New Zealand (by Annie Studholme) Now in its 15th year, the Xtreme Performance Stallions New Zealand Young Horse Jumping Championships continues to provide a wonderful showcase for the New Zealand Sport Horse breeding industry, despite the recent flood of imported horses from Europe.
Hosted by Showjumping Hawkes Bay at the Hawkes Bay A&P showgrounds in Hastings, the show celebrates the jumping stars of the future with classes for four-year-olds through to seven-year-olds. Competitors jump one round each day in their respective classes, with points accumulating throughout.
While the number of imported horses continues to rise, the show remains a platform from which to champion the New Zealand Sport Horse breeding industry, with many second generation warmblood crosses starting to show through. It is also pleasing to see the emergence of a number of young New Zealand-based imported stallions.
Perhaps the single most impressive performance of the show was the win of Dunstan Casebrooke Lamond (Lansing - Lara I x Callido) in the six-year-old championship, giving the stallion an unprecedented treble of victories as a four-, five- and now six-year-old. This year the big grey overcame 21 other entries to score victory in the hands of Olympian Katie..
