2026 National Championship – Qualifying Rounds for Five- and Six-Year-Old Show Jumpers

Not even Sophie Hinners was able to showcase her young horses the way Jana Fink did with last year’s champion, Arcassio. The Rhineland-bred son of Alaba, out of a Darco de Revel-Cassini Boy Junior dam (breeder: Christiane Wilbers), who once received top marks for her jumping at the Herwart von der Decken Show, was awarded a 9.1 by the judges today. So it looks like he’ll defend his title if all goes well.

A total of 117 participants competed in the event, so it was judged in three divisions. The winner of the second division was the Hanoverian mare Vio by Viscerado-Stolzenberg, bred by Torben Wegener, owned by Sandra Höing, and ridden by Charlotte Höing. She received a 9.0 in this division.

The trio of judges—Paul Gummelt, Werner Tapken, and Hubert Uphus—awarded the third-highest score of 8.9 to the OS mare Dia Lady PS by Diaron-Chacoon Blue, bred by Gestüt Lewitz and owned by K&K Windows Ltd. The mare was presented by Cait Kenny from Ireland.

Three Top-Three Finishes for Hinners Among the Five-Year-Olds

After show jumpers had complained of boredom at the World Championships in Aachen—where they were limited to just one horse—Sophie Hinners is now back to her usual rhythm. Among the 71 five-year-olds, she presented four horses. She placed three of them in the top three across the two divisions.

Riding the Holsteiner stallion Cadoc by Casall-Diamant de Semilly (breeder: Dr. Klaus-Jürgen Pöhlmann, owner: Sonja Will), she received a score of 8.8 and won the second division.

Hinners rode the Marbach stud stallion Elton by Emerald van’t Ruytershof-Ludwig von Bayern (breeder: Jens Löhden) to a second-place finish with a score of 8.7.

Last but not least, there was a white ribbon for the Westphalian stallion Maroon by Manoulito-Bellini Royal (breeder: Gripshöver GbR, owner: Vogel & Will Equestrian), who, along with three other horses, received a score of 8.5.

The three other horses that scored 8.5 were the Holsteiner stallion Chacfire by Chacfly PS-Levisto, ridden by the breeder’s son Tjade Carstensen; the Oldenburg mare Corfu by Cornet de Semilly-Furioso II (breeder and owner: Eric Stevens) with Maximilian Wurster, and the Westphalian stallion Blockbuster II by Balous Bellini–Cornet Obolensky (breeder: Hubert Waning; owner: Ralf Köhne, Tobias Schult) ridden by Tobias Thoenes.

The best of the five-year-olds was Chacco Grande by Chacoon Blue-Casanova, bred by Ulrike Sawdka and presented by Patrick Stühlmeyer for the Schockemöhle Stallion Station. He received a 9.0.

The second runner-up alongside Hinners’ Elton was the Westphalian mare Cool Lady by Conthalou-United Touch S, ridden by Hendrik Dowe, with a score of 8.6. The mare is a family project of the United Touch trainer. Heinrich Dowe is the breeder and owner.

You can find all the results from Warendorf here.