The talented but quirky gray Welsh won the hearts of the many children he carried to championship honors.

Most people wouldn’t look twice at a 12-hand pony whose standout traits included ducking out at green rolltops, colicking at inconvenient times and running away with small children.

But that tough character packed an awful lot of talent and the heart of a teacher into his undersized frame. And over the past decade Buzz Light Year turned a generation of children into riders, becoming one of the most successful and sought-after small ponies.

On paper, ”Buzz” seemed destined for greatness from birth. Sired by the legendary Cymraeg Rain Beau (by Farnley Lustre), he’s out of the three-time USEF Pony Finals champion Snowgoose, who helped start the careers of Greg Best and Laura Chapot. Snowgoose’s owner, Richard Prant, bred Buzz, originally named Millbrook’s Monarch, and opted to leave him a stallion for a few years.

“People didn’t breed to him because he was the most beautiful pony in the world—he wasn’t as pretty as his mother—they chose him because he had beautiful breeding,” said Prant.

After he was gelded, Buzz went to trainer Mindy Minetto. “He was a devil,” recalled Minetto. “When the vet would come to deworm him he’d say, ‘Is that little white pony still here?’ No one could stop him—he ran away with Evan Coluccio, and when Andrea Manafort bought him he ran away with her too.”

At one show, while on the longe line, he broke free, took off and jumped a four-foot fence on his way back to the barn. Eventually, he settled into a routine and started to turn heads in the show ring, finding his way to trainer Ron Esposito who recruited top pony jocks like Charlie Jayne to get him in form. Despite his small stature he ate up the lines and jumped spectacularly. But he wasn’t a point-and-shoot pony, and he never lost his trademark attitude.

His delicate constitution demanded he only eat a specially prepared Dengie soup rather than hay, and he suffered two major injuries late in his career. After his second injury, owner Ashley Burlingame opted to let him retire from a full-time show career. Buzz’s former owner, Cindy Hennessey, told her about Sarah Doyle’s farm in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., where the pony could live out his years in light work receiving show-quality care.

“What’s amazing to me is the relationships from my life that have come from having Buzz,” said Doyle, whose daughter Ava Stearns dominated the local short stirrup divisions aboard Buzz during the last years of his life. “The Burlingames and I are very close now, and [Hennessey’s daughter] Molly Sullivan came to work for me and taught Ava on him. That team was amazing, and they won everything.

“He was so loved by everyone who had him,” she continued. “The Burlingames could have leased him out until the end of his life, and he could have gone to a hundred fancy barns. Instead, he got to come here and stand at the edge of the ocean, watch the swans and get dressed up on Halloween like a regular pony. It’s one of the kindest things I’ve ever seen, just a testament to an owner doing the right thing by [her] horse.”

Buzz Light Year died last fall after a bout with colitis at 23, but his legacy lives on. Buzz’s first career as a breeding stallion yielded at least two get who also made a mark in the hunter ring: Light Up The Year and Touch
Of Silver.

Jill Betuker
(Showed Buzz Light Year in 1994)

Luckily my older sister Amy was too big to ride him too much, so I got to ride him. He was definitely one of the first ponies I could say I catch rode, and it was very exciting for me. He had a little bit of spunk in him, to say the least! I remember him being very tricky, and for someone like me who was only used to riding my own pony it was quite a challenge.

I showed him a little bit when I was 10 or 11, and he was definitely tough. I catch rode a lot of ponies after that, and he was the one who really got me started. I didn’t even know that Monarch was the same pony as Buzz Light Year, who of course I knew years later because he was so famous.

Evan Coluccio (1995)

He was a little butthead when he was a young! He was adorable, but he was snarky and pony-like. I was 6, and I was just a tough little kid that rode well, so I got to ride him a lot. I re-member getting flung into a jump that had a plastic carpet over the top of it—he definitely had a stopping issue at that point.

He had a big personality for a little pony—but I feel like that’s one of the things that made him become so successful. He was one of those tough ponies that was a great learning experience for me: he got me to train tough ponies better.

Mariel Nardi (1996)

Before Monarch I was a new rider, and I hadn’t shown at all. My parents got him for me when I was about 7, which was funny to me because I was 7 too. I remember him being somewhat of a brat—he would step on my feet on purpose to make me squeak! Mindy [Minetto] said she’d have to turn him out the whole day so he wasn’t too energetic, and he certainly was an energetic guy.

The first time I jumped a jump, it was by accident. We were going around the ring over poles, and he decided we were going to jump a jump, so he took me right over one!

Andrea Manafort (1997)

When we went to try Buzz he was on the crossties, and he had this crazy mane that wouldn’t lie down. It would just stick straight up. So I called him Buzz because of his “mohawky” hair. We ended up purchasing him, and I switched his name to Buzz Light Year. [The movie] Toy Story had just gotten really big, so it made sense. But Ron [Esposito, her trainer] was on the fence about it because he wasn’t a baby green pony, and Ron was superstitious about switching his name.

He had a distinct personality: he was the smallest pony in the barn, but he would hang out with all the horses and he was always the one in charge. To this day our stallion has a scar on his neck that looks like a kiss mark from where Buzz bit him and wouldn’t let go. But everyone in the barn loved him. He exuded so much personality. People who were scared around horses or not as familiar with them were naturally drawn to Buzz.

Buzz was the first pony I started really showing with. He really made me appreciate riding—he wasn’t the kind of pony you could just hop on and coast over the jumps. It felt like a team: I had to give and he would give, and he had his stubborn ways. As far as the sport, and for being a kid it was great training for me, and it had the effect on me of wanting to try even more. And because he didn’t have a big name then, when we did win it really felt like we earned it.

Alex Skiffington (1998)

I was actually trying ponies just when I took over the ride on Buzz. I catch rode him in the winter during [the Winter Equestrian Festival] when I was 10. I had Austentatious, Snow Wonder and my parents had just bought Rip Van Wrinkle. So even though I loved Buzz, I couldn’t have him. [U.S. Equestrian Federation rules allowed riders to ride up to three ponies in one division.] I knew Molly was looking for a small, and I told her she had to have him, and she fell in love with him. But the problem was, Molly and I both rode at Holly Hill together, so every weekend I had to show against them, and they were my main competition, and they always won!

I remember making mistakes on him all the time and just having so much fun. He was quirky. He hated that green rolltop! But he wasn’t just a show pony. Molly and I used to take him into the water, and we’d trail ride him and ride bareback.

Molly Sullivan (1998-2000)

Before I got Buzz I wasn’t into riding at all. My older sisters rode, and my mom was into horses so it was like I had to. I hated it forever—until I got him. Once I got him and started actually learning how to ride it became really rewarding.

Buzz was my first division pony ever, and actually I hadn’t shown an awful lot before him. My first really big show was Capital Challenge [Md.], and we ended up being champion. I made my first trip to Pony Finals in 1999, and I went there with [trainer] Mary Babick. I wasn’t expecting much of anything, and I didn’t get anything in the hack or the model. I bet my mom that if I won the over fences I could get a puppy. And then Buzz and I won the over fences, and that’s how I got my dog Isabelle!

Sarah Chovnick (2000-2002)

So many times I’d take him out for grass and come back with no pony! He would escape from his halter on the crossties, but he’d never go far, just to the closest food.

I remember the Pennsylvania National the year we were champion vividly, because I’d never done well there. I could do well at Capital Challenge, but in Harrisburg my nerves would take over and I’d crumble. My trainer at the time, Patty Foster, said: “It’s any other day, any other ring, and it’s Buzz.” And I went in, took a deep breath and laid down a perfect trip. All these good pony riders like Mag-gie McAlary, Brianne Goutal and Addison Phillips were in the class, and I remember thinking I might get a decent ribbon, like fourth or fifth. I went early in the order and they had a standby. His groom, Katie McNeill, came running up to me screaming, “You’re on top! You’re on top!” And we held it all the way through. I could have gone home after that I was so happy.

Katie loved him so much: she had Buzz Light Year sheets on her bed, and she’d carry a Buzz Light Year towel to the ring. Everyone was just in love with that pony.

Casey Green (2002-2005)

When I went to try Buzz I went in his stall, and they told me to be careful because he might bite me—and he did! But I got him anyway. I actually switched barns because of Buzz. I felt like he wanted grass pastures, so we went to [trainer] Lainie Wimberly, where I’ve been ever since.

I went to the fall indoor shows that year, and that was a big deal because before that I was really a local Connecticut rider. But we ended up second in the stake at Capital Challenge with a big score, which was my first really big show.

He really taught you how to ride because he wasn’t an easy pony. You couldn’t sit there and just hope he’d take you around. It was definitely frustrating at first. I’d look around at everyone that seemed to be riding around so easily, and I’m working hard to figure out the pony with all the tricks. But it was so good for me.

He was sneaky! At the Fairfield County show [Conn.] they found him in the middle of the polo field one night. He’d managed to get out of his stall even though it was tied shut.

One of the best moments was at Devon, when we did pony hunt teams with Sarah [Chovnick] on Trust Me and Katherine Newman on Pony Dot Com. I dressed up like a cop, with a siren on top of Buzz’s head, and the girls were robbers. All these great experiences came my way thanks to Buzz.

Mary Corbin Burlingame (2005-2007)

Buzz was the king. He was my best friend, and I loved him more than anything. Shortly after I got him he got hurt. It was hard, and I was so sad for him. I was afraid he was hurting, and I was scared for him. I just wanted him to feel good.

And our first show back was so overwhelming—I couldn’t believe I was getting to ride him again. I was so excited to be back on. He took me to my first indoor horse shows. I just remember how nervous I was, but he took really good care of me.

He taught me how to ride by fixing my mistakes and letting me know if I did something wrong. If I chipped or leaned a little he’d swap. He was such a good teacher. He was the one who really made me who I am today as a rider.

We went to visit him over the summer at Martha’s Vineyard, and it was just heaven on earth. And it was great to see them take the most amazing care of him. I just went up to him and hugged him and started crying.

Ava Stearns (2008-2009)

I had just moved up to short stirrup before I got Buzz. His pace was probably the best of any pony I’ve ridden. You knew he’d take you around, and I felt more confident on him.

When we got him he had to hand walk for a long time, but he wouldn’t go without me. My mom wouldn’t walk him, only I could. And when he started working again I didn’t want to truck my saddle back and forth to the barn where he was, so I rode him bareback—trotting and cantering too.

On Halloween we dressed him up like Buzz Light Year, with big long boots and a huge costume. It didn’t bother him at all, and he didn’t even mind when I had fake guns. We even taught him how to bob for apples.

It was great having Molly [Sullivan] help me with him because she knew all his tricks. She taught me how to get a lead change on Buzz, which I’d never done, and how to be straight to the jump. And she taught me how to take care of Buzz the perfect way—how to make his Dengie just right and how to get his tail really white.

We decided to have Buzz marry Parsley, so we sent out handwritten invitations, and I made Buzz a tuxedo with a big B on the front of it. We had bridesmaids with flowers, a justice of the peace and a professional photographer. Parsley had a big white gown with a veil over her head.

In Florida this year [Sophie Michaels] asked me to jog Light Up The Year, which was great because that’s Buzz’s baby. Buzz was the best pony ever.

Buzz Light Year Competitive Highlights

2004—Capital Challenge (Md.): 1st small pony hunter over fences.

    National Horse Show (N.Y.): 1st small pony hunter over fences.

2003—Capital Challenge (Md.): 1st small pony hunter over fences.

2002—HITS Ocala (Fla.): small pony reserve circuit champion.

2001—Capital Challenge (Md.): 1st small pony hunter over fences.

    Pennsylvania National: champion small pony hunter

2000—Capital Challenge (Md.): 1st small pony hunter over fences.

    HITS Ocala (Fla.): small pony circuit champion

1999—USEF Pony Finals (Va.): 1st over fences; reserve champion small pony hunter.

1998—Capital Challenge (Md.): champion small pony hunter.

    Reserve USEF Horse Of The Year: small pony hunter.

1994—Zone 2 Pony Finals (N.Y.): champion small pony hunter