Lexington, KY – August 9, 2025 – The 2025 Pony Jumper Championship concluded on Saturday with the final event in the Claiborne Ring – the Large Pony Jumper National Championship. Fifty-two athletes aimed for a spot atop the podium, and it was Elin Uhrig of Denver, CO, with her own 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding, Juan Bay, who galloped home with the gold medal after besting a 15-horse jump-off.
Elin Uhrig & Juan Bay
Although it is Uhrig’s first year competing at Pony Finals, her goal was to win, knowing she was on a top pony that was previously shown by her sister Isabella. “I am so grateful for everyone who’s helped me to get here,” she expressed. “I really wanted to go to Pony Finals and I made it here and I won. When I was warming up, I was like, ‘I just hope I don’t get a rail and I can go clear so I can at least place.’”
Zachary Sherer & Delta Irish Storm
The duo did more than just place, as the second to last to go and one of only two competing at the 1.05m height in the jump-off. Their quick turns made all the difference as they dashed through the timers in the fastest time of 28.220 seconds with all the rails intact. Zachary Sherer was the previous leader with Delta Irish Storm, but their clear time of 29.952 would move to the silver position, while Summer Smith & Sissi Mai rounded out the podium with the bronze medal after stopping the clock in a clear 30.348 seconds. All three athletes returned to the center of the ring to stand proudly on the podium with Uhrig earning the top spot.
Summer Smith & Sissi Mai
Trainer Micahel Dennehy was thrilled with the pair, noting Juan Bay’s incredible talent and saying, “That pony is a Grand Prix horse in a pony body. He does the horse strides and he’ll leave out the way horses can, and still make an inside turn. He’s amazing. He is just so honest and brave and careful and fast. The best pony I’ve ever trained!”
Dennehy also appreciated the change of the format for the Pony Jumpers, concluding, “The change in format has been great because with the previous format of needing to jump so big, there’s only a handful of ponies and kids that are capable of doing that well. The numbers showed that – last year there were less than 20 and this year we’ve got 140 plus. I love it and it was a great atmosphere today – it was wonderful theater to have them all together. I love that they have a lower fence height. Elin and I were talking earlier, and if they’d had this format a few years ago, she could have brought her pony and competed in the smalls two or three years ago when her sister came.”
Uhrig added, “I was feeling defeated today because I thought the lower height could turn tighter, but the jump-off shows that it doesn’t matter what heights you are – it matters about your riding.”
While the Pony Jumper division has come to a close, the 2025 USEF Pony Finals, presented by Marshall and Sterling, will conclude Sunday at 7 am in the Alltech Arena with the highly anticipated USEF Pony Medal Final.