OklahomaHorses Magazine Sept 2022

24 OklahomaHorses • September / October 2022 A Family Breed Ponies on the Plains by Lindsay Humphrey | Photos courtesy of Kathy McKenzie S omewhat of a unicorn in the horse industry, the Pony of the Americas (POA) breed was created after an Arabian-Appaloosa mare was bred to a Shetland stallion. The resulting colt sparked the idea for creating the breed and a cor- responding association which became the Pony of the Americas Club, Inc. This all took place in Mason City, Iowa, where the club originally had headquarters, but it has since moved to Indianapolis, In- diana. The club splits its membership into eight regions. Oklahoma, Texas, Kansas, and Arkansas make up the Mid-America Region, which is the second largest in the association. Short in stature but mighty in versatility, the breed has grown into an international phenomenon and has boasted a strong membership roster in Oklahoma since it began in 1954. Today, Oklahoma houses 168 POA members, with 73 of those resid- ing in Edmond. Why is the breed so highly concentrated just north of Oklahoma City, you might ask? About 40 years ago, that is where many of the largest POA breeders in the country happened to live. POAs in Edmond “I’ve lived in Edmond 47 years now, and when I first moved here, there were breed- ers raising 30 and 40 ponies every year,” said Dave Morris, who was also a POA breeder for many years but just had his last crop hit the ground. “There weren’t many breeders in the area, but they had a lot of good-quality ponies that brought in a lot of members.” The small, docile breed has proved to be ideal for teaching new riders the basics. Morris believes that’s a key function of why POAs took over Edmond, so to speak. “Both Kathy McKenzie and now her daughter Ashley have large facilities that train kids on POAs, which has generated quite a few members in the past few years,” Morris added. On the POA board of directors for almost 15 years, Morris is hypersensitive to watching the breed evolve over time. Even though this is his final year of breeding POAs, he still has a vested interest in seeing the breed succeed on state and national levels. Many of Kathy McKenzie’s Pony of the Americas owners got started riding the breed through her lesson program, which features POAs with a wide variety of coat patterns. This unusual leopard-spotted pony has a large, random brown spot on one side — and a diminutive rider looking confidently at the camera.