GRAND HAVEN, Mich. -- In the horse world, the US Pony Finals is one of the most prestigious and celebrated competitions. This year, West Michigan has its very own qualifier to cheer for, 14-year-old lakeshore middler schooler, Lilly Anthes.
“There’s a lot of riders that come out and just want the ribbons," Anthes' trainer Kimberlee Beeson says, "Lilly’s the type of girl, she’ll come out and spend 8 hours at the farm. She will clean stalls, she’ll bathe other horses, she’ll ride anything I ask her to go on and she’s at the barn morning until night.”
Anthes is all about hard work, but Beeson says it's her connection with her horse, Casino, that helped her earn her a spot in the US Pony Finals in August, "She had to go out and become champion in the pony division to qualify and she was going against the number one pony in the country."
"I rode every day, non-stop, no stirrups or lessons," said Anthes. "I jumped and eventually we made it to the World Equestrian Center which is a horse show in Wilmington, Ohio. The first week we did well, but we didn’t qualify. The second week we were champion and we qualified.”
Both Anthes and her horse Casino will be judged separately at the US Pony Finals, but she hopes the judges see one thing, the connection she has with Casino.
"When I ride him, I talk to him, tell him everything’s ok. He’s just kind of a nervous pony and I want them to see how nice he is and what he is like.”
