Champions Crowned During the Young Jumper Championships Presented by Karlswood

13 JUL 26 Ocala, FL

A rider in equestrian attire guides a brown horse over a red, black, and white jump in an indoor arena.

Ocala, FL – World Equestrian Center – Ocala (WEC) hosted the inaugural Young Jumper Championships presented by Karlswood on Sunday, with more than $30,000 in prize money awarded across the 1.30m, 1.20m, 1.10m, 1.00m and .90m championship finals. Riders earned their place by qualifying throughout the season.

Cormac Hanley Guides Pavarotti van de Schutskooi to the $10,000 1.30m Young Jumper Championship Title

A rider in a black helmet and jacket guides a chestnut horse over a white jump during an indoor equestrian event.
Cormac Hanley and Pavarotti van de Schutskooi. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

The $10,000 1.30m Young Jumper Championship was the first title decided in Indoor Arena 6. Leopoldo Palacios (VEN) set a technical track that challenged the developing horses, and Ireland’s Cormac Hanley rose to the occasion aboard Heathman Farm, LLC’s six-year-old KWPN stallion Pavarotti van de Schutskooi (Amadeo van’t Vossenhof Z x Daisy) to earn the championship title.

Hanley appreciated the balance of the course. “I thought it was quite technical for young horses. You had a few open lines and then some really technical questions. We had a few new materials that the young horses probably hadn’t seen yet, which is good because it challenges them and opens their eyes a little bit. It definitely challenged both horse and rider, but it rode well.”

Equestrian rider in black jacket and helmet jumps a brown horse over a black and orange hurdle in an indoor arena.
Cormac Hanley and Pavarotti van de Schutskooi. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

With little time to think before the jump-off, Hanley trusted his horse’s biggest strength. “I know my horse isn’t the quickest mover, but he has a massive stride. My plan was really to use that stride. Everyone was doing nine or 10 strides to the orange fence, but I thought, ‘I’m going to do something special.’ We ended up doing it in seven, and I was the only one to do eight strides home.”

The plan came together perfectly, with Hanley and Pavarotti van de Schutskooi crossing the timers in 35.574 seconds to claim the championship victory.

A rider on a horse poses with two women, one holding a large check. A scoreboard in the background displays rank, time, and jump details.
Cormac Hanley and Pavarotti van de Schutskooi. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

Hanley also praised the Young Jumper Championships for giving riders and young horses a meaningful target. “There’s not much else in the United States to aim your horse toward at this stage. It gives us a goal that we can work backward from. It lets us evaluate where we are and what the horse still needs. I’m really grateful to the organizers and Karlswood because it gives us another great goal to aim for.”

The victory was even sweeter aboard the talented six-year-old stallion. “This horse is really incredible. He’s only six years old, so he’s one of the few, maybe even the only six-year-old in this division. He won the Five-Year-Old Championship in Wellington, then the Six-Year-Old Championship, and now this. This was his first time indoors, so it’s really special.”

$10,000 1.30m Young Jumper Championship Results 

Tracy Fenney Scores One-Two Finish in the $10,000 1.20m Young Jumper Championship

A rider in equestrian gear guides a gray horse over a show jumping obstacle with patriotic decorations in an indoor arena.
Tracy Fenney and MTM Babsi Blue. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

Twenty-one combinations contested the $10,000 1.20m Young Jumper Championship, but it was Tracy Fenney (USA) who dominated the podium, guiding the seven-year-old Oldenburg mare MTM Babsi Blue (Baloutaire PS x Stutbuch 1 Florens) to victory and the seven-year-old Warmblood gelding MTM Good Question (Balous Bellini x Redundant) to reserve champion.

The championship was especially rewarding after both horses narrowly qualified for the final. “Both of my horses were kind of do-or-die. They basically had to win or be second to qualify, and they finished first and second.”

Equestrian rider in competition attire jumps a gray horse over a yellow and white obstacle in an indoor arena.
Tracy Fenney and MTM Babsi Blue. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

Fenney was first to return aboard MTM Babsi Blue, immediately capturing the crowd’s attention over the opening fence. “She’s insane. She’s only seven. I think today was literally maybe her fifth show. The first jump, my hat fell down over my face because she jumped so hard. I was thinking, ‘When am I going to fix my hat so I can actually see the next jump?’ I think I finally fixed it after jump five on the way to the skinny, and then it fell back down again. She just jumps so hard.”

The pair produced a fault-free first round to advance to the immediate jump-off. Still learning the talented young mare, Fenney wasn’t sure what to expect. “I didn’t know if she’d do the six from one to two. It walked in six, but I don’t know her well enough yet.”

Despite the new partnership, Fenney and MTM Babsi Blue blazed through the shortened course, stopping the clock in 33.168 seconds to set the winning standard.

A rider on a brown horse jumps over a red, white, and blue-striped obstacle in an indoor equestrian event arena.
Tracy Fenney and MTM Good Question. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

Fenney came closest to catching herself aboard MTM Good Question. “On my other horse, I knew I could probably do the six. Once he got through the opening line, I knew I could do the six, and he did it great. He was really good to the oxer, the plank was great, and then to the last fence I made him add because I saw a couple of belly-busters there. He can do it, though. He’s a cat. He can get out of anything,” she laughed.

A group poses with a horse and rider in an indoor arena. A digital scoreboard behind them shows rank 1 for MTM Babsi Blue and Tracy Fenney with a time of 33.168.
Tracy Fenney with MTM Babsi Blue and MTM Good Question. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

MTM Good Question crossed the timers in 33.205 seconds, just three hundreths of a second behind his stablemate to complete Fenney’s one-two finish.

$10,000 1.20m Young Jumper Championship Results 

Hayley Waters Wear and Voila BBF Capture the $5,000 1.10m Young Jumper Championship

A rider in a green jacket and black helmet jumps a brown horse over an obstacle during an indoor equestrian event.
Hayley Waters Wear and Voila BBF. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

Hayley Waters Wear (USA) claimed top honors in the $5,000 1.10m Young Jumper Championship aboard Mr. & Mrs. Chuck Waters’ seven-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare Voila BBF (Dulf Van Den Bisschop x Qurint).

The pair produced a clear first round in 66.344 seconds to advance to the jump-off. Waters Wear and Voila BBF returned to deliver another fault-free effort, crossing the timers in 33.073 seconds to secure the championship title.

$5,000 1.10m Young Jumper Championship Results

Stefano Baruzzo and Arthur Claim the $2,500 1.0m Young Jumper Championship

Equestrian rider in black attire and helmet jumps a brown horse over a yellow and white obstacle in an indoor arena with purple spectator seats.
Stefano Baruzzo and Arthur. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

Thirteen horse-and-rider combinations contested the $2,500 1.0m Young Jumper Championship in Indoor Arena 5, but it was Stefano Baruzzo (ARG) who emerged victorious aboard his own seven-year-old Belgian Warmblood gelding Arthur (Kannan x Vienna van’t Oubos).

Baruzzo and Arthur produced a clear first-round effort in 75.092 seconds, just under the 76-second time allowed, to advance to the jump-off. The pair returned to lay down the fastest round of the day, stopping the clock in 30.746 seconds to secure the championship title.

$2,500 1.0m Young Jumper Championship Results 

Paolo Tropia and Rimbalzare VA Top the $2,500 .90m Young Jumper Championship

A rider in a black outfit and helmet guides a dark horse over a yellow and white jump in an indoor equestrian arena with purple seating.
Paolo Tropia and Rimbalzare VA. Photo by Andrew Ryback Photography.

Paolo Tropia (ITA) earned top honors in the $2,500 .90m Young Jumper Championship aboard Bridgette Allan’s five-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding Rimbalzare VA (Chopano VDL x Lamose MB).

The pair delivered a clear first round in 74.437 seconds, finishing just inside the 76-second time allowed to advance to the jump-off. Tropia then guided the talented young gelding to another fault-free effort, crossing the timers in 33.895 seconds to claim the championship victory.

$2,500 .90m Young Jumper Championship Results 

Explore the daily class schedule, orders of go, class counts, and final results on HorseShowing.com. For real-time scoring, check out Ryegate.Live.

Photos courtesy of Andrew Ryback Photography.
Videos available at ClipMyHorse.TV

Make sure to visit the WEC Blog and follow us on social media @worldequestriancenter for full coverage on all feature classes!