Lexington, Kentucky – There was a sense of electricity as the wrap up of the US National Pony Jumper Championship got underway at the Alltech Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park with the Individual Competition Finals. Riders from around the country spent the year training and qualifying for today, but the intensity surrounded two young girls as they went head to head in the jump off. It was Keely Laughlin and Larger Than Life who emerged as 2012 Individual Jumper Champion.
The original course design, constructed by Marc Donovan, consisted of 13 strategically placed obstacles and combinations to challenge the determined pony riders. The course commenced near the in gate with a standalone vertical. The rider then continued diagonally, heading across the course to an oxer where they landed into an immediate right turn to an oxer-vertical-vertical triple combination. Upon coming out of the triple, riders jumped a liverpool near the corner of the ring, rode left to a brick oxer and then continued forward to a grey stone vertical. With a slight bend to an oxer, the line curved around the far end to a red brick vertical and an oxer along the wall. A tight right loop and red offset vertical sent riders back tracking the line with a left turn at the far end to take the oxer leading into a vertical-vertical combination to the closing fence, a standalone to trip the timer.