Lexington, Ky. – Aug. 8, 2018 – Bowties and braids returned to the Walnut Ring at the Kentucky Horse Park for the second day of the 2018 USEF Pony Finals, presented by Collecting Gaits Farm, on Wednesday, with the day one leaders aiming to retain their top positions in the Large Regular and Small Green Pony Hunter divisions. In the end, Kat Fuqua and Brighton led from start to finish and were successful at fending off the large field of competition to emerge victorious in the Large Regular Pony Hunters, while Skylar Wireman, with the reins on Neon Moon, leapfrogged 20 places to the top of the leaderboard in the Small Green Pony Hunter division.
As the last to ride of more than 140 entries in the Large Regular Pony Hunters, 11-year-old Fuqua and her own Brighton overcame the pressure to lay down the highest scoring single trip of the day, easily sweeping all three phases of the division and claiming the championship tricolors. Displaying their prowess by maintaining an even rhythm around the lofty track, the winning duo raked in scores of 85.5, 87.5 and 88 from the judges panel to brandish top marks of 261 in the over fences class. Combined with Tuesday’s score, Fuqua and Brighton’s final tally was 1063.65, more than 30 points ahead of the reserve champion and a strong score to keep them in contention for the Grand Regular Pony Hunter title to be crowned Saturday following the conclusion of all the divisions.
The 2018 event is Fuqua’s fifth Pony Finals appearance, but her first championship win, fittingly on her mother’s birthday. Both of Fuqua’s parents are grand prix dressage riders, but their daughter has shown an aptitude for jumping and shows no signs of slowing down, recently earning a top placing at the USEF Junior Hunter National Championships – East. The young rider from Atlanta, Georgia will return later in the week to contest more pony divisions against her peers.
One of only five pony-and-rider combinations to break the 1,000-point benchmark, Chandler Wilks navigated Ashley Vail Aycox’s Valentino to the reserve championship with a cumulative score of 1029.86, followed by Propp and Aquitaine Equine’s News Day, who jumped from ninth at the beginning of the day to nab the final podium spot with marks of 1027.76. Clair Campbell and Eastside, owned by Maher Family, LLC, claimed fourth place, while Emma Rupinski and Lily Rupinski’s Stonewall Top Call pulled off one of the largest improvements of the day to finish in fifth position after jumping from the 30th spot.
Capping off the afternoon, the Small Green Pony Hunters took the spotlight and, with a smaller field of 40 contenders, movement among the top of the ranks was not out of the question. Riding 19th in the order of go as the 21st-ranked pair after day one, 13-year-old Wireman and Balmoral’s Neon Moon were not pegged as one of the frontrunners, but quickly attracted attention with their talented trip that earned them scores of 86, 87 and 90 from the watchful eyes of the judges. Forced to wait with nearly half of the class still to ride, Wireman looked on as her fellow riders took their shot at usurping her place atop the scorecard, but none were able to overtake her over fences marks of 263 or her cumulative 998.50 division points.
Alexa Lignelli and Agatha Lignelli’s Just Right rode to the second place ribbon both over fences and overall with 254 and 994.60 points, respectively, while Alexandra Miller aboard Pineapple, owned by Emily Elek-Burtard, likewise clinched third position over fences and in the final division rankings. Owner-rider Vanessa Mazzoli and Partly Cloudy earned the fourth spot, and Propp and Aquitaine Equine’s With Love, the day one leaders, rounded out the top five finishers.
Earlier in the day, Carolyn Colter and Jessica Zandri’s So Enchanted maneuvered their way to the early lead in the Small Regular Pony Hunters thanks to ribbon-worthy performances in both the model and under saddle phases. Returning Thursday with a score of 526.69, the pair will be closely chased by Taylor Cawley and Cara Cheska’s Benjamin Buttons sitting less than two points behind, followed by Helen Ryan and Town Line Equestrian, LLC’s Smitten in the current third position.
The 2018 USEF Pony Finals, presented by Collecting Gaits Farm, will continue through Sunday, Aug. 12. The nation’s best young pony riders will be tested in Small, Medium and Large classes of both Regular Hunter and Green Hunter divisions in the Walnut Ring, and the Alltech Arena will play host to Pony Jumper competition Thursday through Saturday. Sunday’s feature will be the Pony Medal Finals, one of the week’s highlight events.
FROM THE WINNER’S CIRCLE
Kat Fuqua – Large Regular Pony Hunter champion
On her reaction to winning:
“I haven’t even taken it all in yet, I’m so excited! This is my fifth year at Pony Finals and I have never won before. It feel amazing because it is only my second year getting a ribbon. I’m really, really thrilled.”
On preparing for Pony Finals with Brighton:
“I learned a lot throughout the year and trained. We trained a lot at home and have been doing some courses to pretend we are at Pony Finals. I was really happy with our course today. I’ve only been riding him a little over a month, but he has really clicked to our program.”
On coming to Pony Finals:
“I love being here. It is so much fun and I get to see all my friends that don’t live where I live! I still have some more rides this week, so hopefully we keep doing well. My goals are just to keep doing well and stay consistent.”
Skylar Wireman – Small Green Pony Hunter champion
On her round:
“It went really well and he was super. My plan today was to just go put in the best round that I could and not worry about the ribbons. I just wanted to focus on my round because that’s usually when I ride my best. The course was really straightforward and a really good course for the greens.”
On Neon Moon:
“He is really easy to ride. He is straightforward and fun. He has such a great personality and that’s what I love about him. I started showing him in January. He is a really friendly pony and very cuddly. He loves to be in your pockets.”
On coming to Pony Finals:
“It’s so amazing. I’ve only been here one other time. It’s really amazing to just be here and it’s really fun. There is so much stuff to do. It’s a fun week. I love the atmosphere here and all the things that USEF does, like the modeling clinic and the sport psychology. I think all of that is really fun.”
RESULTS
Place / Horse / Rider / Owner / Score
Large Regular Pony Hunters Over Fences
1. Brighton / Kat Fuqua / Kat Fuqua / 261.000
2. News Day / Clara Propp / Aquitaine Equine / 258.00
3. Woodlands Misty Rain / Georgia Schmidt / Aldridge Equestrian, LLC / 256.00
4. Center Field Elle Gibbs / GC Ponies, LLC / 256.00
5. Del Ray / Olivia Manasse / Eaton Place LLC / 255.00
6. Eastside / Claire Campbell / Maher Family LLC / 253.50
7. Stonewall Top Call / Emma Rupinski / Lily Rupinski / 251.36
8. Celtics Creek Friar Tuck / Emily Grace Swinson / Erin Dombroski / 250.79
9. Silverwood Full Sail / Dylan Driver / Jennifer Darst / 250.00
10. Valentino / Chandler Wilks / Ashley Vail Aycox / 247.65
Small Green Pony Hunters Over Fences
1. Neon Moon / Skylar Wireman / Balmoral / 263.00
2. Just Right / Alexa Lignelli / Agatha Lignelli / 254.00
3. Pineapple / Alexandra Miller / Emily Elek-Burtard / 244.00
4. Tigerlily / Sydney Lin / Jessica Winer / 239.00
5. Partly Cloudy / Vanessa Mazzoli / Vanessa Mazzoli / 232.50
6. The Roan Ranger / Finley-Grace Brooks / Finley-Grace Brooks / 231.00
7. Photobomb / Sterling Malnik / Castlewood Farm, Inc. / 228.000
8. Bluebird Matthew / Chandler Wilks / Alston McLane / 222.000
9. Tina Turner / Lauren Gee / Team Weston Llc / 222.000
10. Lily Von S / Adora Dinh / Adora Dinh / 217.000
Small Regular Pony Hunters Model
1. Benjamin Buttons / Taylor Cawley / Cara Cheska / 255.77
2. Sir Dragon / Emma Hechtman / Campbell Brown / 253.87
3. Smoke Tree Starlet / Annabelle Brown / Ramble On Farm / 252.89
4. So Enchanted / Carolyn Colter / Jessica Zandri / 251.49
5. Farmore Charismatic / Lauren Gee / Ava Berman / 251.26
6. Roll Call / Georgia Jacob / Ava Berman / 249.93
7. Shenandoah Sirocco / Kaitlyn Linck / Top Venture West / 249.66
8. Smitten / Helen Ryan / Town Line Equestrian LLC / 249.42
9. Clovermeade Blue Feathers / Emily Clee / Rabbit Hill Farm / 249.35
10. iFlirt / Ella Tarumianz / Ella Tarumianz / 246.08
Small Regular Pony Hunters Under Saddle
1. So Enchanted / Carolyn Colter / Jessica Zandri / 275.20
2. Benjamin Buttons / Taylor Cawley / Cara Cheska / 269.40
3. iParty / Alexa Lignelli / Alexa Lignelli / 268.52
4. Smitten / Helen Ryan / Town Line Equestrian, LLC / 268.00
5. Bit Of Love / Maddie Tosh / Dr Betsee Parker / 265.50
6. Fairytales / Emilia Richard / Fairytales, LLC / 265.40
7. iSaid / Tiara D’Amico / Megan D’Amico / 264.90
8. Smoke Tree Starlet / Annabelle Brown / Ramble On Farm / 264.40
9. Benlea Mizzou / Clara Propp / Aquitaine Equine / 264.30
10. Tazmanian Devil / Isabel Bertelsen / Isabel Bertelsen / 262.52
For more information on the 2018 USEF Pony Finals, please click here.
