Getting started showing in our sport is such a milestone moment. There are cute ponies, braids, bows, and families figuring out their engagement, timing, desire, and goals. The tradition of horse showing makes for beauty in the lowest levels — all over the country you see packed divisions at the biggest and highest rated shows with beautifully braided and immaculately bathed ponies working their way from leadline up the ranks until hopefully they can step up in skill and ability to the pony hunters and more.
Young rider competing on her alert and responsive pony.
Short Stirrup riders lack knowledge and experience to ask for and execute proper lead changes, and they don’t know how to land leads and don’t have the skills to ask a pony for a lead change.
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Our system of pony hunters is amazing — it has literally produced the best riders in the world. Look into any 5* class and you’ll see Americans who were successful in the Pony Hunter divisions from their local level through Pony Finals, Devon, and Indoors.
But is it still working? It is easy to argue yes, but for our divisions and sport to really thrive, we need to place proper expectations on each division level and therefore proper simple lead changes need to be allowed, pinned, and used in cross rail and short stirrup competition nationally.
Currently, while the Short Stirrup division is a beloved tradition, it is driving up the costs associated with all ponies. What’s supposed to act as a gateway and foundation to horse shows for young equestrians has done the opposite. A Short Stirrup pony that costs less than a division Pony Hunter is going extinct. And so many potential equine candidates for the Short Stirrup are jobless. Why?
Because judges expect kids in an entry-level class to do lead changes.
Short Stirrup riders lack knowledge and experience to ask for and execute proper lead changes — that is literally one of the reasons they are in short stirrup. They both don’t know how to land the leads and also they don’t have the mechanical skills to ask a pony for a lead change properly. So when they are judged on the requirement of a lead change, the answer is simple to many trainers: their ponies have to have an automatic one.
But there are only so many full-package packers, and the Children’s Pony and division Pony Hunters are hungry for them too. Exceptionally made ponies can often increase in value the smaller they are. Producing a quality small pony (standing at 12.2 hands – about 4 feet – or less) requires a small person to do the training. And tiny professionals or well-educated teens willing to pony jockey for the years it takes to truly make them up for children are even rarer than the ponies themselves. It’s a supply and demand issue — everyone wants ponies that check every box, so they’re expensive.
Reading a recent ISO ad posted on Facebook:
“I need a small/medium learn to canter and jump pony. Don’t mind ancient. Would love something that knows its job. Auto change is ideal. This is for a tiny tiny kid to do X-rails – 2ft on.”
Only a handful of ponies fit that description, and yet, there’s a multitude of ponies who, aside from an automatic lead change, offer everything you could want in a Short Stirrup mount. There is little market for such a thing. They are reduced to little value. So many lesson horses – who are rarely automatic but have the most to teach – could be the best (and most affordable) Short Stirrup partners, but requiring a lead change disqualifies them.
Outside of pure aesthetics, there is no merit in having lead changes in the Short Stirrup. It’s not beneficial to the rider, who should learn to land from the jump and sit up, balance, collect, and recognize they’re on the wrong lead so they can transition to a balanced trot before picking up the correct lead again, demonstrating a planned and organized simple change. If their pony does the change automatically while they sit still and hang on and learn nothing from it, they lose an understanding of good basics and how to ride every inch of the ring. The ponies that take a ridiculous amount of labor to produce also do not need a kid giving them confusing or incorrect signals for a lead change and untraining them because they don’t know any better.
In 2024, why are lead changes still the standard in the Short Stirrup? The division is unrated by USEF, so the “rules” are at the judge’s discretion. How do we enact change? Talk to judges you know about their standards. Consult the show office, managers, people responsible for the prize list, and trainers and teams to promote a new standard. One that keeps Short Stirrup fun and rewarding. That doesn’t penalize or discourage beginner kids from learning the proper basics or their trusty mounts for trying to teach them. At times, we are at each other’s throats – but the horse world is a community. Officials are a lot easier to reach than you think. Change is closer than you can imagine and this one literally has no barrier other than advocacy — something we are all responsible for.
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Press release by Marley Lien-Gonzalez