Cooper Dean and American Hero Triumph at 2013 US Pony Finals

Cooper Dean and American Hero Win US Pony Finals

By: Claudia Lorena

Lexington, KY – Fourteen year old Cooper Dean finished off the 2013 US Pony Finals with a major victory when he captured the Individual Pony Jumper Championship gold medal aboard his pony American Hero, on Friday, Aug. 8th.

Three phases of individual competition narrowed the field of forty-four down to twenty-three in just three days.

Four returned to jump-off for bronze; Camilla Siekmann aboard Mist Of A Champion, Carly Williams aboard High Hopes, Heather Vaxer aboard Cha Cha Cha and Morgan Gravely aboard Dragon Lair’s Banner. The 4-faulters maneuvered the course, designed by Mark Donovan, making tight turns and posting fast times. Siekmann and Vaxer both had a rail down, but Vaxer’s time of 36.057s beat out Siekmann’s 36.825s and took hold of 5th place with her 15yr old German Riding Pony, Cha Cha Cha.

Williams and Gravely rode great clear rounds, respectively, posting speedy times of 36.927s and 38.25s – a 1.323s difference that placed Gravely and Dragon Lair’s Banner in 4th and granted Williams and High Hopes the bronze medal. It was now time to battle for the gold.

Coming in with no faults was the only pair to jump-off against Dean and challenge him for the winning title – Christina Rodriguez and her 14.2h chestnut mare, A Lotta Moxie. The Florida resident took to the course confidently, but her approach to the second to last fence played out differently than imagined and A Lotta Moxie was unable to clear the fence at the angle and distance from which she took off. Tumbling down over the oxer, Rodriguez came off and injured her shoulder on impact – out of contention for the gold, but still strong enough to take the individual silver medal.

Riding clear in all phases, Dean was the last to jump-off for the championship and, due to the prior events; the odds were in his favor. All of his rides were great and he really built up a fan base for himself. When he landed the final jump and the timer stopped, applause filled the Alltech Arena; “Cooper just won!” cheered a couple of girls standing close by, still wearing their helmets.

While winning a Pony Finals championship is nothing new to 15yr old American Hero (Breanna Holmes piloted him to the 2012 Zone 4 team gold), the win for Dean is one he had been hoping to achieve, but did not expect. Raised in Fayette, AL on his parents’ farm, the 14yr old rider has spent several years putting in time, hard work and dedication in order to compete at this level. 42.953s may not have been the fastest time and surely he would have preferred to go without those 8-faults, but his ride did not fall shy of gold and Dean was also awarded the Pony Jumper Style Award. “This has been the best week of my life,” he says, and the smile on his face conveys just that – victory.



(Cooper Dean and American Hero jumping the final fence in the jump-off)

(Carly Williams and Cooper Dean chatting it up)

(A Lotta Moxie attentively watches Christina Rodriguez with a kind eye)

Watch Cooper Dean and American Hero’s fourth round in the video below…

Photos: © EverythingEq.com

Comments

comments