Show jumper Jamie Winning-Kermond is having a fantastic year, winning two of the country’s richest Grand Prix classes with Tulara Stolensky. The mare hasn’t always been easy, but with impressive jumping ability and a great team behind them, the sky is the limit.

“In the beginning, I could barely ride her… she’d jump me off!” says Jamie Winning-Kermond of her Willinga Park Grand Prix-winning mare, Tulara Stolensky.

Jamie and ‘Stella’ have had a fabulous season, taking home the lucrative winner’s cheque in the GDP Classic Grand Prix at Boneo Park earlier this year in addition to their recent win. However, when Jamie first sat on Stella, she wasn’t sure she’d reach the point where she’d have a realistic shot at winning two of Australia’s richest show jumping classes.

Last year, Jamie was on the lookout for another horse and asked Michelle Lang-McMahon – whom she values as an excellent judge of show jumpers – if she could have any horse in Australia at that moment, who would she take. The answer was Tulara Stolensky, who at the time was ridden and owned by Kirstie Ansell of Vakarra Park on the Sunshine Coast. Kirstie had produced the 11-year-old mare to Grand Prix level; however, Stella was relatively inexperienced, largely due to missing competition time through the pandemic.

Jamie approached Kirstie, who put a price on the mare; Jamie liked what she saw and so Stella came to live at Yandoo Park 18 months ago. Being slight of frame on a 17.1 hand over-eager powerhouse, Jamie did not find it easy to rein in the enthusiasm and gain the rideability required to successfully navigate a Grand Prix-level course. “No height is a problem for Stella, it was just the control,” explains Jamie. As a result, the strategy has been to school the mare as slowly and as straight as possible in training at home, as well as in the early rounds at a competition; it’s a strategy that was suggested by George Sanna, whom Jamie occasionally trains with.

At Willinga Park, Stella was warmed up by colleague and fellow Grand Prix competitor Josh Collins before Jamie jumped on board. “I said to Josh before the first class [the 1.40m Two-Phase], ‘If I don’t have 20 time faults I’ve done my job wrong’, which was the schooling to ride her straight and slow. I came out of the ring, and I had 19 time faults,” laughs Jamie.

“George [Sanna] was so complimentary and said, ‘That was such a good idea… you really nailed that idea of going out and going slow in the first round!’ And I said, ‘Well that was your idea, George… I just did what you’ve been telling me to do with the mare for the last six months, so thanks for that!’ Maybe he didn’t think I listened, but my mantra has always been ‘Do what George says!’”

In that first class they were clear, but the time faults left them right down near the bottom of the field. On the second day in the 1.45m Against the Clock, they were again clear with just time faults to finish mid-field. Day three was a rest day for Stella (not that she needs it, as Jamie says the mare has boundless energy and could jump every day) and then the final day was the Grand Prix.

One of seven combinations to go clear in round one of the Grand Prix, their time was the third quickest of the clears. As the third last two go in round two and with no double clears at that point, Jamie made the decision to focus on jumping clear. Although they were one of the slower second rounds, their strategy paid off when one rail fell for Gemma Creighton and Dada Des Brimbelles Z and two fell for Aaron Hadlow and Vahlinvader.

In what was a clever display of horsemanship, strategy and skill, Jamie and Stella produced the only double clear and were crowned the winners of the 1.55m 4CYTE Willinga Park Grand Prix Spectacular.

EUROPEAN VENTURE

Precisely 16,727km away from Willinga Park, Jamie’s husband Jamie ‘Kermo’ Kermond is back on the international competition circuit. In June, he jetted off to Europe with a team of six horses to base at Stal Tops in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands.

The trip has been centred around scoping out the idea of a permanent Yandoo satellite stable overseas – something that Jamie sees as a very exciting opportunity in terms of the future of their business. The trip also represents an opportunity for Kermo to again compete at the top end of the sport internationally, and as Jamie explains, it has been great way to provide valued Yandoo team members with the opportunity to train and compete overseas as well. “It has been nice to help support other riders such Georgia Bouzaid, Hannah Doolan and Olivia Wiesener to gain some international experience,” she says.

Currently supporting Kermo at Stal Tops is Ireland’s Wayne Sherry, who worked with Jamie and Kermo from 2015 to 2016 in Germany when the couple were based there. Wayne moved to Australia in 2016, before returning home in July this year. Now based in Valkenswaard, he rides the horses with Kermo. “Wayne is in charge of everything when Kermo is at shows and it allows Kermo to come home for short visits when possible,” explains Jamie.

Kermo has taken his 2018 World Equestrian Games horse Yandoo Oaks Constellation, a 17-year-old gelding by Conquistador out of Galaxie Pierville, by Jalisco B; Tulara Lady Zirocca, an eight-year-old mare by Zirroco Blue VDL out of Tulara Copaccia, by Colman; Glenara Sir Bollinger, a 10-year-old gelding by Balou du Rouet out of Glenara Lady Bollinger, by Conquistador; Rolensky MVNZ, an eight-year-old stallion by Cornet Obolensky out of Casual LVP, by Cassini I, and owned in conjunction with Wendy and Richard Keddell of Mount View Sport Horses; Yandoo Providence, a six-year-old mare by Caracas out of Yirrkala Pippi Longstockings (who is out of the same mare as Constellation and Hilary Scott’s Oaks Milky Way), owned and bred together with Pip and Sue Middleton of Caliera Performance Horses; and Jon Snow, a seven-year-old stallion by Vingino, out of Happy Girl, by Eldorado VD Zeshoek TN.

“Jon Snow is a horse that we bred,” explains Jamie. “We bought a mare when we lived in Europe in 2016, put her in foal to Vingino and flew her home. And that foal is Jon Snow. He’s Kermo’s horse, so it’s pretty special that he worked out to be such a talent and that he’s now got him back over to Europe.”

At age 17, the legendary Yandoo Oaks Constellation is still fighting fit but as Jamie says, by the same token he has nothing left to prove. While Kermo served a two-year suspension from the sport, Jamie picked up the reins and won Best Performed Section 1 Horse at the Sydney Royal Easter Show this year; however, she says ‘Napa’ is a horse more suited to her husband and she’s thrilled to see the pair reunited and back to doing what they do best.

The pair were part of the Australian team at the recent FEI Nations Cup in Barcelona, Spain. Although the team missed out on a start in the final round of the Nations Cup, they produced a top performance to finish a close second to a very strong Dutch team in the Challenge Cup competition.

Kermo and Napa have fulfilled part of their FEI MER for the 2024 Paris Olympics, but their European venture is not aimed at an Olympic start; it’s about the partnership having one last hurrah together on the international stage. If Olympic qualification and selection comes their way and Napa is up to the task, then that would be a bonus.

BACK HOME AT YANDOO

Back home at Yandoo Park in Ebenezer, New South Wales, there are still countless horses in training – both Yandoo-owned and clients’ horses – as well as clients and students to coach. Joining the team recently, Emma and Josh Collins have become an integral part of the machine alongside Brydan Train, who has just left to meet Kermo in Europe; Lachlan Penny and his brother Josh Penny; and for the next few months, Sarah Hens, who is filling in while Brydan is away. Uni student Phoebe Oates also currently supports Josh and Emma around her study schedule.

Josh rides about 12 horses per day, while Jamie rides anywhere from two to eight in addition to conducting between four and 10 lessons. While many of Jamie’s rides are client horses, she does have a solid little team of her own that is going great guns.

“I have a good homebred mare that I love riding and have had a lot of success on called Yandoo Honolulu. She’s pretty special but can be quite horse-shy and a little bit difficult at the shows in the warm-up. She gets lunged a lot, rather than me riding her, which is a lot of work for the grooms,” explains Jamie. Before Josh and Emma recently joined Yandoo and with Kermo away, Jamie made the decision to spell the mare to take the pressure off at shows. Fortunately, with plenty of events under her belt over the last two years, Jamie doesn’t anticipate that it’ll take much to have Honolulu back in action again.

“I also ride a really cool mare of Rachel Peel’s called Tulara Wat Colblensky, aka ‘Juno’. Rachel competes her at 1-1.10m with success and then I ride her in the Futurity classes at 1.35m. I’m pretty excited about her,” enthuses Jamie.

“I seem to have good success with Tulara horses. It’s nice because we’ve had a long relationship with breeders Mark and Anna Fraser.” When Mark first began seriously breeding show jumpers at their picturesque property in Barjarg, Victoria, the first colt he bred was Tulara Balouch, by Balou du Rouet – a horse that Jamie ultimately purchased in 2013. “I’ve had a really good relationship with Mark ever since. I like what he’s doing with his breeding and he’s very good to deal with.

“We’ve also bred a lot of horses with Pip and Sue Middleton, and also own eight-year-old Tulara On Trend in conjunction with them. He’s out of the same mother as Tulara Balouch, by For Fashion, and he’s a great horse.”

The other horse Jamie is competing on at the moment is Bossanova NPH, aka Milo. “Birdy and Jono Berry previously rode him, and now they’ve both moved to New Zealand and so I’m very fortunate and appreciative that they’ve put him with me to campaign and potentially sell. I’m really enjoying riding that horse, he’s unbelievable.”

Of Jamie’s current core competition trio – Bossanova NPH, Tulara Wat Colblensky and Tulara Stolensky – the latter is the smallest at 17.1 hands. “I don’t really know what happened there,” laughs Jamie. “At this stage, that is my main team for the Australian Jumping Championships.”

IMPORTANCE OF TEAMWORK

Jamie is adamant that her success this year is all down to teamwork – not only from the amazing crew at Yandoo, but also Kermo’s help from Europe and support from the wider Australian jumping community.

Yandoo Park is planning to take a whopping 28 horses to the Australian Jumping Championships, which take place from 31 October to 5 November in Sydney. Jamie, Emma and Josh have around 10 horses between them, with the rest being clients or students competing on their own horses. These days, big events are very much a team affair for Yandoo, and there’s a great sense of camaraderie.

“I’m very fortunate to have a good team around me,” says Jamie. “Lachlan Penny and Bryden Train, my show grooms… my horses are more work for them than for me! The riding for me is not difficult, it’s more the running back and forth coaching that’s the biggest challenge at a show. It’s making sure you’re not rushing other people’s warm-ups; they might only have one horse, but it’s just as important to them that they have a successful show. Our management of them and their horses is really important to our business, plus we get a lot of enjoyment out of seeing them do well.”

It’s clear that although the partnership is relatively new, Jamie, Josh and Emma are working well as a team. At Willinga Park, Jamie explains that Josh would step in and assist clients if she was riding and vice versa. Many of their students and clients had excellent results; Jess Rice-Ward performed well in the Grand Prix with Tulara Diarangol (Jamie says the pair’s two rails in the first round were only the lightest of touches, so watch this space) while Courtney Cusack won the Amateur Final, among other successes.

Jamie admits that heading into Jumping@Willinga with a large team in tow had her a little worried about how it would all work. “Josh and I were so focused on doing a good job for our clients… I was a little nervous our own results could suffer. Only the result was going to tell us how we went with that, and I feel our performances in the Grand Prix spoke pretty well to the fact that we hadn’t let that happen.” Josh and stallion Cornel (who actually won the class last year) were an impressive fifth with just one rail down in the second round.

Jamie says the Yandoo team is a well-oiled machine, and she feels this is crucial to her success. “Unless we’re all working together, you just don’t have those results. It doesn’t matter how good you are individually, in my opinion. For me, I wouldn’t be able to perform without Lachie looking after Stella, and Josh helping me by riding her… there’s no way that [winning the Grand Prix] would have happened without my team.”

Jamie explains that one of the moments that touched her the most at Willinga was when she and Josh were warming up for the Grand Prix, Redleaf’s Tallara Cameron took it upon herself to step in and assist Yandoo riders warming up for the Amateur class in the other ring. “Dave and Tallara Cameron are great friends, and we work closely with them business wise. Tallara just took on those warm-ups for our Amateur riders, so we were very fortunate to have her chipping in to help the team.

“It’s pretty cool, having people that work alongside you, not necessarily in the same business… but friends who can step in and help out. Winning the Grand Prix was cool, but when you’ve got people handling your clients in ring two, without you asking, just to help you out… that is pretty special!” Jamie says that Yandoo also greatly values the friendships they have with George Sanna, Amelia Douglass and Amber Fuller at Chatham Park, and watching Amelia and Amber succeed in the competition arena gives her a real thrill.

“It is a very small community, the Australian show jumping community,” muses Jamie. “It’s very nice when you have such lovely people around you, and you feel supported. That really helps to achieve results like winning the Grand Prix. There’s no way those things would happen without the support of everyone at Yandoo and beyond.

“Kermo is also a big support from over there to me, always,” says Jamie. “It’s a lot of work at home with the kids and the business and everything, and it might seem like he’s over in Europe not having to worry… but he’s an epic dad, so it’s really hard for him to be missing out on that at home. He’s a huge support in all the decisions I make, and he’s working closely with Josh and Emma. Even just discussions such as how to get 28 horses to the Nationals… Kermo’s still a big part of what we do here at home.”

And it’s not just Kermo lending support from aboard – Jamie says her husband’s friends are great mates who rally around the family. One of those mates is Jamie Smith of Antares Australia, a long-time sponsor of the couple.

“We love Antares’ saddles and have had huge support over many years from Jamie Smith, he’s a great friend. Before the Grand Prix at Willinga, I sat in his tent for an hour in the shade, I was so tired. I couldn’t have any more coffee. He said, ‘How do you feel? You’re about to be the winner of the two richest Grand Prix classes in Australia!’ And I was like, ‘Yeah funny one!’ I was so tired; the idea of jumping that class seemed exhausting. He told me to go and have a Red Bull, so I rang Lachie, who’s addicted to Red Bull, and said, ‘Can you bring me down one?’ I drank that while walking the course and it was the only thing that gave me energy,” laughs Jamie.

“At GDP, Jamie Smith was first person I saw when I went across the finish line… he had both hands in the air. And then when I won at Willinga, I looked up and there he was in the tent with his arms up in the air again! He’s the first one to come and have a drink when I win and he’s the first one to come and have a drink when I have had a terrible day. He’s stuck with us through a lot, which I know you can imagine over the last two years hasn’t been easy.

“With the Yandoo Family in the stands, you feel like you have your own cheer squad, it’s pretty special.”