Ada Catherine hunting at Moore County on a lovely Thoroughbred mare owned by T.J. Watson, a hunting friend.
Ada Catherine Hays has been on the foxhunting scene since she was in diapers. “She was an infant in her father’s arms waiting for me at the breakfast after a hunt,” said her mom Elizabeth Hays. “She started hunting on a lead line at the age of four, sharing an 11.3-hand pony field hunter with her brother. She was off the lead and hunting on a great pony at the age of six.”
In mid-August, Ada Catherine, now twelve, took her show pony, Center Field, to her first-ever major show, and won the USEF Pony Medals Final over 164 entries. That’s what the foxhunting experience gives talented young riders. It’s interesting that this story of Ada Catherine’s experience follows so closely on the heels of our recent article about seventeen-year-old Caelinn Leahy, foxhunter and Grand Prix jumper winner.
In the hunting field, riders absorb the lessons of uphills, downhills, good and bad footing, crossing ditches and streams, trotting and galloping fences, and the minute adjustments that must be made under all those conditions to safely cross the country. It’s those subtle adjustments that become so automatic for foxhunters and cannot be learned by juniors who never leave the “safety” of a flat ring with “genuine” artificial footing.
Back in the day, so many of the top show kids came from the foxhunting field. They didn’t climb onto an already-groomed and tacked-up pony and go hunting. Nor did they turn their hunt pony over to a groom when they were through riding. They did the work themselves, built a partnership with their ponies both in the stable and in the saddle, and they developed into all-around horsewomen. Like Ada Catherine. The show kids today, not so much!
Ada Catherine hunts with the Moore County Hounds and the Red Mountain Foxhounds, both in North Carolina. “Ada Catherine is the epitome of a junior sportsman,” says Moore County MFH Cameron Sadler. “She’s incredibly enthusiastic about foxhunting, and a great rider, too. She’s always there at the end of a great chase with a big smile on her face.”
Ada Catherine on her pony, Charlie Dickens, with mom, Elizabeth Hays, after a 1-hour and 20 minute run on a coyote.
Ada Catherine believes the foxhunting experience gives her a boost in the show ring. “The kids who hunt are more confident,” she says. “It makes me more fearless. I know I’ve galloped over fences out hunting, so why shouldn’t I be able to do it here in the show ring? Some of the show kids get nervous about the courses.”
I asked Ada Catherine which she liked better, hunting or showing. “That’s like asking me which of my ponies I like better!” the twelve-year-old shot back with a delighted laugh. Having gained the high ground, she considered my question.
“I guess foxhunting is my go-to sport. I’ve been doing it longer. But I love the showing, too. All my friends show. It’s social,” she concluded.
According to Ann Glavan writing in the Chronicle of the Horse, Hays was the judge’s favorite all day. She bested 164 entries and both her rounds over fences looked effortless.
“I don’t think I’ve ever ridden this well,” Hays told the Chronicle. “My trainer Robin always tells me it’s a cantering course, that the pace doesn’t really change. It’s not a gallop, and it’s not a trot-lope. It just flows nicely.”
“This is her first time at any major competition, ever,” her trainer Robin Greenwood told the Chronicle. “She hasn’t been to Pony Finals before, or Devon, Harrisburg, anything. I’m really, really impressed with her ability to focus on what she had to get done.”
Greenwood went on to say that Hays helps care for her pony, Center Field, and does all the riding and jump schooling herself. No professional has been on him since they bought him last October. A complete horsewoman at twelve!
Posted August 24, 2017
Early days, just off the lead on the reliable Charlie Dickens at Red Mountain..