OklahomaHorses Magazine Sept 2022

September / October 2022 • OklahomaHorses 25 “I started in POAs in 1967 in Minne- sota before moving to Edmond,” he said. “Some of my really good friends were part of establishing the breed. My kids were competitive in it for many years. My wife and I have raised lots of good ponies over the years.” Before retiring, Morris worked in infor- mation technology and was instrumental in creating some of the early software the club used for collecting and managing data. Similar to Morris, McKenzie found her way to the POA breed because of her kids. A Proliferation of POAs “Back when there were still classified ads, that’s how we bought our first pony which was a POA, but we didn’t know it at first,” McKenzie explained. “We went to an open show, and the judge commented that we had a cute POA. We had no idea what they were but found out because of that judge.” That happy accident led McKenzie and her family to eventually own and show multiple POAs while sharing their love with many others. “The best part about POAs is that it’s a family breed,” McKenzie said. “I raised four kids showing POAs. I could trap my 16-year-old in the truck for several hours driving to a show, and we could just talk all the way there. It’s hard to connect with teenagers sometimes, but ponies have helped me do that for a long time.” Turning 29 years old this fall is McKenzie’s “fifth child” — Stoneridge Acres Stables. She bought the property with her husband, Lee, basically on a whim, but it has been a conduit for the breed since day one. “We’ve had hundreds of POAs come through our barn, and many times we would get boarders with other breeds, and then they saw the POAs and wanted to switch,” McKenzie said. Of about 50 horses at any given time at Stoneridge, almost half are POAs. McKenzie’s daughter has an even larger facility with just as many if not more POAs in her stalls and pastures. “I would guess we have the highest concentration of members in a single town across the whole country,” McKenzie said. “I can remember years ago when POA num- bers were going down. That’s when we start- ed intentionally giving lessons on POAs.” McKenzie might not be solely responsible for growing the breed, but she has helped to introduce a whole slew of students and their parents to POAs, which definitely has made an impact. The Best-Kept Secret As the club evolved, some of the breed standards changed to allow more members to participate. Specifically, the height and color requirements were adjusted slightly to give more horses the opportunity to be registered. Adult classes were added to the show bill. “POAs are known as the best-kept secret in the horse world,” McKenzie said. “When people hear pony , they automatically think little. But the larger ones are about the same size as a reining horse, which is usually around 14 hands.” POAs are considered a true color breed by many people. Coat patterns are about as unique as they are versatile. You will be hard pressed to find two matching ponies anywhere in the breed. That’s just a big part of their charm for the people who love them. “We have everything from roans with spots and solids with a blanket on the rear end to the typical white with black spots all over,” McKenzie said. “I have a friend who’s a judge, and she said POAs are easier to judge because they all look so different. And no one coat pattern is preferred over another, from her perspective.” Like most show-based entities in the agricultural and livestock industry, POAs are focused on the family experience. One family in particular started early and never looked back. “The credit for getting my family into POAs goes to Art and Rocky Jones, who introduced the breed to my father,” said Blayne Arthur, Oklahoma’s secretary of agri- culture. “I started showing in leadline classes when I was probably four or five and then worked my way up through the age groups.” Arthur, formerly known as Blayne Spencer, is from a family that has become a significant contributor to breeding and raising POAs in Chickasha. “My older sister and my dad have a strong focus on developing the Spencer Livestock breeding operation,” Arthur said. “They’ve done a great job and have seen some success at the bigger shows. It’s been fun to watch up close even though I’m not involved in it day to day like I used to be.” A Thriving Oklahoma Industry “Most of our POAs are ridden by kids and not trainers, and some of those kids will end up with junior horses because they’re ready to train their own,” McKenzie said. “We’ve had several kids end up as trainers with other breeds because they had such a good background with POAs.” More often than not, a POA will show in almost every class on the show bill. Their versatility is truly remarkable as they move from pleasure classes, both English and west- ern, into jumping and driving and rounding out the day in speed events. “The nice thing about kids and these ponies is they like to keep busy, so at a POA show, they can do a ton of classes all with the same horse,” McKenzie said. “Kids have the energy for it, and it keeps them busy.” Like many other associations, Oklahoma has hosted one of the POA major events year after year — the Pony of the Americas Club National Congress at the Expo Square in Tulsa. “The show industry really drives the economic impact the horse industry has on the state,” Arthur said. “But we do have a lot of diversity in the horse industry, and I don’t think people realize how many jobs it actually creates for Oklahomans.” From showing and trail riding to racing and rodeo, horses keep Oklahoma thriving, and POAs are a big part of that. “The POA breed is near and dear to my heart and my family,” Arthur said. “I think it’s wonderful for young adults to have some type of equine experience because of all the good things they learn from that which can help them be more successful later in life no matter what path they follow.” POAs come in all sorts of colors and patterns. One of Kathy McKenzie’s foals came out as a buckskin with a blanket pattern over his rump.