Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 10

The day before the Marshall & Sterling/USEF Pony Medal Final, Cisy Zhou and her trainer Patricia Griffith weren’t sure which pony to enter in the class. She had two good choices: small pony Down To A T and medium pony Editorial. Editorial was greener—he’s only 7—but in the end they decided to gamble on him.

“I thought size-wise, she would look more elegant on the medium,” said Griffith. “And we had practiced a little in our pelham, and I thought, ‘This looks really the part.’ And I know that that pony is true blue, as is ‘T,’ so we had two good options, and we just decided we would go with him. I had a good feeling that she looked very good in the schooling area, like we could do each part of it. But again, you have to go in and you have to do all the parts together.”

Zhou did just that, laying down a great first round and nailing the second to rise to the top of the class. Kenzie Smith from New York City claimed second, and Lacey Powers of Loxahatchee, Florida, took third.

“It feels amazing,” said Zhou, New York City. “He’s really young and a green pony, so I feel really accomplished. He was really brave everywhere. He had my back everywhere and I really trust him.”

Zhou came into the second round really focused.

“[I ws thinking about] being accurate, getting up the lines and make sure you don’t miss any lead changes,” she said.

There was a bogey jump, Fence 2, in the first round in the form of an oxer set near the rail. Riders approached that jump after jumping a fence across the middle, but many ponies spooked or stopped at the jump. Twenty riders in the class were eliminated—most due to refusals at Fence 2—and another four fell off.

“I was not expecting that—neither was [course designer Jasen Shelley], I know,” said Griffith who trains Zhou along with the Heritage Farm team. “I had some people where I just said, go up there and ride it like they’re going to spook, and they didn’t at all. So it was really hard to judge who was going to look at it and who wasn’t. Some of the brave ponies that I’ve never seen look had a visceral reaction to it; I mean, I was a little nervous on all of mine, because I was like, ‘God, I’ve seen [solid] ponies now that I’ve known for 10 years spooking and stopping.’ ”

Zhou went early—she was 13^th of the 193 in the class—and at that point the jump hadn’t caused too many problems.

“I was almost happy we went early because we weren’t thinking that was like a thing,” said Griffith. “We were like, ‘Just go [Fence 1 to Fence 2].’ It almost worked our advantage, because we weren’t overthinking the second jump.”

Zhou first paired up with Editorial two and a half years ago. After spending the winter at home with Heritage Farm trainer Dottie Barnwell Areson, Zhou took over the ride and they spent the rest of the season in the children’s pony division. Last year was their “breakout year” when they entered the green and regular divisions, finishing their season with a medium pony hunter title at the Pennsylvania National.

“[He needs] a strong leg, firm hand, a lot of leg,” said Zhou, New York City. “He’s pretty brave, and he does all the work for you. He’s quiet. He takes a little leg and hand, but he’s quiet.”

This is Zhou’s second Pony Finals championship this year, winning the individual small/medium pony jumper title earlier this week. But her first round on Editorial didn’t go to plan when she missed in the medium pony hunter over fences class at the last fence. But heading into today’s medal final she kept herself focused.

“[Griffith] said ‘Just ride it like you would any pony. Give it your best go,’ ” said Zhou.

Though she has two more years on small ponies, Zhou has already started riding full sized mounts, and she’s hoping to compete in a 3’3” equitation final or two this fall.

Griffith said that Zhou’s natural seat on a pony has given her a leg up in the sport.

“She had that feel, like the way she sits around a horse, the correct feel, and she’s a worker,” and those two things have led to her success, said Griffith. “So talent and a worker is hard to top because she’s not afraid to ride all day. Try ponies for me. Drop her stirrups. She never says no. She rides all day long. So it’s not surprising that she excels because she’s very talented. She really has the drive and the desire and the backing. Her family wants her to do it, and she’s happy to put in the hours and come all day on the weekend it’s 100 degrees—she doesn’t complain.”

Get full results here.

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