Out of the 26 rounds on the day of team competition at the 2024 USEF Pony Jumper National Championships (Kentucky) in August, there were nine eliminations and several rider falls, and only two of the four teams finished. While the top seven riders who advanced to the individual final all had respectable results, only one rider got around the farewell course, the class for the riders who didn’t qualify for the individual final.
It was not the result those involved wanted, and after the show U.S. Equestrian Federation Youth Chef d’Equipe DiAnn Langer and USEF director of jumping development programs Erin Keating told the Chronicle they had been working on revamping the entire pony jumper program for several years now.
Last week, the federation announced the fruits of that work: an overhaul to the USEF Pony Jumper National Championships that will offer new categories and heights for small, medium and large ponies, as well as the addition of an optimum time class to reward safe, effective riding.
Unlike 2024, where specs allowed for fences up to 1.15 meters—though they were only set at 1 meter up to 1.05 meters at the championship this year—next year there will be four distinct height categories:
- Small Pony Category: Open to juniors under 13 years old riding small ponies not to exceed 12.2 hands. Fence heights will be 0.60 to 0.65 meters, not to exceed 0.70 meters.
- Medium Pony Category: Open to juniors under 15 years old on medium ponies not to exceed 13.2 hands. Fence heights will be 0.70 to 0.75 meters, not to exceed 0.80 meters.
- Large Pony Category: Open to juniors under 17 years old on large ponies not to exceed 14.2 hands. No junior over 16 years of age, as determined under GR103, may ride in the large pony category, fence heights .80-.85m not to exceed .90m.
- 1.05-meter Category: Open to riders under 18 on ponies not to exceed 14.2 hands. Fence heights not to exceed 1.15 meters.
USEF officials hope the new categories will “give pony jumper athletes the chance to compete at heights that best match their current experience,” according to a USEF press release announcing the changes. “These categories will also ensure that the athletes gain valuable team and individual championship experiences suiting their age and height levels.”
Another change ahead for 2025 pony jumper championship will incorporate an optimum time class “with an emphasis on safety and effective riding,” Keating said.
“One thing I want to shout out to young pony riders: Their enthusiasm is contagious,” Langer told the Chronicle for a story that was published in September, about the 2024 championships. “They want to do it so bad, but they don’t have to run. When they do, it doesn’t matter what distance they set, it’s not going to work out as planned.”
For the past several years, USEF Pony Finals and the Gotham North FEI North American Youth Championships have run concurrently, but this year they were separate weeks, so Langer and Keating were able to attend both, and Langer is focused on improving the pony jumper program. She believes the program is—and should be—a part of the show jumping development pathway.
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To that end she pointed to the Youth Show Jumping Foundation, an entity independent of the USEF, U.S. Hunter Jumper Association and U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation, which has a mission “to enhance and establish a strong youth equestrian program through training, support, and education to ensure a healthy, successful and sustainable equine industry for the future of the sport.” Langer, who is president of the foundation, wants to fundraise for youth and youth programs to help subsidize programs already put in place by the USEF, USHJA and USET.
Langer, Johnston, South Carolina, also pointed to improving education for pony jumper riders via clinics at both larger and smaller venues to support trainers and teach riders. She recalled a conversation she had with a high-performance jumper rider about the pony jumpers that supported her idea of encouraging optimum-time classes.
“He said, ‘My own daughter, I’ll have her all set, she gets ready to go in the ring, and the rider before her goes 100 miles an hour, and I’ve now lost control of her, and she goes 100 miles an hour. So if it’s not allowed in the first place, I will keep being able to teach her to ride,’ ” Langer said. “So recognizing that speed is one thing, and it has its place, but not before you learn to negotiate a course clear. So that is something we will work on. We will do our best to help trainers support the appropriate ideals for learning how to negotiate a jumper course.”
Another problem facing pony jumper riders and trainers is the dearth of pony jumper classes, so riders in child jumper or 1-meter classes are forced to negotiate horse-length distances, which becomes a real problem in combinations.
Zone 10 Chef d’Equipe Ned Glynn pointed out after the 2024 championships that in some ways the Pony Finals courses were easier than other tracks riders had to contest during the year.
“Trying to train riders to do the pony jumpers over courses that aren’t built for them can be counterproductive at times,” he said. “[To qualify for Pony Finals] you had to do at least a couple 1.05-meter childrens/adult classics, and we did that. It’s not ideal. You do the 0.8 meters, 0.9 meters, 1 meter and the 1.05 meters, but there are times when you walk the course that you have to bow out. If there’s a big combination set off a short corner that’s long, they’re just not built properly for the ponies. So I’m really hoping we can get something going that can promote the pony jumper sport a little bit more.
“Walking the combinations that are actually the correct distance is so nice,” he continued. “I didn’t realize how stressed I was, putting the kids in when the distances were set for horses. It’s really not great for training or for a rider if you’re riding in the combination thinking, ‘If I chip in, I have to add, and if I jump in good, I’ve got to kick.’ ”
The revamped divisions for 2025 will be set at pony distances, Keating said this week.
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While ponies can continue to qualify for the championships via any jumper class at the respective height—including those that aren’t specifically for pony jumpers—Keating she hopes young pony riders will soon find more classes just for them.
“Our hope is more organizers choose to host pony jumper classes to support the championship qualifying pathway,” she wrote in an email.
Langer said in September that they are working on other ideas to enhance the pipeline too, like offering a pony jumping seat medal and brainstorming ideas to create more incentive for riders to excel at the USEF Pony Jumper National Championships. She pointed out that winners from NAYC get to go to Europe for the Youth Nations Cup Final, which has encouraged participation there, and she thinks some sort of carrot for winners from Pony Finals could give that program a shot in the arm.
Grand prix riders like Sydney Shulman and Kaitlin Campbell came up through the pony jumper ranks, and Langer believes the division could and should be a stepping stone to bigger things.
“That’s where they get interested,” said Langer of the division. “Great riders come out of pony jumpers, so to say that it hasn’t had a purpose, that it’s crazy, that it’s this, or that it’s that—I’m saying, no, the fault is ours. We are now grabbing ahold of [the division] and saying, ‘This is the way we’re going to do it, and these are the reasons why.’ Between those that are concerned, we will get this job done. I think we have the support now to do it.”
A version of this article originally appeared in the September 2024 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse, and has been updated with recent developments. You can subscribe and get online access to a digital version and then enjoy a year of The Chronicle of the Horse. If you’re just following COTH online, you’re missing so much great unique content. Each print issue of the Chronicle is full of in-depth competition news, fascinating features, probing looks at issues within the sports of hunter/jumper, eventing and dressage, and stunning photography.