Lexington, Ky.—Aug. 13

The U.S. Pony Jumper final individual round couldn’t have had a more exciting finish Saturday when after four rounds of competition, the top three riders finished on a tied score. That called for a jump-off to determine who walked away with the gold, silver and bronze hardware.

Maya Lovdal riding Miracles Happen, Isabella Durnell riding Carlton Diva, and Bailey Doloff riding Wishlea Star Dasher all finished on a score of 8 faults. Durnell jumped off first, and blazed around the Alltech Arena with Carlton Diva to post a double-clear effort. It put the pressure on the remaining two, and when Lovdal’s Miracles Happen dropped two rails, the only challenger remaining was Doloff.

As his round began, it looked like Doloff was going to hand the win to Durnell. He didn’t appear to be going nearly as fast—he was being handy in the turns, sure, but his even pace that found nearly every jump out of stride looked more like an equitation round than a jump-off. As Wishlea Star Dasher cleared the final oxer, Doloff’s looked quickly up at the scoreboard, and his stoic expression gave way to a wide grin and fist pump.

He had bested Durnell’s time by nearly 2 seconds—she ended up with the silver, Lovdal with the bronze. 

Bailey Doloff and Wishlea Star Dasher captured the individual gold medal. Photo by Ann Glavan.

Isabella Durnell and Carlton Diva took the individual silver medal. Photo by Ann Glavan.

Maya Lovdal and Miracles Happen took the individual bronze. Photo by Ann Glavan.

“Dasher is naturally quicker than most horses and ponies, even when I’m not pushing,” Doloff, 17, said. “So I knew I didn’t have to make any crazy gambles [in the jump-off] I just had to keep the rails up. I just wanted to nail every fence as correctly as I could without losing my mind like I did last year.”

At the 2015 U.S. Pony Finals, Doloff was jumping off for a bronze medal when he forgot which jump was the final fence. He eventually circled around and caught it, but the time penalties accrued took him out of contention for one of the top spots—he wound up in sixth place. 

“After last year I was really down, and I didn’t know what to do. After [Pony Finals] I made a lot of mistakes, I was going off course a lot. It was a really low time in my riding,” Doloff said. He touches his silver wire rimmed glasses before running a hand through the front of his hair. At a horse show full of young children too nervous to answer questions with more than a few mumbles, Doloff is the picture of thoughtfulness. When asked a question, he first looks down, eyes fixed on nothing in particular as he turns the query over in his mind before responding.

Bailey Doloff and Wishlea Star Dasher. Photo by Ann Glavan.

“Through my trainer I got into sports psychology, and I worked on my mental skills and relaxation,” Doloff said. “A lot of preparation and focusing and just really putting things in perspective. Everything is just a show, whatever happens, happens; and there are going to be more shows in the future. Everything is just preparing for the next show.”

Doloff’s journey with “Dasher” began three years ago—his mother, Tamara, was looking for a a fun pony for Bailey to play around with and flat race. Bailey did most of his riding in a hunt field at the time, fox hunting and whipping-in for the Green Spring Valley Hunt in Owings Mills, Md. He was showing occasionaly at the local and rated level and taking some lessons, but it wasn’t until Dasher came into Bailey’s life that his show jumping career got serious.  

“It was funny, because we didn’t buy [Dasher] because we were like, ‘What do we need a large for, he’s just going to outgrow him,’ ” Tamara said (they lease the 11-year-old gelding from Bridgid Mcmurtrie). “It was just going to be a year to play with him, and now we’re on year three.” 

The jumper division was certainly not Dasher’s first foray into competitive horse sports—before Bailey, the pony competed in Welsh pony breed shows in the western pleasure and hunter divisions. When McMultrie’s daughter outgrew Dasher, she was looking for another kid who wanted to partner up with the grey gelding. Bailey took over the ride, focusing mostly on flat races with the occasional mad dash around a jumper course at a horse show. 

“He wasn’t really in a program, we were just galloping around,” Bailey said. “We’d go to a race and the next weekend we’d go to a horse show. When we got more serious about showing and started moving up, that’s when we moved him to Dorna [Taintor’s] barn so we could be in a real program, and I stopped racing him, because that was a bit counter-productive.” 

Dorna Taintor (left) poses with her student Bailey Doloff and Wishlea Star Dasher. Photo by Ann Glavan.

Dorna Taintor is Bailey’s trainer—she runs Bel Mont Farm in Waterford, Va. Her tutelage certainly showed in Dasher’s smooth and steady jumper round at Pony Finals, but Bailey couldn’t resist letting a little bit of Dasher’s race days seep into the victory celebrations—decked out in a cooler, a medal and three different ribbons and sashes, Dasher zipped around the ring like a jackrabbit, nearly lapping Durnell and Lovdal on the second pass.

Bailey Doloff and Wishlea Star Dasher flying around the Alltech Arena for their vicotry lap. Photo by Ann Glavan.

This year’s Pony Finals is a last hurrah of sorts for Dasher and Bailey—he’ll continue riding the pony for the remainder of the year, but 2016 is Bailey’s final junior year. Bailey plans to make his last few shows with Dasher count—he recently bought a low junior/amateur owner horse, Diva, but she’ll be on the back burner until the end of 2016.

“Dasher is the priority this year because we’re trying to do Washington [International Horse Show (D.C.)], so next year she’ll be my main horse, and I’ll do the lows with her,” Bailey explained. “We’re trying to find a second horse that’s more of a project horse and a little cheaper that we could train up to do the lows as well, so that is my immediate plan.”

Asking whether he’s given any thought to turning professional after his final junior year is over inspires another thoughtful pause.

“I’m not sure if I want to go pro, but I would like to eventually get up to the grand prix level,” Bailey said. “I’m just not sure, and I don’t want to really commit to anything yet.”

See full results of the class here.