When Lani Pardue enters the hunter ring on her 15-year-old Quarter Pony mare, 24 Karat Magic, she always draws a few looks. With tiger stripes on her legs, a dorsal stripe down her spine and a red dun coat, “Vicki” doesn’t look like your typical pony hunter; in fact, she was originally bred and trained for the reining arena.

For Pardue, 16, qualifying with her unusual partner for the 2021 USEF Pony Finals in the large green division has been the journey of a lifetime. But when Pardue met Vicki 12 years ago, she never would have predicted that this former cow pony would become her hunter-ring champion.

Pardue was only 4 when she started taking western lessons with family friend and farrier, Dan Yarbrough of Yarbrough Reining Horses. One day, her mother Maile Pardue noticed a pretty red pony in the first stall on the right. She was struck by the pony’s kind eye, sweet temperament and good ground manners. Yarbrough told her the 3-year-old pony had recovered from a sesamoid injury and was for sale. He mentioned that she would be the perfect size for Maile and Lani to share.

“I hemmed and hawed, and finally he says, ‘I’ll sell her to you for $2,000, because I’ll still get to see her, and I’ll do her feet,’ ” recalls Maile. “I convinced my husband that Vicki would be perfect for Lani.”

Vicki moved to the Pardues’ 10-acre farm in Catawba, North Carolina, and Yarbrough came over to give the new partnership a few lessons. Soon, Lani was competing Vicki in local leadline classes. But the Pardue family quickly learned their new pony had a mind of her own.

“When I was old enough and kind of big enough, I started riding her by myself,” Lani says. “I remember kicking and kicking, and she would not move. I could not get her to go to save my life.”

“Lani’s little legs are kicking and kicking and kicking, and Vicki’s just standing there like, ‘No.’ ” says Maile with a laugh. “Lani was like—‘I don’t want her’—and refused to ride her anymore. I was like, ‘Great, my plan just went in the toilet!’ ”

Maile, who describes herself as a “strictly for fun rider,” already had her own horse. But she was attached to Vicki, and so for the next four years, when she could find time, she rode the pony herself, sometimes sorting cows or practicing other western skills. Meanwhile, Lani began taking hunt seat lessons with Jessica Fredericks in Statesville, North Carolina. Riding Fredericks’ ponies Hutchasaurus and Cooper, Lani learned the fundamentals of showing hunters.

After her daughter refused to ride Vicki, western rider Maile Pardue took over the ride for a while. Photo Courtesy Of Jessy Smith Wiley

“As I went along, I fell in love with hunters more and more,” says Lani. “I find the biomechanics of the hunters very interesting.”

When Lani was 8, Fredericks relocated her business (and its ponies) out of the area; Maile knew she needed to find her daughter a new mount capable of doing the hunters, but she didn’t have the budget to purchase something made.

“Vicki was not really being used, and I thought, she needs a job or to be sold,” says Maile. “So I took her to a clinic, and she was awesome. She made me look so good, and everyone was like, ‘What horse is that? Where’d you get her?’ Lani was with me, and I could see her brain start going, ‘Well, maybe Vicki is kind of cool.’ ”

Clinician Robbie Potter looked at Lani, standing ringside, and ordered her to get on Vicki.

“I didn’t want to, and I originally told him, ‘No,’ ” says Lani with a laugh.

Eventually she acquiesced, and Lani rode Vicki for the first time in years.

“That’s when it started,” says Maile of Lani and Vicki’s renewed partnership. “I thought, we’re going to give this a go and see what happens.”

Once Lani Pardue started riding Vicki again their bond grew. Photo Courtesy of Maile Pardue

Building Confidence

Maile and Lani knew that taking a cow pony and turning her into a pony hunter would be a long journey. Lani and Vicki worked with Fredericks for a few months before she moved, even competing in a local schooling show, then trained with Samantha Cram McDermott, who brought them to their first rated show later that year. Over the next five years, the pair moved up from walk-trot to crossrails to short stirrup. But every step of the way, Vicki gave her own opinion about how she wanted to be ridden.

“At crossrail shows, the pony would just fly around the ring and be doing flying leads at each end,” says Maile with a laugh. “The other little kids have these ponies who are just going around, and they’re doing their nice, simple changes in the corner. Vicki is like, ‘No, this is dumb. I’m just going to get over these things and swap my leads.’ ”

“She hated crossrails,” Lani adds.

Vicki’s previous training, her conformation and her temperament combined to make her a challenging ride in the hunter ring. In flat classes, she often grabbed the bit and ran in the second direction. Over fences, Vicki could be tense, rushing the jumps and taking rails or refusing repeatedly.

“[Vicki’s] very smart,” says Maile. “She knows Lani’s buttons. I wouldn’t say she’s sensitive, but she is opinionated.”

Two years ago, Lani was ready to give up. That was when they met Michael Nacy of Lake Norman Equisports in Charlotte, North Carolina. Nacy’s experience training young horses and stallions gave him a unique perspective on Vicki’s quirks.

“I approached it as a science experiment,” Nacy says. “The strength of the pony is she will do what you ask her to do. She’s one of those ponies that will tattle on Lani. If Lani doesn’t do it exactly the way the pony wants it done, then it doesn’t work out.

“The pony is really the one who teaches her the most lessons,” Nacy continues. “The last couple of years has not been about making massive changes. It’s saying, this is what the pony likes, let’s change our riding to suit. Let’s figure out what’s going to help her out the most. It’s just finding that finesse and fine-tuning what does the pony want.”

After a lot of hard work Lani Pardue and Vicki started having success in the show ring. Photo Courtesy Of Maile Pardue

By learning to ride with a softer elbow and using her body to keep Vicki steady, Lani was able to downgrade to a rubber snaffle when hacking or schooling at home. By attending many local shows, they were able to experiment with different approaches to build Vicki’s confidence. Each positive experience increased the trust between horse and rider, ultimately preparing them to compete in the large pony division for the first time, with fences at 3 feet.

“We’ve had to peel back the layers and rebuild some of the communication and trust with the pony,” says Nacy. “Being a Quarter Horse, she is just a ball of muscle. She would get so tight in the ring she would never take a breath and relax. Now, as she’s starting to walk in the ring, you can see her head drop, her withers relax, and the muscles aren’t just tense and flexed the entire time. She’s gotten much quieter.”

“The pony is brilliant,” Nacy continues. “If you show her one thing once, she knows it from then on out. But if you change it after, then she says, ‘Whoa, no. You told me to do it this other way the other time; this is how we’re going to do it.’ ”

Lani Pardue’s goals at USEF Pony Finals include a solid jumping round without major mistakes and relaxed gaits on the flat. Photo Courtesy of Maile Pardue

A Turning Point

In 2020, Lani and Vicki experienced a turning point during a large C-rated show at Tryon International Equestrian Center (North Carolina). The quality of riding was high and classes were full, as many riders were returning to the show ring for the first time after the COVID-19 break. But Vicki and Lani stepped up their game to match the atmosphere.

“Lani went in that ring and was beating a lot of the ‘A’ show ponies,” says Nacy. “At that moment, I think it clicked in Lani’s mind that she can actually compete and be successful. From what Lani has told me, in the past she never really had any idea that Pony Finals was an option. But last year we started to see it coming together. She was winning every single equitation round she did, and the pony was going around well and relaxed. I said, ‘Let’s treat the hunter rounds like it’s equitation.’ ”

Lani’s goals for Pony Finals are to put in a solid jump round with no major mistakes and to demonstrate relaxed gaits on the flat.

“When we are on the same page, we can get nearly anything done,” Lani says. “I want to get around with confidence, and even if I do make a mistake, be OK with that.”

Maile hopes to see her daughter walk away from the experience proud and with a smile on her face.

“We were never in it because we had a pony for sale,” Maile says of competing at the Finals. “That’s not why the journey was started. It’s a personal thing. They’ve come so far.”

After Pony Finals are over, Lani plans to retire Vicki from hunters.

“She has worked so hard, she’s so special, and she means the world to me,” says Lani. “She’s staying with us forever.”