Ali Tritschler didn’t always want to ride. Her first riding lesson was at age 5, and she didn’t like it.
But when Tritschler told her mom that she didn’t want to ride again, she went against a generation of family equestrians and decades of USEF Pony Finals dominance.

“We were the McKinney girls,” Ali’s mom, Libby McKinney Tritschler said. “From 1967 to 1975 we were pretty competitive in the pony ring. We were fortunate enough to win, and we were just really lucky girls.”