Tell me about Pony Finals. This will be our first year and no one from our barn has ever been to Pony Finals either.
Hoping you get some responses! It’s our first time too 
I have been, just stopped by when in the area on vacation though so not with a pony, and the first thing that struck me is that you had to have a number on you at all times on the pony. As I understand it, there are strict regulations with respect to who can ride what horse at what time (the showing rider only until after the pony has showed etc). I am sure we will all get tons of info as we get closer, but those were the two things that stood out to me as different than a normal show. That and that it looked SUPER fun 
Be sure to review the rules with kids and parents. Please. Don’t get a DQ before you even get started, happens every year. There are multiple stewards and ever present Pony Moms always eager to prune DDs competition. I am serious too.
The absolute most important thing you have to do is make sure the kids can jump a much more randomly constructed course in a huge and odd shaped ring with no fence to follow around inside, outside, diagonal and more strides in the lines then fingers on their hand or gasp unrelated distances to BIG oxers.
They have a course walk for each Hunter class. Time is posted and updated as needed. BE THERE FOR THE COURSE WALK. Don’t be the kid that gets lost trying to find the first fence-which is never in plain view from the in gate or on a traditional quarter line or diagonal, they are famous for hiding it behind bushes, landscape decorations and other jumps and requiring a long, twisting approach. Every year you see that deer in the headlights look between those big bows after they trot in and…get lost.
Once they get started over that first fence the track is big, looping and forward, kids really need to know where they are going next and stay on it. There can be choices of which side of wide fences to take to set up a following turn and there are options in the track itself, where to turn being a biggie. Kids that do some jumpers have a bit of an advantage.
With only a single O/F, hack and Model, off course means a really, really long ride home.
They assign ride times and post them. Be there. You don’t want to get stuck on the bottom of 128 Ponies and that’s only if you are lucky and they don’t DQ you. They do not hold the gate or shift the order. Every year several kids get an even longer ride home then the off coursers, never even get into the ring. With the advent of cell phones and the number of adults in each kids entourage, there is no reason they should miss their time. But…
The good news is it runs pretty much as scheduled or earlier due to scratches so scheduling is easy, you know when and where, might move up to earlier but rarely be later then posted. That means it ends at a decent hour and you can plan after show activities and they have a lot of them. The golf cart costume class gets pretty elaborate.
There are several free clinics presented by well known trainers and judges and the Emerson Burr Horsemanship Test that’s split into 4 age groups taking a written test with top scores in each age group advancing to a hands on practical involving everything but riding.
For mom/dad they have a Pony Parent Spa (formerly Pony Mom Spa) with free massages and wine. Vendors row is excellent both for show stuff and cute stuff.
Bring your own food unless you are getting it free at the exhibitor dinner or awards presentation and sale buffet ( or bought seats under the tents with the daily buffet). That’s one thing the horse park has never gotten right.
The ring is well away from the barns and the after show venues are spread out. You might want to reserve a golf cart now. Not as bad as WEF and you can’t park them ringside-they stay at the bottom of the hill, but it can save a half mile walk each way depending on where the stalls are…or run if the kid left something back at the barn 6 trips out.
awesome ^^
I just bumped up last years PF faux pas thread. Enjoy
Findeight - thanks for the tips. DD actually does the Pony Jumpers and random courses are the name of the game! She has been studying past PF jumper courses to try to get a feel for the course designs and she lives for the course walk. Even though part of your answer was hunter pony based, I realize that the same emphasized points apply to the jumpers and appreciate the insight. It would be very disappointing to make simple management mistakes at this stage after the past year of working so hard to qualify.
The Jumper ring, whichever it is this year, will have posted schooling times. That will be the only times it will be available to ride in I’d plan my day around those times. No need to find out the Pony is afraid of draping around a judge or announcers stand, a lighted exit sign or something equally stupid during her team or individual rounds. Don’t say it never spooks either, they’ll find something.
Agree with Findeight. Be sure to take advantage of the schooling round even if you don’t want to do the whole course. We were in the Altech arena and it was nice to go in and get a feel of it. The warm up there is bedlam so be sure to plan your time carefully. You don’t want to be in there any more than you need to.
The jumper barn was nice and relaxed - we had a great time. Be sure to try the Emerson Burr test. DD won for her age group last year. It’s a nice prize.
If you haven’t been to KHP, it’s a pretty big place. Pack the bikes, golf carts, scooters, whatever will help you cover ground.
Also, let the kids have some fun! There are lots of different activities for them, so try to do enough stuff that they have an enjoyable show, with or without ribbons at the end of it.
We are definitely treating it as a vacation with our pony as opposed to a horse show and we want to maximize our experience there so all of the suggestions are very welcome. Thanks for the tip about the Emerson Burr test. I wouldn’t have thought about suggesting that DD do it but I’m sure she will enjoy challenging herself.
