The Tryon International Equestrian Center hosted the 2024 USEF Combined Driving National Championship for Advanced Ponies last week, welcoming some of the country’s top driving athletes to compete among the full slate of driving classes at the Tryon Fall CDE.

Photo – Amy Cross and Eulenhof Spencer. (©Shannon Brinkman Photo)

Amy Cross (Chestertown, Md.) and Eulenhof Spencer (Arvalon Sion x Carmana’s Summer Surprise) earned their first national champion title with three strong phases in the single pony division. The pair kicked off their event with a strong dressage score that put them in second place position in the national championship standings. They maintained that spot after marathon before clinching the win with the fastest cones course in the class and no penalties added.

Over the Moon

“This was a goal that my coach, myself, and Spencer’s owner had set for this year,” said Cross. “My first CAI3* with him was at last year’s championship at Spring Fling CDE (in Ocala, Fla.) so this was nice, for all the hard work to fall into place. I was over the moon.”

The marathon on Tryon’s scenic White Oak Course suited Spencer well, said Cross.

“The hazards at Tryon were really set up to help him,” she said. “He’s very good when I can make it more of an open and flowing type of course. In the hazards, my routes can be more open and flowing because he covers the ground really well. This whole show, he was right there and he was listening to me, so I was able to get done what I needed to get done.”

Cross has been working with Spencer, a 2010 Welsh Pony owned by Wendy O’Brien, since 2020, and started competing with him in 2023. He was originally purchased in 2019 to be part of O’Brien’s pony team, but competition shutdowns due to COVID-19 changed his career trajectory.

“None of us did any showing, and I was just doing normal, single-horse training with Spencer,” said Cross. “Wendy said, ‘He’s too nice of a pony. I would like him to do more. Let’s talk about going to the World Championship in 2023.’ I’ve been absolutely blessed to have Wendy want to continue further.”

Next Big Goal

Cross and Spencer started working with driving coach Taz Lester in May of 2023, and they ultimately did make the team and successfully completed the 2023 FEI Driving World Championship for Single Ponies in Oirschot, Netherlands, in August. Cross is eying the 2025 FEI World Championship as a next big goal for Spencer, aiming to build on what they’ve already learned and accomplished in their journey together so far.

“He’s a really cool pony. He’s an extremely smart pony, and you have to be on top of him—you have to drive him in dressage every inch of the way,” she said. “He’s not a push-button pony. He is making me a better driver. But he’s an absolute character—we joke that he should be a Breyer model because he would love to go to Breyerfest and get all that attention. He’s so easy to travel with and show. Anybody can take care of him, and he’s nice to other horses. He’s just a treat to do this with.”

Sarah Reitz (Honeoye Falls, N.Y.) and her own 2007 Welsh Pony gelding, Fferm Gwenffrwd Onyx Star, won the reserve champion title for the single ponies. Anna Koopman (Middleburg, Va.) finished in third place with Chandler Creek Eclipse, her 2010 Morgan gelding.

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