Our columnist traveled to a trio of important events late in the summer and reflects on the similarities and differences.

The U.S. Pony Club Championships, the North American Junior and Young  Riders Championships and the European Show Jumping Championships were a study in contrasts and in similarities, but they were all inspiring and a lot of fun.

First I attended the USPC Championships, held at the Kentucky Horse Park (Aug. 17,p. 27). I’m a true fan of Pony Club, and the young people (and their families) didn’t fail to impress again this year.

One aspect that distinguishes any real championship is that it requires multiple days and multiple rounds to determine the winners. This, in itself, separates a championship from any other single class event no matter how prestigious it might be. Consistency, strategy and the ability to shoulder increasing pressure as the event progresses are requisite skills, along with the riding ability it takes to win a single class.

What Pony Club events lack in depth of experienced horseflesh is made up for with the tenacity and resourcefulness of the riders.

Many of this year’s riders were young and new to this competition, but they look after their horses like professionals. Their sense of team spirit, along with great family support, stood them in good stead as the level of difficulty in the courses I built went steadily up over the five rounds of jumping.

The USPC format is unique–and complicated. Negative jumping fault scores can be offset with a subjective equitation score that’s awarded in one round as well as through their time in a “Take Your Own Line” phase or in the jump-off of the final day’s round.

There’s also a horse management score tossed into the formula! I could never manage the scorekeeping, but, luckily, there are always lots of smart and involved volunteers to handle these things in Pony Club.

I wish every young rider in this country had the opportunity to experience Pony Club as a prelude to hitting the road at our horse shows. They’d learn more about sticking to both their horses and their dreams.

The USPC Championships were followed the next week by the North American Junior and Young Riders Championships in Lexing-ton, Va. (Aug. 17, p. 8).

This is another favorite of mine and has been for many years. It’s gratifying to see more importance made of it each year in terms of the participation by a steadily increasing number of better prepared young people and trainers.

Some controversy arose with the selection of riders named to represent a few of the U.S. Equestrian Federation Zones this year. While intense discussion can be tough, it’s a good sign when a competition such as this one (that in the past often had problems just getting enough riders to come) finally is considered important enough to argue about qualifying!

The level of experience and preparation of the riders varies a great deal, but course designer Anthony D’Ambrosio brought each division up to a true international standard as the event progressed, without disheartening the newcomers.

For many years the European Show Jumping Championships for Young Riders and Juniors (and ponies too) have served as the training grounds for the international stars of the future. With the successes of former NAYRC star Brianne Goutal, including being on two winning Nations Cup teams this year, I hope that we’re headed that way too.

Many trainers tend to treat the NAJYRC like any other horse show, but for the riders it’s anything but. Many are stepping out of the familiarity of shows they’ve know for years to travel and test themselves in a new area and with a new format. The team experience is what many find to be the most impressive. The pressure of riding for others as well as yourself, having a whole team behind you rooting you on and buoying you up when necessary, is a whole new experience for most.

After a long dry spell, Zone 10 (California/ Nevada) riders traveled to this year’s NAJYRC with a real will to win. They also came with what many said afterward was a big advantage—their final trial was a multi-day format.

They experienced what it’s like to carry scores forward and live with the pressure of the final day’s jumping.
The actual NAJYRC wasn’t a first-time experience in this regard for these riders. They left with three gold medals.

All championships are about pressure. Pressure first to get there and then pressure to perform at your best when you arrive. This couldn’t have been truer than at the third of the championships at which I officiated this year, the European Show Jumping Champion-ships held at the beautiful Reitstadium in Mannheim, Germany (Sept. 7, p. 8).

No fewer than 18 teams, together with individuals from another six countries, participated. Even more countries were represented in the three regular CSI competitions.

Held every two years, this event, conducted under the same format as the World Equestrian Games (save for the change of horses portion for the individual medals) hones the skills of the European riders (and National Federations) when it comes to producing results at the highest levels.

Out of the 18 teams, only four had previously qualified for next year’s Olympics. The rest arrived knowing that it was their last chance for earning a ticket to Hong Kong. There were no “gimmies” with the exquisitely built obstacles set at maximum dimensions all week.

The opening speed class, with faults converted into seconds, offered lots of options in track and obstacles. One double of unusual walls created more than its share of problems, including the elimination of Germany’s Marcus Ehning and Noltes Küchengirl.

Pressure really fell on each of the remaining team members!

They rose to the challenge, and each completed solid, safe and competitive rounds.

It’s clear that the Europeans are far more experienced with the strategy that comes with five rounds of jumping than are the U.S. riders. Most every top European rider knows how to have their horses fresh enough at the beginning to have enough left at the end—without losing the concentration and rideability needed to navigate a long track against the clock.

While it happens occasionally that a rider wins “wire-to-wire,” this is rare. Sitting somewhere between second and seventh at the end of the day can leave enough in the tank to finish strong. Without the practice of these five-round affairs, the North Americans usually either go pedal to the metal or take the “just schooling” approach so often seen in our Table C (III) classes.

The Nations Cup was next up and was held over two days due to the number of riders. The course was certainly big and wide enough, but with lines that rode well, there were far too many clear rounds the first day.

It’s interesting to note that with more than 90 horses, only one faulted at the water jump that was 13’5″ (4.10m). It jumped like a simple exercise despite coming five strides after a 5’3″ vertical. Jumping a big water four times in one week wasn’t hard for the Europeans.

Much of the course went up for the next day, putting four verticals at 5’6″ and four oxers between 1.80m and 1.90m wide (5’10″–6’3″). Still, many jumped clear easily.

Masters of pressure, the three German riders kept up their great game with only the single rail by Christian Ahlmann putting them silver behind the gold of the Netherlands.

An excellent grand prix in between the Nations Cup and final round on Sunday provided a breather for the top 20. This time there were no straightforward distances anywhere on the course. Big jumps and the pressure that goes with being within striking distance of a major individual championship each took a toll on many riders. And many horses looked tired after so much big jumping already during the week. Fitness is crucial at this level, as is judicious use of their energy. Horses went out multiple times per day for relaxing rides to keep muscles loose and spirits high.

When they hit the ring, it was easy to tell which riders had been there before handling the pressure and riding their best on tired horses over big and technical courses. Some others near the top failed to hold their form and experienced the bitter taste of defeat.

Former Californian, now German, Meredith Michaels-Beerbaum on the 14-year-old Shutterfly displayed an incredible calm along their foot-perfect final two rounds. The two worked together like a well-oiled machine as the gelding that was a bit too fresh on Wednesday was just right on Sunday, looking like a horse that had had a week off instead of three days of tough jumping. They were strong and popular winners.

As I’ve said before, I see championships as the best preparation for riders and horses. Single classes determine who is best on the day, but this sport is one in which even the best have a rail down occasionally, and even the most erratic can be “queen for a day.”

Putting five rounds together when it counts is a different story.

It’s argued that this format is just too hard on the horses. Yes, it’s hard, and not every horse is a championship horse.

Horses must be fit in a whole different way than just for 11⁄2 minutes in the arena once a week. Many older horses or those kept together for special occasions can’t do it, that’s true. But, should those horses be our national champions? Are these the horses we should send to events where a lot of jumping is required?

Part of riding at a top level is knowing one’s horse—what he can and can’t do and how to prepare him properly for the job at hand. Some people contend that it will break horses down to do these multiple-day events two or three times a year. I would say that the facts say otherwise.

Many European horses perform for years, often doing a World Cup Final, a national championship, plus a European Champion-ship, Olympic Games or World Equestrian Games each year.

I would venture that it’s precisely the level of fitness that’s required of these horses that permits them to compete for so long. Rest never makes any athlete more fit for their job. Europeans have learned to be better at scheduling competitions to have their horses rested in their minds yet totally fit physically.

It was educational and inspiring to attend my three championships this year. At each one we watched the cream rise to the top, with true champions crowned in each case.

I applaud the USPC for their format. I urge every rider with serious aspirations, ages 14 to 21, to make the NAJYRC their goal (and their trainers to support them in their quest). And, I continue to wish that we had an American Championship for senior riders at least every four years, on the “off” year between the Olympics and the WEG.

Let me voice one more wish here as well. Now that we have a national championship for senior riders, the Rolex/USEF National Show Jumping Championship (held at the National Horse Show [Fla.]) couldn’t we make the title reflect more than good placings in two classes at the show?

We will probably have another worthy winner, but what it takes to win this title certainly doesn’t compare with what it takes to earn the same title in the countries we hope to prevail over on the international stage.

Noted international course designer Linda Allen has created show jumping courses for many of the world’s best competitions, including the 1996 Atlanta Olympics and the 1992 FEI World Cup Finals (Calif.). She’s a licensed judge, technical delegate and a former international grand prix show jumper. A proponent of sport horse breeding, Allen, Laredo, Texas, founded the International Jumper Futurity and the Young Jumper Championships. She began writing Between Rounds columns in 2001.

Linda Allen