took me a little while to get used to that. He’s just very self-sufficient in the ring,” said LeCroy. “He’s got a different personality than most of the ponies I’ve ridden. It’s the ‘I-can-do-it-myself’ attitude.”

Two weeks later, the pair began sweeping up the blue ribbons at Ocala. “Ashley has the real desire to win,” said Schaub. “She’s quite competitive, so she pushes herself.”

LeCroy and Halo kept their partnership going all year, with LeCroy flying or driving to meet Schaub at horse shows almost every weekend. Even if Halo had the weekend off, she still competed other ponies for Schaub.

Their biggest win came later in the year at the Capital Challenge (Md.) where they took home the grand and medium pony hunter championships.

“Capital Challenge was really fun,” said LeCroy. “He was so perfect there.”

“This was Ashley’s first year indoors,” noted Schaub. “Before this year she’d barely even shown in the pony hunters. So this fall was her first time going to [The Pennsylvania National and the Washington International (D.C)].”

LeCroy said this was a good transition period because she learned so much in her journey from short stirrup to the fall indoor shows and placing sixth in the U.S. Equestrian Federation Horse of the Year standings in the medium pony hunter division. “It was kind of fast, but it went really well,” she said.

Schaub credited LeCroy’s strong work ethic for getting her up the levels so successfully. “She’s a fantastic student. She really wants to learn, and she really wants to win,” he noted. “She has a lot to learn, but she’s moving up really quickly.”

Even though missing school can be tough, LeCroy took that in stride as well. “My teachers at school were really nice about me going to Florida,” said LeCroy. “They e-mailed me all the work, and I would do it during the week and e-mail it back.”

LeCroy doesn’t even mind doing the schoolwork that many students dislike. “I know it sounds weird, but I actually really like math,” LeCroy said with a smile. “It’s kind of fun!”

LeCroy’s mother accompanies her to many of the shows, and her entire family is incredibly supportive of her riding career. “My Dad wishes he could go to more shows, but he can’t because of his job.”

This year LeCroy isn’t sure she’ll be able to make it down to Ocala for the entire circuit but hopes she’ll go for a week or two. “Last year I was gone a lot,” she said. “But this year I started high school, and it’s harder to juggle schoolwork and showing a lot.”

Even so, she’ll probably show at the Aiken, S.C., winter shows on a few catch rides that Schaub set up for her. “I think I might be doing some large ponies and junior hunters,” said LeCroy. “I also have my large green pony that I’ll start showing.