Pony Finals – Decaseconds

Pony Finals 2022 Day 1

2023-Mar-01 adohertyh1 Comment

After posts devoted to my photography on the days leading up to Pony Finals 2022, we’ve finally arrived at the main event.

Days start early and run long; this pair is already heading back from the ring in spite of the morning light behind them.

Nearby, this trainer waits to lunge a pony.

And this young rider hurries to groom.

This was my first summer working with Sony’s 70-200 mm f/2.8 lens; the narrow depth of field (with its buttery bokeh) in combination with the eye-detecting autofocus has taken all of the luck out of capturing shots like this one.

Speaking of luck, the passengers on this overloaded golf cart might be pushing theirs.

Some pictures seem like they’re emitting sound. This is one of those.

Warm-ups in the Rolex Ring were a high-traffic affair.

In spite of the traffic, moments emerge in which a single rider is isolated.

I love those moments in which horse and rider seem to share the same expression.

Though there are no events in which adults compete during Pony Finals, this wouldn’t be a Kentucky photoset without Piper and Reuben in the mix.

Emily Elek, one of Piper’s trainers, is always exceptionally busy during Pony Finals. This picture of Emily talking on the phone is rather special for folks who know her constant refrain: “Don’t call—text!”

Pony Finals 2022 Day 1 XIII: Emily Now for an amusing pair of shots: two head-on pictures of smiling riders—one with a somewhat larger mount than the other.

Lastly, a shot of Will during his last Pony Finals (he just aged out of the under-18 competition) riding alongside his father in the electric golf cart. (The cart is affectionately called “blueberry.”)

The Day Before Pony Finals

2023-Feb-132023-Feb-12 adohertyh1 Comment

Progressing through important summer horse show days finally brings us to the verge of Pony Finals. To whatever extent the event was subdued in 2020 and 2021, 2022 brought back the full experience.

Around Stonewall Farm, Pony Finals wouldn’t have been possible without the work of a whole team of young equestrians. Catching them in a rare group shot felt like a rare alignment of planets.

Naturally, that was because of the amount of time spent ferrying to and from the Rolex ring. As in past years, golf carts play a key role.

In the ring, young riders have time to school and explore the space before they return for scored trips beginning the next day. Behind this squad, the VIP sits empty.

There’s a mix of high stakes and informal context that makes this day before Pony Finals fascinating.

The formal riding clothes that will make up the next few days, the spectators in the stands, the judges, the jumps—all are absent.

There’s even time to stop for a snack…

…Or for a group photo.

The huge expanse of the Rolex’s footing makes for some remarkably neutral backgrounds. Details in horse and rider are all that stand out.

Back at the barn, pony after pony goes out for schooling or trials.

Will awaits a pony on the way back from the ring.

Megan gets Piper’s horse out of his stall…

And grooms him.

Piper heads off to ride.

The schooling ring is as busy as the Rolex.

In the warm-up, young riders focus on perfecting their rides.

Piper in the ring—with some good advertising.

“Maybe the real Pony Finals champions were the friends we made along the way.”

Pony Finals Mega 2021/2020

2021-Aug-252021-Aug-24 adohertyhLeave a comment

The start of August marked Pony Finals 2021 (and a partial re-do of the aborted Pony Finals 2020.) Unlike recent years in the Walnut Ring, this year’s Pony Finals was held in Kentucky Horse Park’s dramatic Rolex Arena—and I was there with media credentials for The Plaid Horse.

Getting the show up and running meant moving a lot of resources, like the stack of bedding here, around the Horse Park… But the result was occasionally some unfortunate traffic jams.

Rails for jumps, likewise, were stacked up and ready to go.

The pony model classes happened relatively early on in the competition. Though spectators crowded the rails, stewards monitored them carefully to prevent any coaching of the young competitors.

Carleton Brooks and Piper Klemm were among the spectators.

Achieving victory in the model has a lot to do with conformation. Front legs should be even with one another.

When the class ended, the competitors exited beneath the massive Rolex sign.

Just outside the Arena was an area for warm up and golf-cart parking.

Riders stand at attention during an under saddle class.

…Then exit the Arena in an orderly fashion when the class has ended. The pool of competitors in some divisions was so large that they were broken into multiple groups.

While some ponies were in the ring, others were in the schooling ring for trials.

With horses and ponies involved in all kinds of activities, the Horse Park had a festival atmosphere.

Small ponies look even smaller in front of big signage.

And the huge Rolex Arena looks even bigger with a small pony in it.

At the end of the day, though, this is ultimately about what pony and rider can do together in the ring.

Fences on fences on fences.

The list of what pony is in what class… While this board might be small at some shows, here most divisions number in the dozens.

A bird’s eye view of the warm-up ring.

So many ponies are on the grounds that tents are used to supplement stall space.

Bath time outside the tent. Drying off the pony after washing is important to prevent overheating on humid summer days.

Back at the cottage, the trailer rests before another day as “pony taxi service”.

Stop for Ponies

2020-Feb-032020-Feb-02 adohertyhLeave a comment

When it comes to equines (and their riders), I’ve generally found that attitude is inversely proportional to size.

Scenes from Kentucky Horse Park

2015-Jan-162015-Jan-16 adohertyhLeave a comment

For my 500^th Decaseconds post, I’m bringing you some photos from the Pony Finals at the Kentucky Horse Park outside Lexington. The weather was fully as humid and sunny as the southern Midwest is fabled to be at the end of July, and these three images capture the different aspects of the place. This first image, of the model, captures the form and uniform (so to speak) that rigidly controls the event.

This image, on the other hand, shows one of the folks working behind the scene. Given his surf-ready hair, blue wayfarers, and general air of authority, I call this image “Bro-thority.”

Finally, I love this shot for the looks on the riders’ faces as they exit the ring—done, for just a moment, and proud or defeated or ambivalent but, at the very least, relieved.

Infinite Fences

2014-Aug-08 adohertyhLeave a comment

The Kentucky Horse Park (particularly at Pony Finals) is a Mecca for pony-obsessed folks around the continent. Even this tiny corner of the facility, all paddocks and fences and barns, begins to show how that came to be the case.