In the final of the WBFSH Jumping World Breeding Championship for 6-year-old horses, only 7 of the 40 combinations made it through to a nail-biting jump-off. In the end, it was Max van de Poll who emerged as the only rider to stay faultless, securing the win. This was no ordinary age class, but a showcase of bloodlines, vision, and horsemanship, where young horses jumped with the presence of future Grand Prix stars.
Victory went to the Netherlands. Max van de Poll piloted the bay KWPN stallion Ortane (Balou du Rouet Z x Quinar Z), bred by D. Van De Linden and C. Van Der Heijden, to the winning time of 42.26 seconds. He was the only one to jump clear in the jump-off, following a flawless first round in 76.93 seconds.
Second place went to Ireland’s Niamh McEvoy with the chestnut gelding BP Othello (Ganesh Hero Z x Tygo). The Irish Sport Horse, bred by Ennisnag Stud, jumped a first round in 74.29 seconds. In the jump-off, they had one rail down in 43.19 seconds, which was still good enough for silver.
Bronze went to Belgium, much to the delight of the home crowd, thanks to Thibeau Spits and the mare Touch of Joy Dwerse Hagen (Nixon van ’t Meulenhof x Casall), a BWP product bred by Dwerse Hagen BV. Their first round stopped the clock at 75.24 seconds, followed by four penalties in the jump-off in 43.29 seconds.
In fourth came fellow Belgian Stef Bossaerts with Claudia Optima Z (Cicero Z x Balou du Rouet), a Zangersheide mare bred by Optimus Agro NV. They posted 75.75 seconds in the first round and had one rail in 44.58 seconds in the jump-off.
Fifth place went to Norway’s Benedikte Serigstad Endresen, riding the KWPN mare Oreo Brownie H (Diarado x London), bred by H. Hartlief. With a first round in 75.20 seconds and four penalties in the jump-off (45.18 seconds), she rounded out the top five.
