If you can start a young horse, retrain a “problem” horse, expertly maneuver a truck and trailer, give both IM and IV injections, and safely handle a stallion—or better yet, manage breeding one—chances are you will have achieved “Horseman/woman Status” by North American standards.

Our success with Kismet 50 fuels our determination to bring the Classic Champions, Inc. methods of training & showing to the United States.

 Kismet 50 was purchased by Hampton Farms LLC as a 5 year old who had done three local classes in Belgium. Her training and showing was assumed by Christophe Escande. This mare showed exceptional strength both physically and mentally from the moment we first saw her. We put her into the young jumper events in France, where she steadily evolved into a first class athlete.

What broken foot?

France’s Eric Navet was sent on a forced vacation earlier this year after breaking his foot in a riding accident—at the walk, no less. The injury required surgery to repair two broken metatarsal bones and relegated both him and his top mount, Catypso, to the sidelines for the better part of the summer.

Frédéric Cottier knows a thing or two about show jumping.

As a rider, he won a bronze medal for France at 1988 Seoul Olympics. As a course designer, he set the tracks at the 2014 FEI World Equestrian Games in Normandy. And on occasion, he lends his considerable expertise to developing the equine talent that may one day compete at those very world championships in the future.

Training a young jumper is a process.

Like assembling the 7,541 piece LEGO® Star Wars Millennium Falcon or configuring a 1000 piece double-sided jigsaw puzzle picturing only gradients of white, it requires a methodical approach, optimistic attitude and bottomless supply of patience.

Written by Horse Network’s Editorial Staff.

One rider. Two Classic Champions Tour classes. And a pair of promising prospects.

Schuyler Riley (USA) dominated the young horse series at the inaugural Palm Beach Open at Deeridge Farms in Wellington, FL last week, capturing the championship in both the six-year-old and seven-year-old divisions.