August 11, 2006

Samantha Schaefer Wins 2006 USEF Pony Medal Final Presented by Far Niente Stables

Lexington, KY – On day three of the 2006 USEF Pony Final National Championships, Samantha Schaefer and Zone 10 walked away with the top prizes. The 13-year-old Schaefer, of Westminster, MD, rode her seven-year-old German Riding Pony gelding, Rockport, to their first Pony Finals win. This was their first time riding indoors, after the competition had to be moved inside today due to the torrential rainstorms the Lexington area saw last night.

Schaefer, along with 201 other riders, rode a tough initial course that Schaefer said was not easy, but not impossible. “I got a good draw and got to watch a lot of people go,” Schaefer said. “The hardest thing to work on was my position because I like to gallop and my legs slide back. He’s got a good canter; he does perfect lead changes so I never have to worry about that.”

Twenty-five riders were called back to ride another challenging course. Of those called back were eight large ponies, 12 medium ponies and five small ponies. The judges narrowed it down to two riders and asked them to enter the ring with no stirrups and ride a sitting trot, canter and rising trot.

Schaefer had two reserves, in large and small ponies, in yesterday’s 2006 Wild Horsefeathers/USEF National Green Hunter Pony Championship. Along with the title, blue ribbon and gold medal, Schaefer took home a tack trunk, dress sheet from Royal Rider and silver tray to represent the Easter Sunday Memorial Trophy that will have Schaefer’s name engraved on it and be housed at the USEF headquarters. She is a Pony Finals veteran, having been seven times. Tomorrow she will compete in the medium regular pony hunters.

Reserve champion went to 13-year-old Olivia Jack of Fairfield, CT, riding the 11-year-old blue roan gelding, Junior Mint, owned by Kate Salzman.

Back to 2006 USEF Pony Finals Index