America's most successful FEI Dressage Pony to date, Poldy, has passed away unexpectedly. The 18-year-old German Riding Pony gelding sustained a tear in his rectum which led to the beginnings of a septic infection in his abdominal cavity. Doctors at Michigan State felt he could not be saved.
Poldy was born in 1996 and bred by Karl Mittmann. Sired by Platello, he was out of Loni (by Wirbelwind). He first came into the picture at national FEI pony level in Germany in 2004 with Franziska Knuf. She rode him until 2006. From 2007 till 2009 he continued to compete in Germany with Charlotte Emert.
Poldy first hit the international spotlight in 2010 when he competed for Turkey with Karla Yona Nahmiyas at the 2010 European Pony Championships in Bishop Burton, Great Britain.
Poldy turned up in the United States in 2012 when he became the ride of Barbara "BeBe" Davis who became 2012 U.S. FEI Dressage Pony Champion. They were trail blazers as the pony dressage programme in the U.S.A. is still in its infancy. Bebe's father Michael donated Poldy to Lendon Gray's Dressage4Kids program so he could serve as a schoolmaster and spearhead U.S. pony dressage.
Lendon matched Poldy to the Michigan based Katrina Sadis in 2014 who won the pony classes in Florida and became 2014 US Pony Champion in Gladstone, NJ. Poldy was supposed to move to a new rider for the 2015 show season as Sadis had outgrown him.
Photo © Astrid Appels
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