Pony Finals 2015

[lcw579]

[QUOTE=hunterrider23;8258221]
Yes that’s her! We’re a little disappointed with how low respectable scores are placing, but what can you do when you’re up against Grand Prix riders that decide they want to do the large ponies for a bit. Ah well, it’s a shame there’s no next year for us.[/QUOTE]

I know you are young but this really sounds like sour grapes. Your sister did well in competition against the best there is - Good for her! She held her own and that is something to be proud of.

I hope that Pony Finals doesn’t follow the trend of adding categories so that more people can get ribbons. That’s not how life works. It’s a good lesson that more people need to learn.

[LJD]

If we raised the pony heights, the division would become even less egalitarian. It would prevent younger, timid children from competing or moving up and there would be ponies that are now overfaced by the height and width of the jumps.

Even if X owner didn’t own Y pony, I think still this you’d see Y pony in the top 25% of its division every year because it’s just that much more consistent and fancy. And that’s okay and it’s part of the sport.

[supershorty628]

[QUOTE=hunterrider23;8258960]
But to be entirely honest, I’m just not sure why there’s no rule in place along the lines of “those competing at pf cannot have shown over 3’6, excluding the children’s jumpers”. Honestly it just makes sense. I’m not one who thinks we need to water down the ponies at all[/QUOTE]

But what you are proposing is watering them down.

Your sister held her own against the best of the best, and that’s great. Don’t encourage the sour grapes outlook by telling her “well, if so-and-so weren’t here, you would have been placed where you DESERVED.” She should take pride in her accomplishments, and maybe be a little disappointed that she didn’t get a ribbon, but the fact that she got there and did great is what’s important.

[PaintPony]

My feed just keeps showing commercials and a 29 minute video about some rider. Why can’t I see the show?

[Mayaty02]

[QUOTE=PaintPony;8259037]
My feed just keeps showing commercials and a 29 minute video about some rider. Why can’t I see the show? :([/QUOTE]
they are on break while they set the jumping course. Should start at 11

[findeight]

BTW if you want to watch the Large over fences this after noon, they go in reverse order of their combined Model and US score, that will help you find your favorites. Top guns go last.

For hunterrider 23, the hardest places to beat the very highest quality Ponies are in the Model where it’s all perfect conformation and few or no blemishes and the US where its all about being as close to a perfect mover through all the gaits as possible.

Both those classes need things you cannot train for, you must start with an attractive, high quality Pony. A splint, a bobble , average or only slightly better movement in the hack take you O.U.T. It’s not fair to criticize low scoring unless it is a perfectly conformed Pony and/or an outstanding mover. Especially when you don’t see the whole class they are scored against, all 100+ of them.

BUT Ponies can be trained for Over Fences and don’t have to have perfect conformation or be the worlds best mover. That’s why the Over Fences scores count for a larger part of the combined score so it’s not over until they jump.

They pin all three so it’s possible to get a ribbon in the Over Fences even if they don’t get high scores in the others. It’s also possible to get high scores in the others and even a high combined score going into jumping and totally bomb out dropping out of contention for the overall awards.

[busylady]

I agree with the commenters who believe this is a competition and it isn’t supposed to be “fair.” Of course the best pony should win, and kids should certainly be happy just to be playing in this sandbox. But, pony finals is an event for children, or at least it should be, and the part I find disturbing is how an adult has been able to dominate the competition for so many years. A wealthy grown woman purchasing the fanciest and most expensive ponies, then finding the most talented rider (who also happens to compete at the highest levels on horses) to show it, is, well, strange and tacky. I can’t fathom what pleasure an adult gets from competing against children, particularly when said adult takes home the top prizes again…and again…and again. How could that be satisfying?? Of course the other issue is the trainers who use pony finals, and professional juniors, as a way to market their ponies.

Anyway, many other circuits have owner to ride awards and divisions. I believe AQHA only allows juniors to show horses their family owns (at least that was the rule when I showed 15 years ago), and the Arab circuit separates the classes by junior owner to ride and junior to ride. It is unlikely USHJA will ever adopt similar requirements, given the amount of money the trainers (who are also the ultimate decision makers) make off the current system. But, it certainly wouldn’t hurt our sport.

[sarcam02]

Large O/F set to start at 11

[Happyhooves]

Dags’ OTR idea seems good. The Pony Pros still win but the other kids in those 120+ classes are rewarded for their own accomplishment. They and their parents go home happy, kids continue riding, parents perhaps buy more ponies because they’re having fun and keep supporting the horse industry. A win win. (Plenty of time for the little Pigtailed Ones clutching some satin with some salvaged self esteem to grow older, get more serious and in some cases, grow sour on the sport)

[LJD]

[QUOTE=busylady;8259059]
I agree with the commenters who believe this is a competition and it isn’t supposed to be “fair.” Of course the best pony should win, and kids should certainly be happy just to be playing in this sandbox. But, pony finals is an event for children, or at least it should be, and the part I find disturbing is how an adult has been able to dominate the competition for so many years. A wealthy grown woman purchasing the fanciest and most expensive ponies, then finding the most talented rider (who also happens to compete at the highest levels on horses) to show it, is, well, strange and tacky. I can’t fathom what pleasure an adult gets from competing against children, particularly when said adult takes home the top prizes again…and again…and again. How could that be satisfying?? Of course the other issue is the trainers who use pony finals, and professional juniors, as a way to market their ponies.

Anyway, many other circuits have owner to ride awards and divisions. I believe AQHA only allows juniors to show horses their family owns (at least that was the rule when I showed 15 years ago), and the Arab circuit separates the classes by junior owner to ride and junior to ride. It is unlikely USHJA will ever adopt similar requirements, given the amount of money the trainers (who are also the ultimate decision makers) make off the current system. But, it certainly wouldn’t hurt our sport.[/QUOTE]

Do you know why she chose to X rider to ride Y pony? I certainly don’t have any insight, but I wouldn’t be surprised if it was because another rider already committed to another trainer. I think that Betsee Parker is a champion of the sport and more often than not, gives young riders opportunities that they might not have without her support. And I think her overall care of her horses is to be applauded and I take comfort knowing that if it’s her horse, it’s going to have a life of luxury well after its show career is over. How is her ownership any different than a trainer hanging on to their favorite pony (e.g., Remember the Laughter and Scott Stewart) and finding different riders to show it?

[findeight]

[QUOTE=Happyhooves;8259070]
Dags’ OTR idea seems good. The Pony Pros still win but the other kids in those 120+ classes are rewarded for their own accomplishment. They and their parents go home happy, kids continue riding, parents perhaps buy more ponies because they’re having fun and keep supporting the horse industry. A win win. (Plenty of time for the little Pigtailed Ones clutching some satin with some salvaged self esteem to grow older, get more serious and in some cases, grow sour on the sport):D[/QUOTE]

Again, some of these pigtailed tykes own multiple 6 figure Ponies so the satin is not going home with anybody new.

Its not tacky for an active supporter of the sport who does not ride and chooses not to push their child into high pressure competition to enjoy showing top quality Ponies. Or top horses for Juniors and Medal riders.

[Pennywell_Bay]

[QUOTE=busylady;8259059]
I agree with the commenters who believe this is a competition and it isn’t supposed to be “fair.” Of course the best pony should win, and kids should certainly be happy just to be playing in this sandbox. But, pony finals is an event for children, or at least it should be, and the part I find disturbing is how an adult has been able to dominate the competition for so many years. A wealthy grown woman purchasing the fanciest and most expensive ponies, then finding the most talented rider (who also happens to compete at the highest levels on horses) to show it, is, well, strange and tacky. I can’t fathom what pleasure an adult gets from competing against children, particularly when said adult takes home the top prizes again…and again…and again. How could that be satisfying?? Of course the other issue is the trainers who use pony finals, and professional juniors, as a way to market their ponies.

Anyway, many other circuits have owner to ride awards and divisions. I believe AQHA only allows juniors to show horses their family owns (at least that was the rule when I showed 15 years ago), and the Arab circuit separates the classes by junior owner to ride and junior to ride. It is unlikely USHJA will ever adopt similar requirements, given the amount of money the trainers (who are also the ultimate decision makers) make off the current system. But, it certainly wouldn’t hurt our sport.[/QUOTE]

I bolded the part I am addressing, actually no. Pony Finals came about by a challenge from the British Pony Society to compete against the US pony riders. In about the third year, US took it so seriously we sent the kids competing to Gladstone for training. Eventually it turned into the PF we know.

As far as the rest, the PF thread degrades every year into complaining about BP. How about some good news? There is now a program kids can enter who do not have the means to get to PF, but have the skill. Pretty awesome program.

[kenyarider]

Does anyone know how the child with the mustang is doing? I think she was showing in large green?

[Indy]

[QUOTE=kenyarider;8259140]
Does anyone know how the child with the mustang is doing? I think she was showing in large green?[/QUOTE]

Large greens don’t start until tomorrow.

[541hunter]

Just wanted to put it out there that the kid who just finished on Rosewood is such a good sport! She had a couple chips to the oxers in the lines and I caught her petting the pony on the backside to say sorry/thanks. It was cute! Good on her for keeping on even after a couple mistakes.

[Darkwave]

Whenever I read threads like these, I’m reminded of my trainer’s joke from some 25 years ago:

“it’s not fair - they cheated! They have nicer ponies AND they ride them better!”

[Lord_Helpus]

I am very confused. I tuned in at aobut 11:15. Judging from the height of the fences and the size of the ponies I ass-u-med that they were still on the smalls.

Plus many/most of the riders are wearing jodpurs (sp?). I thought that riders in the larges wore tall boots nowadays. Or as the clearly junior hunter riders wearing jods so they look younger?

Then along comes Valor with Mimi Gochman and the pony is clearly a large!! But it must be at least 4" higher than the other ponies I saw.

The the announcer mentioned the Large ponies! Some of these kids have their legs hanging down by 6" and the ponies are stepping over fences which cannot be 3’.

Is the Morgan Ward who is showing the same girl who won the section B (or whatever it is called now) and was 4th in the overall finals of the International Hunter Derby finals last year?

Are the larges really going now (12 noon) and are these fences really 3’ ?!?!

[PaintPony]

So this is a stupid inconsequential question, but I noticed that one pony rider only had her hair in a single braid with a ribbon instead of the usual two. (Told you this was stupid!)

Is that the new trend or just a personal thing?
I only noticed it because I used to teach, and took many short-stirrup riders to shows over the years. I became a pro at braiding hair, tying (and making) bows, and putting on garters.

[VirginiaBred]

Schedule for Pony Finals - https://www.usef.org/documents/disciplines/pony/2015/Schedule.pdf

[541hunter]

[QUOTE=Lord Helpus;8259237]
Are the larges really going now (12 noon) and are these fences really 3’ ?!?![/QUOTE]

Yep, we’re on larges, and I’m pretty sure the fences are 3’, though the extra fill can make them look shorter…the Small Greens are supposed to start at 4:40 ET.