At last year’s Pennsylvania National Horse Show, Ivy Bonds finished fourth in the U.S. Equestrian Federation/National Collegiate Equestrian Association Junior Hunter Medal Final – East. It was a good finish, but she knew she could do better, so this year she put together three strong phases to win this year’s USEF/NCEA Medal Finals on Sunday, October 19, in Harrisburg, PA.

“It was very wonderful to win,” said the 17-year-old from Aiken, SC. “I was fourth this year, so it was great to come back and finish the job and win.”

A field of 60 of the country’s top junior equitation riders descended upon the Keystone Arena at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex Sunday morning to compete in the three-phase competition. They first competed over a 3’3″ equitation course, from which the field narrowed to the top 12 riders to compete on the flat. From there, the top four riders: Bonds, Maxima Lanasa, Mila Lieberman and Brooke Parkinson, advanced to the bracket phase.

In the bracket phase, the riders swap horses to compete head-to-head on unfamiliar mounts, mimicking the format used in NCEA competitions at the collegiate level. The top 4 riders are split into two brackets with the first and fourth place riders competing on the same horse, and the second and third place riders competing on a separate mount. Each round is scored, and the top-scoring rider from each bracket then competes head-to-head on a third horse over the same course.

“I definitely like the bracket phase and the flat phase, which has shoulders-in and haunches-in  and leg-yield,” said Bonds. “I think that’s great for riders that actually use their flatwork skills they’ve learned at home in a show setting.”

This year Bonds brought Colonel Orange, a 7-year-old Hanoverian owned by Horse Show Imports LLC to compete. She’s only been riding him for six weeks as her horse got hurt, and “Kurt’s” owners leant him to her for finals season.

“He needs a lot of leg, and he’s very wiggly, so you have to keep him in the chute basically between your hands and your legs at all times,” she said. “He jumps enormous. He kind of just flings his body over, so you have to make sure to stick your position over the top or you will get jumped out of the tack.”

Bonds finished the jumping phase in second with an 86.5 followed by an 88 in the flat to sit overall second going into the bracket phase. She first rode Parkinson’s mount Actionable, in which the judges awarded her an 86 to win that bracket over Lieberman. She then faced off with Lanasa on Evan Werner’s mount Knew Age. Werner did not advance to the bracket phase, but since Lanasa and Bonds couldn’t ride their own horses for the final bracket, Werner’s horse was used. Bonds scored an 84 with Knew Age to take the win. Lanasa was second, and Lieberman was third, while Parkinson took fourth.

“It was really fun,” Bonds said. “I do ride a bit at home; they’re usually ponies, so this is definitely new for me. It was definitely a change. I’m used to a green horse, and some of those were definitely made and had done the equitation before.”

Since competing last year, Bonds said that upping her catch-riding game helped boost her to the win this year.

“Ride the horse that you’re on, don’t try to ride your horse, because it’s not your horse, it’s somebody else’s horse,” she said of what she learned. “So definitely make adjustments. If you see something coming up in the ring, don’t be afraid to go for it and go get it.”

To see full results for the USEF/NCEA Junior Hunter Medal Final – East, click here.