[QUOTE=dags;7706309]
Having a bit of a pony jumper discussion on my FB that’s proved interesting. I watched the first 33 rounds of Rd. 1 Friday… when I left 50% of that class had been eliminated (hence my despairing comment on FB & ensuing discussion). Several (actually lots) of kids hit the dirt, and a whole heck of a lot more pushed themselves back into the tack off the pony’s neck or the standard into which they were getting ready to faceplant. There was a TON of whip being used to make up for either a lack of scope & confidence or a rider’s sloppy approach.
I don’t know if it was the course design, or (as a pro with kids in it pointed out) the horrible warm up area for the Alltech ring, or the fact that these kids rarely get a chance to jump these specs all year, but we are seriously doing it wrong.
Actually, I think this is part of the problem. I saw very few ponies that were truly suited to be out there, there were a lot of round pegs being fit into square holes. There were few truly keen jumpers - which a pony that’s supposed to fix mistakes at 1.10m must be. Just because a pony can’t cut it in the hunters does not mean it can be whipped into being a 1.10m jumper ~ and therein lies the Euro/USA difference. Their kids can go pedal to the metal like this because they’re on real jumper ponies, and we’re trying to do the same thing on hunter rejects. Even at the measly 1.10m height that just doesn’t work.
By the way, I did see some great ponies and some great riders… unfortunately a lot of the time they weren’t on the same team 
But others were really doing it right. The Peralta (Ritter) kid (sorry, blanking name) rode beautifully and smartly. And the Pony Club kids were fabulous and they eventually won, which I called early on, when they were the only round out of the first 4 or 5 to not get eliminated.
Another point of discussion… I think we’re seeing these kids come into the pony jumper ring with hunter trainers, which makes sense because who but hunter trainers would go to pony finals? But I think a lot may boil down to this. Said pro mentioned above was last out of ring in the course walk with his kids, at least 5 more minutes in there than (almost) anyone else. He’s an international GP rider not from the States, and it was his very first pony finals (bless him). He was clearly picking that course apart for his kids, he clearly saw all the traps coming. Have a feeling the rest didn’t give it much more thought than an eq course against the clock, and it showed.
By the time those kids move up to the jr. jumpers and so forth, they’ve usually adjusted to a trainer that specializes in jumpers, but that skill set typically isn’t offered in a pony hunter program.[/QUOTE]
A big problem is the industry as a whole. Trainers put the emphasis on the hunter ponies because they for the most part are not comfortable with the jumper arena.Pretty much anyone can qualify for pony hunter finals,which is a great concept from a monetary stand point. And as you mentioned the results were not pretty for those kids trained by "not current"Pony Jumper trainers.People are forgetting that JUMPERS are an Olympic discipline ! This pony jumper competition is the first chance for our young riders to compete with a team format at a national level. It’s a big deal and should be treated as such. Sad to say a rather large percentage of the “trainers” taking the jumper kids money do not even know the rules. And I speak of basic rules. In one class I witnessed the following…1.Improper attire.This was a National Championship people! You do not send a child into the ring with an unbuttoned shirt, no jacket ,and a number tied around her waist. (Sadly the child had a clean round but was eliminated rightfully so) The trainer was astonished ):
2. Mounting inside the ring…that’s cool,had permission but then allowing the horse with the rider to back out of the out gate…Elimination…(All that needed to be done was make sure the out gate was closed before child mounted)3. Starting before the start tone…BASIC…4. Having a refusal at element B as in a and b and jumping only B…Elimination…5. This sadly says so much…I witness a post on face book (the devil) from a trainer commending her student for having the “fastest” time of the day. The time allowed was 78 and Susie Q did it in 54…yes she had a few rails but man she was fast! The USEF made a radical change this year to both the qualifying criteria and the format for the National Finals.The jumps were bigger this year and the need for speed was eliminated. This was clearly outlined in the meeting before the Finals started but some people just don’t get it.
Parents need to step up,look around and say…umm why does it look so easy for some and so hard for others? Or why did my child wind up on the ground or eliminated? Why am I paying for bad information?
Hopefully some lessons were learned. Hopefully people will start to take this Final seriously,train for it and arrive prepared to represent their Zones with pride and knowledge of the rules. Hopefully trainers will seek out help and advice of people willing to share, to come up with a UNITED TEAM. TEAM SPORT! Every Chef should be planning right now for next years team and continuing to raise the bar.
And finally…shows that do not offer the pony jumper qualifying classes should be ashamed not to support this springboard to International TEAM competition. WEF…The best jumper trainers in the world compete there and they don’t offer the classes. This adds to the problem. People need to speak up and ask for change. Diane Langer and Robert Ridland want to start looking for talent earlier on,here is the place. That’s all for now.
