The Arabian horse world has a new hero to celebrate. His name is AM Rising Star (AM Good Oldboy x AM Power With Honor) aka “Gus," a 14.1-hand, 15-year-old gelding, who, with his junior rider, 17-year-old Josie Drummond, displayed the talent, loyalty, and heart of his breed at the USEF Pony Finals August 10-13 in Lexington, Kentucky. In the Large Green Pony division of 82 horses, Gus and Josie  soared to a Top Ten Over Fences and were Top Twenty overall. The Pony finals offers small and medium pony divisions as well, but Gus was the only purebred Arabian in the entire competition of hundreds of ponies, and he created quite a buzz.

The pair received plenty of attention and some outright stares. “Everyone was very surprised,” Josie said, “but they were sweet and curious about various aspects of Gus and his appearance. One woman even asked to take a picture of his braids. She had seen his long Arabian mane in the practice arena earlier that week, and she was shocked to find out that I do almost all his grooming myself. I think some people expected Gus to be hot-headed with crazy energy but Gus felt like his usual self. If anything, I was the one freaking out! Gus is always so in tune with me at shows, and he didn’t change a bit going to Pony Finals. I was really proud of him being able to just step in and take it all in stride, literally!”

How did a pair which usually competes on the Arabian circuit find themselves at Pony Finals this year? The pair has enjoyed much success at breed shows including 2021 Youth National Champion Arabian/Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian Dressage Training Level JTR 15-18, 2021 and 2022 Youth National Reserve Champion in Arabian Hunter Seat Equitation JTR 15-18, and 2022 Youth National Reserve Champion Arabian Hunter Hack Open. But Josie was looking for new goals for the 2023 season and the idea actually came from her non-horsey mother, Angie. “As crazy as it sounds, it was a random idea. I discussed my riding goals with my Mom and she blurted out, ‘What about Pony Finals?’ At first I was skeptical. I was used to showing on the Arabian circuit so I was definitely nervous about stepping into a completely different realm. Once we talked to my wonderful trainer Gina Pengue and found that SHE was excited to try for it with us, my nerves calmed down. I knew that I could trust Gus to tell me if he could do this or not, and he certainly rose to the occasion.”

AM Rising Star (AM Good Oldboy x AM Power With Honor) with his junior rider, 17-year-old Josie Drummond.

"I knew that I could trust Gus to tell me if he could do this or not…"

The pair took the year to focus on the Hunter/Jumper style of competing and determining how to show off Gus to his advantage. When asked if she realized Gus might be an odd choice for Pony Finals she remarked, “I didn’t really think much about it. I guess it didn’t click for me that Arabians aren’t seen much on that circuit. I noticed throughout the process of qualifying for Pony Finals that I wasn’t competing against other Arabians. It was all Welsh Ponies, or Virginia ponies, and other acknowledged pony breeds. The Hunter/Jumper ponies just have a certain look so it was definitely a challenge trying to make Gus fit in." Gus is accustomed to more of a frame and more contact, so Josie and Gus worked on a longer stride, and a slower trot but with more energy. They also asked him to carry his head lower and with less contact. This made him look more like a Hunter/Jumper pony and less like an Arabian. “It was a gradual process but he caught on,” says Josie. 

The unexpected journey to Pony Finals started when Drummond was 10 years old and began riding lessons in Loxahatchee, Florida at Lori Cooper’s Casperey Stables. Cooper is a life-long devotee of the Arabian breed and her stable offers many purebred and Half-Arabians to her students. Josie rode all of Casperey’s lesson horses, but fell in love with an Arabian named HA Bold Flyer (HA Bold Rapture x Flying-C Tarifa). He was 24 years old at the time and was the first horse that made her love the Arabian breed. Cooper, who has an exceptional eye for finding diamonds in the rough, bought Gus when Josie was ready to move on from Flyer. Josie  laughs about his arrival at Casperey. “He got shipped to us after midnight, and was a little out-of-shape, so we called him Gus-Gus, the chubby mouse from Cinderella! Though he seemed to enjoy jumping, my trainer, Gina, told my parents and me that she wasn’t sure how far Gus could go, but that I could continue to ride him and see where he went. As time went on, he developed into the athlete that he is today, and now jumping is his favorite thing.”

New goals for this pair are in the planning stages. The 2023-2024 season will be Drummond’s last as a junior. Her goal is to finish her junior career year at Arabian Youth Nationals. “We’ve got some other plans bubbling around in our brains,” Josie  commented, “but I love to live in the moment, so we’ll take it one year at a time.

"I’m just proud I’ll get to say I’ve spent my entire junior riding career with Gus, and that when given the chance to show what the breed can do, we stepped up.”

"Gus felt like his usual self. If anything, I was the one freaking out!"