Another competitive morning of international show jumping claimed the spotlight in the Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Stadium at HITS Hudson Valley on Friday, July 25, 2025. As the penultimate day of FEI action during the second week of the Hudson Valley Jumping Tour®, horses and riders from five different nations were invited to contest the opening track in the $40,000 Go Rentals CSI3* Winning Round. The weekly FEI CSI3* division is a highlight of the action-packed three-week HITS Hudson Valley Jumping Tour®, which is also currently featuring a World Champion Hunter Rider (WCHR) week. Coming back at the top of the order to contend the second round, Daniel Bluman (ISR) and Rebelline de Kwakenbeek surprised even himself as the pair took the win.
Twenty-five duos elected to contest Ivan Tagle’s (ARG) first-round track, with the top 12 riders returning for the short course per the winning round format. Eight entries managed to procure a clear round, while the three fastest four-fault combinations were also invited to return. Those returning for the jump-off returned with a clean slate but in reverse order based off of their first round results.
As one of the entries with four faults in the opening round, Bluman’s second performance came early in the jump-off lineup, but left a lasting impression as he guided his own eight-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Aganix du Seigneur x Quid de Revel) to a clean-and-clear round in 52.18 seconds.
Returning at the bottom of the order with a fault-free first-round performance, Switzerland’s Beat Mändli produced the only other clear jump-off performance. With a slower time of 56.88 seconds, he ultimately settled for second aboard the Grant Road Partners LLC’s nine-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion (Vigo D’Arsouilles STX x Polydor), Qarbon Copy GR. Despite a downed rail in the jump-off, Kristen Vanderveen’s (USA) foot-fast performance in 52.61 seconds aboard Bull Run Jumpers, Inc’s 10-year-old KWPN gelding (Dutch Design x Laptop), Bull Run’s Kingdom, proved good enough to take the third-place position.
“Rebelline came to us at the beginning of her six-year-old year, and she was bred by a friend of mine and produced beautifully early on by some friends of mine,” explained Bluman. “Everyone has always believed in her from the beginning, but I definitely did not expect to win today.
“This is her first senior FEI show,” he continued. “She has only done some national grand prix classes before and did the FEI young horse classes in Europe. I thought she jumped amazing today; we had a little mistake in the first round, but she jumped well. In the jump-off, I wanted just to put in a nice, clear round, and I really had no expectations for her to win. This sport is crazy sometimes, though, and for her to win at her first FEI show is not a bad day.”
For Bluman, raising and training the next generation of horses and riders is truly a family business, and with the HITS Hudson Valley venue only an hour from his home, it provides the perfect setting to produce upcoming talent.
“At Bluman Equestrian, bringing up the horses is the part we enjoy the most,” he shared. “So, we need to have a facility near our farm where we can do exactly that, and here at HITS Hudson Valley it’s phenomenal for that. The rings are great, and you have beautifully decorated jumps so that the horses can learn how to properly deal with those decorations and things that they will continue to see down the road.
“For this mare specifically, she was here in June and jumped the national grand prix, which was her first time getting into a big ring like this for a smaller class,” he added. “Then she came and did that again last week, and now this week she has stepped up into the FEI division. Developing horses is an art, and I think, in order to do that art, you have to have the right tools — and here at HITS, we have them.”
International competition culminates on Saturday, July 26, with the $116,050 Core Specialty CSI3* Grand Prix. National competition in the hunter, jumper, and equitation disciplines at HITS Hudson Valley V will continue through Sunday, July 27. For complete results, please click HERE.
