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Featured Video: Tiny Pony; Big Jumps


This amazing photo caught my eye the other day as it recirculated on Facebook last week. This little pony is jumping higher than her own height, and with her legs tucked up so carefully, she looks like she’s levitating around this course.



The photo is from a year ago at the 2015 Royal Dublin Horse Show and the video above is from a 1.10m show jumping class at a show in May of that year. The rider, Rhys Williams is a successful pony rider in Ireland and the adorable equine athlete is PARC Lolita. Rhys was just 10 when this video was taken.

In an interview with Horses in the Morning, Rhys explained that he started riding at age 6 with his father, Adrian, as his trainer/coach. He received Loli as a Christmas gift in 2014, although she’s since moved on to a new rider in Denmark. Rhys lists American rider McLain Ward as his hero in the world of show jumping, and hopes to be an Olympian one day, too. I’d say he’s got a pretty good shot.

See past Featured Videos >>

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Leslie Potter

Leslie Potter is a graduate of William Woods University where she earned a Bachelor of Science in Equestrian Science with a concentration in saddle seat riding and a minor in Journalism/Mass Communications. She is currently a writer and photographer in Lexington, Ky. Potter worked as a barn manager and riding instructor and was a freelance reporter and photographer for the Horsemen's Yankee Pedlar and Saddle Horse Report before moving to Lexington to join Horse Illustrated as Web Editor from 2008 to 2019. Her current equestrian pursuits include being a grown-up lesson kid at an eventing barn and trail riding with her senior Morgan gelding, Snoopy.

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