The winsome Welsh Pony and Cob! We are celebrating these ponies as our September Breed of the Month on YourDressage!
Did you know that dressage riders who choose a Welsh Pony or Cob as their dressage mount are eligible for special awards through the Adequan®/USDF All-Breeds Awards program, as the Welsh Pony & Cob Society of America, Inc. is a participating organization?
Here, a rider from Region 9 shares how a once-deemed “naughty lesson pony” helped her achieve her goals of competing at the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan®.
By Kaitlin Petras
As a long-time hunter/jumper rider, I never would have imagined that I would turn into a dedicated dressage rider, and I definitely didn’t think it would be because of a little pony.
My trainer, Lauren Bays, met Stay Puff when she was moving her lesson program to a new property. The previous tenants of the property were finishing up the process of moving out, and had one horse left. They told her that she could keep the horse if she wanted, because he was very naughty in their lesson program, and they didn’t really want him. That was Stay Puff, innocently standing alone in a field, a 14.1-hand Welsh Pony gelding with a reputation for mischief and bucking off all the children that sat on his back. Lauren agreed to take him, and so he found himself a new home.
I met Puff in 2018 when I came to Lauren’s looking for lessons. At the time, I was a hunter/jumper rider turned eventer just looking for some weekly lessons, with the thought of maybe leasing a horse if I found one I liked. During one of our first lessons, she put me on Puff. It was an instant joy – he was charismatic, bold, and just plain fun to ride. He was small but mighty, and while he was plenty opinionated and even a bit naughty at the time, I enjoyed him and his quirks. It was love at first sight, and after a couple more lessons, I decided to lease him.
We spent the next couple of years doing so many things together – jumpers, dressage, and eventing schooling shows, trail rides, clinics, pretty much anything you could think of. It didn’t always go well – habits from his naughty lesson pony days would sometimes show up where I least expected them, such as right before a jump, or in front of the judge in the dressage ring. We had many moments where shows did not go our way, but every time out, he got better and better.
Puff and I had a blast doing jumpers and eventing, but he was always the most spectacular in dressage, earning excellent scores and surprising me with blue ribbons, despite the fact that he was often the odd one out – a little pony among big, fancy warmbloods. It took me entirely too long to buy him a dressage saddle, but eventually, I did, and we decided to get serious about competing purely in dressage.
And so our journey properly began. We set to work towards my new goal of earning my USDF Bronze Rider Medal, and with Puff quickly working through Training Level, we were able to earn the first two required scores at First Level after our first couple of recognized shows. After a few months of competing in dressage, my trainer Lauren surprised me one day by asking me if I wanted to own Stay Puff. Of course, I said yes, and with a $1 bill of sale as a formality, Puff officially gained me as his final owner. I will forever be thankful for this incredible gift.
At the beginning of 2023, I decided that one of my dreams was to ride at the US Dressage Finals presented by Adequan® at the Kentucky Horse Park. My trainer was supportive of the idea, and we came up with the idea of creating a freestyle to try to qualify for finals that year. I spent the summer painstakingly crafting a First Level Freestyle to music from the Legend of Zelda video games, and practiced it over and over with Puff until it became second nature to us. We debuted it at one of the very last qualifying shows before Regionals, which was absolutely nerve-racking, but Puff marched into that ring with so much boldness and energy that we earned two personal best scores to more than qualify us for the Great American Insurance Group/USDF Region 9 Dressage Championships.
When Regionals arrived, and we were up to do our freestyle, I was more nervous than I have ever been going into the ring, knowing my goal to get to Finals was just within reach. Despite the show’s atmosphere getting the better of me, Stay Puff was unbothered, and he went into the ring to lay down a lovely test, just like it was another practice. We walked out of the ring satisfied, knowing it was a good performance no matter what, and to my surprise, our score ended up placing us as the Reserve Champion Adult Amateur First Level Freestyle, and our ticket to the US Dressage Finals was secured.
Then, we were Kentucky-bound! We drove for two days from Texas, and when we finally pulled into the Kentucky Horse Park, I was so excited – I was finally here! It was a dream come true just to be on the grounds with my pony. Puff stepped off the trailer and settled in perfectly, relaxed and happy to be done traveling. That weekend in Kentucky was spent with some of the most amazing rides I have ever had on Puff. We warmed up overlooking the cross country course, we hand walked the grounds up and down, and I grazed him on the Kentucky bluegrass. His warmups were calm and some of the best we had ever had. Gone was the naughty lesson pony – he was in his element, confident and keen to my every aid. Finals really brought a spotlight to the show pony he had become.
I didn’t even care if we left with any ribbons or not; I had already achieved my goal of simply being there, and I was soaking it up, especially with Puff being as well-behaved as he was. Our warmup classes went well, and finally, we were making our way into the ring for our championship class. For once, I felt confident entering the ring – since I already achieved my goal, I just wanted to show off my pony and make my trainer proud. Puff and I went through the freestyle, trying hard in every movement, as the culmination of our hard work. When I gave my final salute, I couldn’t hold back the happy tears. We had accomplished one of my dreams, and had so much fun doing it.
Back at the stable, I checked our scores, and my jaw dropped when I saw that we had finished in fourth place. My little pony and I got to do a lap of honor in the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park. It was an amazing end to the hard work of the show season, and a memory I will always treasure.
Puff has turned me into a Welsh Pony-obsessed adult, and I truly believe that this breed has it all for an adult amateur like me. His athleticism and intelligence, as well as his compact stature, make him such a joy to ride. He has so much heart, curiosity, and willingness to try, which I believe is a large part of our success together. His transformation from a naughty pony to a serious dressage competitor has been amazing to be a part of, and has made me fall in love with the journey of dressage, specifically ponies within it. Our next plans include working towards our Third Level scores for our Bronze Medal, and I am beyond excited to see what more my amazing pony can do! I am so proud of him and so excited for what the future has for us.
