Competition on Wednesday, October 23, continued with a full schedule for hunters and jumpers at the 2024 Washington International Horse Show, presented by MARS Equestrian™ at the Show Place Arena in Upper Marlboro, MD. In the evening Katherine Mercer piloted Colina SN, owned by Taylor Landstrom, to the $10,000 WIHS Children’s Jumper Championship, presented by MARS Equestrian, while Kimberly Coyle and her own Dartani were fastest in the $10,000 WIHS Adult Jumper Championship, presented by MARS Equestrian.
Twenty-two horse-and-rider combinations went to post in the $10,000 WIHS Children’s Jumper Championship, presented by MARS Equestrian over a course designed by Nick Granat. Eight found the key to a clear round and returned for a jump-off. Of those eight, the fastest clear was Katherine Mercer riding Colina SN, who finished in 34.771 seconds. In 2021, Colina SN and owner Landstrom won the same class.
Mercer, of Wellington, FL, has been riding Colina SN, a 14-year-old Warmblood mare, for a year since she first tried Colina a year ago at WIHS. In that time, Mercer said, the horse hasn’t changed but Mercer’s understanding of her has.
“When I got her, I thought she was just disorganized and I couldn’t see a distance,” she explained. “It was not very pretty, but now I understand her, and I understand that I have to calm down so she can calm down and it all just comes together. If you flat her properly then the jumping part is really easy.”
Eleven were clear in the first round of the $10,000 WIHS Adult Jumper Championships and resulted in an exciting jump-off. Kimberly Coyle of Central Valley, NY, sped through to win on her 13-year-old Holsteiner mare (Casall), Dartani, in 33.938 seconds. Dara Castle and her own As Di Boy were second in 35.481 seconds. Third place with a time of 36.339 seconds went to Madison Jaronski and her own Catoki’s Clever.
Coyle has made this class at WIHS a major goal over the years, and this was the third time riding in it with Dartani. “Third time’s a charm,” she laughed. “We’ve had tough luck in this class in the past, so this year I wanted to have fun and just go with it. I have a great horse, and she wants to do the right thing if I can just guide her, stay out of her way, and let her take me, we can do it.”
As last to go in the jump-off, Coyle knew she had to do something extra to set the winning time. “I made up time going to the first jump and hit the gas once I saw the timer,” she recalled. “I kept going through the turn and rolled back tight to the skinny. She hit the out of the combination, but it stayed up luckily. I heard my husband say, ‘Go!’ and I knew it stayed up, so I just went flat out to the last.”
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Mercer and Coyle, Gochman and Signorino Take Big Victories at 2024 WIHS
