Last year’s trip to the USEF Pony Finals (Ky.) felt bittersweet to Parker Wright. He piloted Sir Dragon to fourth place in the small green pony division, then watched as his mount—whom he’d trained from the ground up—went home on someone else’s trailer after the American Hunter Pony Classic Auction.

 But his partnership with the Welsh will come full circle at this year’s competition, as his owner, Hailey Livingston, has asked Wright to take over the reins for the weekend.

 “Dragon’s my favorite pony,” said Wright. “When [trainer Bill Schaub] told me at Atlanta that I’d get to show him at Pony Finals this year I was so excited.”

Learning to say goodbye to ponies has been a difficult but necessary step

in Wright’s equestrian education. The tough young rider found a niche as a green pony jock from a young age, even more so when he paired up with Schaub five years ago.

One morning Wright was kicking what Schaub described as a “rotten little pony” around the short stirrup ring at a local show, and the next day he was aboard Fancy Feet, a future small pony national champion, learning to finesse his raw talent. Schaub brushed away the concerns of Parker’s mother, Missy Wright, about the financial burden of training and showing on the A-rated circuit.

“I said, ‘Can you work hard? Can your son work hard? Because I think I can really help him,’ ” recalled Schaub.

To help finance the transition, Missy began boarding Schaub’s young ponies, while Parker started his career as a working student, breaking the youngsters and transforming them into sane, safe prospects.

“I love riding young ponies because they don’t have any bad habits,” said Parker. “They start out not knowing about running back to the barn, or what bad things they can do if you drop the reins, and you have to be careful that they don’t learn any of that. That’s what we do to make them safe. It’s easier to teach them good habits.”

Parker’s serious attitude and confident way around young animals belie his young age. At 12, he already has a cadre of graduates in the show ring, including Dragon, Oriental Rose and My McDreamy.

“It makes me so proud to see that they’re successful and that I did a good job getting them started,” he said. “I remember when Dragon could barely jump, and we put so many miles on him at home. At the shows I got him used to water trucks and everything going on.”

Missy and Parker helped Schaub pick out Dragon (Halcyon Sir Lancelot—Southwind Sophistocat) as a 4-year-old at the 2008 Pony Finals auction, and the bay Welsh found a special corner in his heart from the get-go.

“He’s very calm,” said Parker. “He’s so gentle that my 3-year-old sister can walk up to him in the pasture, and he’ll stand there. He doesn’t bite when you

do the girth, and he’s just a nice guy. It makes me smile to ride him.”

Parker got his start riding with his mother, who taught lessons in Seattle, Wash., and Wilton, Calif., before settling in Lakewood, Fla., just an hour from Schaub’s Over The Hill Farm. He learned “stick-to-itness” aboard his mother’s mounts before working with Schaub.

For Schaub, the partnership has been a match made in heaven. The close proximity means lessons and horse shows are easy to coordinate, and Schaub, San-ford, Fla., can keep tabs on the ponies’ progress on a regular basis.

“He has no fear, and he has great balance,” said Schaub of Parker. “They can buck and play, and he just kicks them forward and thinks that it’s funny. It’s perfect for the young ones, because eventually they learn not to bother. One of the harder things for Parker was actually learning to ride nice ponies, because that was new for him, but he’s gotten great.”

Being one of the only boys in the pony ring never deterred Parker. His friends and mentors at Over The Hill include Shawn Casady, himself a former pony prodigy who’s since graduated to the junior hunter and jumper rings. Parker feels a natural kinship with the others in the small community of male pony riders, and he holds the distinction of reminding people of another special young rider.

“Everyone says I look like McLain Ward when he was a kid,” said Parker. “He’s my favorite rider, and I got to meet him at [the Winter Equestrian Festival (Fla.)]. Then at the Fairfield Hunt Club [Conn.] I was riding a large green pony, and we chatted in the schooling area a little bit. That was cool.”

Down the road Parker hopes to follow in his doppelganger’s footsteps and take the grand prix ring by storm. But for now he’s set his goals more modestly.

At this year’s Pony Finals he’ll compete in the USEF Pony Medal Final, though he’s not sure of his mount, and he’ll pilot Dragon in the small pony division. And his impressive catch riding CV—which already includes green and made mounts for the likes of Michael Newman and Tim and Kelly Goguen—coupled with his cool confidence may earn him another ride before the start of competition Aug. 10.

“Pony Finals is probably my favorite horse show because it’s all about the ponies, and there’s so many places you can go and ride,” said Parker. “We hacked out on the cross-country course, and I think I would jump most of them if I had a horse that could do it. It doesn’t really look scary.”