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The sweet smell of fly spray and alfalfa greet you as you pull up to the Walnut Ring at Pony Finals. With ponies trotting down the bridle path and riders whizzing up and down the streets on their golf carts, it’s a blur of black coats and fur. You know you have made it all the way there, from the qualification to the landing flight, yet your nerves build up now. “Please, not today, not now,” you say to yourself as you’re at the in-gate. This is only one of biggest moments of your pony career and you don’t want to do poorly. With over 100 talented competitors waiting behind you for their turn in the royal Walnut Ring, it’s your time to shine, so give it all you got.
This is just what I imagined Pony Finals to be like on the whole flight there. Four and a half hours from South Florida on two connecting plane flights, all for those 2 minutes in the giant ring at the one and only Pony Finals. I had run out of books on my Kindle, and was waiting for the plane to land in Kentucky. I had a moment to think to myself, “This is one of the biggest moments in my life. I can’t believe it. This is actually happening!” I had always dreamed about even attending Pony Finals, but never actually taking part in it. I watched it livestream on USEF Network every year thinking about just what I would give to go. I used to cry for the winners and cry for those that fell off. It made my heart race, and if you can imagine me watching it, you have no idea what it was like for me to actually set foot in the ring. I was up tossing and turning all night, hoping that it would be morning already so I could just get to the grounds and get ready. I probably slept three hours and that was ample amount of energy for me to start my day. I ran down the row of shops, making sure to say good morning to them setting up, and went to my VIP table and sat and watched. And watched. And watched. I watched all of the classes and thought what an unreal experience this was. From 7am to 7pm, I stayed in that same seat, my eyes glued on each pony as they came into the ring to give it their only shot. Finally, it was my turn. It was my first time wearing a shad belly, so putting that on made me feel a little giddy inside already. My hands were shaking as I tried to slide my gloves on and I could feel my heart beating a thousand times a second. My pony was tacked up and ready, waiting for me next to the ring. She looked very calm, which only seemed to make me more nervous. All night I dreamt of what the course would be, how nice the jumps would look, all weird thoughts I allowed myself to think being that I was actually there. I walked the course ahead of time and was drilling the numbers of the lines in my head to make sure I wouldn’t forget. All of my nerves and butterflies in my stomach disappeared the second I set foot in the Walnut ring, as if my whole body pulled it together thinking, “This is Sophia’s time to shine. Lets give her these 2 minutes completely nerve-free.” It was a beautiful round, and even though there were some mistakes and the judges thought differently, I knew in my heart, that I did it. I accomplished what I never thought I would have. I did what I had only dreamt about. It was the most unreal feeling, and no amount of hugs or kisses to my pony could ever make up how much I loved her at that moment. I gave her a million treats and knew that this was my last show with her as well. I cried that night, a blend of happy and sad tears for the same reason, because my pony was leaving. I was eternally grateful for the opportunity she gave me, and couldn’t wait for her to go on and give another young kid the same feeling. All of these adjectives don’t even do the feeling justice, but just knowing that it was something I dreamt about at night as a long-term goal was the greatest feeling in the world. It is sheer proof that dreams really can come true.
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