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By Betsy Burke Parker

There’s no way to get race riding experience without actually doing it.

And there’s no way to get a race ride without actual experience.

The dichotomy isn’t lost on steeplechasing’s collective consciousness, how to practice for something that requires lots of practice, when practicing isn’t safe without practice.

Enter the multi-faceted menu of pony racing, junior horse racing and developing rider racing circuits of 21st century American jump racing. It gives young riders a chance to polish their skills on smaller race mounts in shorter races, with adult supervision and coaching from all corners. To be sure, pony and junior races are "real" races, with real experience to be gained, but it's a less-pressured, more grassroots experience all-around for participants.

Thirty years ago on back in the history of the sport, most riders on the National Steeplechase Association circuit were U.S. born, many of them coming from families already involved in steeplechasing, or flat racing, some directly out of the hunt field. They did the only kind of pony racing that was available back then – very short, very fast dashes on ponies that were – usually – very hyped up. Safety protocol was less regimented, a bit like the old days when seatbelts weren’t standard equipment in a vehicle, or like farm kids riding around in the back of a pickup truck.

Then it started changing. And, just like that, the domestic-bred jump rider pool dried up.

Trainer Regina Welsh (Tod Marks photo, left, at the 2021 Cheshire Races with daughter Imogen) helped develop the North American Point-to-Point Association in 2001 with Mason Lampton, Dixon Stroud, George Strawbridge and George Sloan to support amateur, apprentice and junior racing. When NAPPA became part of the National Steeplechase Foundation in 2013, Welsh broadened her pony operations through U.S. Pony Racing “so I could keep the movement going and spread the (idea of kids racing) to the racetracks,” Welsh explains. “We’ve been able to add a lot of opportunities for kids and young riders to the calendar. (And that’s) what our sport relies on – to get people who are not bred into steeplechasing to (be able to) participate.

Active riders on the circuit today that graduated the Developing Rider program include Mell Boucher, Skylar McKenna, Parker and McLane Hendriks, Virginia Korrell, Elizabeth Scully, Colin Smith, Teddy Davies, Sophie Hannum, Courtney Dankanich, Connor Hankin, Eric Poretz and Chris Gracie. Other grads, Welsh says, don’t ride many races but work as trainers and assistant trainers.

A bit like McCue, Welsh says the ponies she keeps in training for U.S. Pony Racing events are “starter units. To get kids involved, you have to have nice ponies. Not something that’s going to be rank or stand up at the start.

“The idea is getting kids to fall in love with what we do without being scared off.”

Too, she tries to combat the notion that steeplechasing is a cloistered community. She tries to broaden the scope of her junior race program with info booths and Shetland Pony races at horse shows like Washington International and at big, public events like the Maryland State Fair at Timonium.

“If I know the people who are signed up for the clinic, I’m not doing my job,” she maintains. “That makes it hard for a kid to break into, in their minds, anyway. The point is to reach outside of the inner circle and bring other people in.”

Steeplechase lifer Sam Slater (Tod Marks photo, left) and wife Lornie Forbes have long supported junior and pony racing. “We feel it is important to expose young riders to the sport, so that hopefully they will develop an appreciation that could lead to lifelong involvement,” Slater says.

In 2013, Slater and Forbes created a series of developing riders’ training trips to Ireland. “They’ve ridden out for top trainers such as Willie Mullins and Jessica Harrington, met riders such as Rachael Blackmore and Ruby Walsh, have visited Coolmore and Ballydoyle, and attended the races at the Galway Festival,” Slater says. “I think it’s a real eye-opener for them to see what a big deal jump racing is over there.

“I think it has been fun for all of the riders, and many have gone on to win jump races, so we hope that it has been … a factor in their success. They may not all go on to be professional jockeys, but by encouraging them at this stage, many are already amateur jockeys, and they may become owners, trainers, racing officials, race meet directors or be involved in many other aspects of the sport.

“We think it is a great program.”

The Developing Rider program also schedules domestic trips, with trainers and tracks in Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania hosting aspiring young riders. No trips were held last year due to Covid, but Slater says they hope to resume the popular program next year.

The inaugural running of Junior Champions’ Day, sponsored by the Land Preservation Trust, was held at Shawan Downs in Hunt Valley, Maryland on May 2, hosted by Michael Wharton and Amy Fenwick.

Ten races were carded for young riders, including the newly conceived polo pony race (Carol Fenwick photo, left), junior field masters chases and a young rider amateur turf for riders 14-18.

Some of the volunteers came from the pro rider ranks – leading jockey Tom Garner and Daisy Fenwick served as field masters ‘chase leaders, Tommy Fenwick as clerk of the course, Gabrielle Bernier as steward, Forrest Kelly as paddock judge and Ross Geraghty as starter.

Work to Ride program participants Jeannie Valasquez and Josie Goldstein won divisions of the polo pony race. Work to Ride grad Kareem Rosser, polo player and author, presented the prizes.