Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 11

Carsyn Korotkin has been coming to USEF Pony Finals since 2019, but she’s never had a week this great. She piloted Pepsi to the small pony hunter reserve championship Thursday, then today Korotkin tacked him up again to win the Marshall & Sterling USEF Pony Medal Final.

The 13-year-old was filled with emotion when she realized she’d won the class.

“I burst out crying,” she said. “I was really excited—and my legs were really hurting from the flat—but I was really excited.”

After two rounds of jumping judges Ken Smith and Keri Kampsen invited the top four riders—Korotkin, Ella Tarumianz (Hey Scooby), India Kulkin (Best Summer) and Logan Baras (Dream Big) into the ring to work on the flat sans stirrups. That’s where Korotkin rose to the top over Tarumianz, Kulkin and Baras respectively.

“I was squeezing the whole time, and I was dying, but it was worth it,” said Korotkin, who said she practices without her stirrups regularly but rarely on Pepsi.

Korotkin’s day didn’t go perfectly smoothly though. During her first round several children went barreling down the stairs of the Alltech Arena, prompting Pepsi to bolt. That prompted Ali Sweetnam, who trains Korotkin alongside Danny Arendt at shows (Korotkin trains with her father, Alan Korotkin, when the Sweetnams aren’t around), to talk to a steward about a re-ride.

“So I went to the stewards and explained to them the situation, and then they had to go up and ask the judges if they noticed what happened,” Sweetnam said. “And they said, yes, they did, and they’re happy that we asked for that, because it was obviously outside disturbance and it was quite extreme.”

The stewards all watched the video and agreed the commotion caused the problem. They gave Korotkin specific instructions to re-ride just the last three jumps.

“We had three trips and she had to walk into the ring to the blue sign, pick up the left lead and just do the last line, which is a little tough,” Sweetnam said. “That line is a little loose, and walking into the end of the ring isn’t really Pepsi’s favorite thing to do. He likes to march into the ring and just get to work and get it over with. So that was a little challenging, but we knew Carsyn would be able to do it.”

Carsyn, Wellington, Florida, was especially thrilled to win the medal final because the equitation is her favorite part of riding. It’s her last year riding the smalls as the 13-year-old is aging out of the division.

“She’s obviously from a family of professionals and riders, so she’s been around the pressure for a long time,” Sweetnam said. “I think this year we kind of all knew that she was going to be coming into her own. She and Pepsi have a really solid relationship together, and she’s been in a lot of high-pressure situations and they have a lot of faith in each other.”

Watch Carson and Pepsi’s second round, courtesy of USEF Network:

It’s a good day to be a Korotkin. Over at the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival Week VI, Carsyn’s older brother Tanner Korotkin won the $120,000 Four G Surfaces CSI3* Grand Prix.

“My brother, he does all the giant things and then my dad also did all the giant things, and then now I’m just doing the little stuff, and then hopefully I’ll do some giant things later,” she said.

Find full results here.

You can see all the Chronicle’s coverage from USEF Pony Finals here, and check out the Sept. 23 issue of the magazine as well. Be sure you’re following the Chronicle on Instagram and Facebook @Chronofhorse.