SA crowns its new state champions after a solid four days of jumping

ABOVE: Sarah Elsden on her way to taking out first and third places in the in the senior speed championship. Picture: TY MANNING

THE 2025 South Australian State Jumping Championships showcased the diverse showjumping talent in the region.

Held across the ANZAC Day weekend at Talunga Park, Mount Pleasant, riders competed in two rings at the Equestrian South Australia event, culminating in a series of thrilling finales on the final day.

The championships featured a range of height classes, including the newly introduced mini prix and under 25 state titles (1.30–1.35m), alongside the traditional junior and senior state titles. The event also included open height series classes and a revamped speed championship, providing a competitive four days of jumping.

Victorian course builder David Sheppard was in charge of the main arena and Bill Parker from the Eyre Peninsula set up the second.

Sheppard’s courses challenged riders and horses at all levels, with no one rider dominating the individual rounds of competition and the wins being shared around day-to-day.

The newly crowned state senior champions are Kristy Bruhn and Viva Baluna. Despite not winning a class outright, they had a consistent weekend with second placings in round one and the John Bruggemann Grand Prix and a third placing in the round three final. This was enough for them to take the championship.

Bruhn also went on to win the 115cm Sapphire Series championship with James Uppercut.

ABOVE: Kristy Bruhn had an amazing weekend taking home three state titles. Picture: TY MANNING

ABOVE: Victorian Ally Wake won two out of three under 25 classes to take the under 25 title. Picture: TY MANNING

The under 25 championship was a two-horse race between Sophia Craddock riding GV Emmaville Olga and Victorian rider Ally Wake on her super jumping mare Olympia MVNZ.

Wake clinched first place in the first and third rounds, which saw her taking the inaugural under 25 state champion trophy rug back to Victoria.

The Diamond series came down to the wire in the final class with Briony Temby looking like having good odds with three rides. She took them in the final round with her own GPH Queen B and subsequently riding Jeff Evan’s Fieldbrook Heiress and Brookside Kimba for minor placings. However, it was Paige Jardine riding Yalambis Narnia who at one of her first big competitions since returning from overseas clinched second place in the final round giving her the overall championship win.

EV Dolcetta ridden by Indy Berden was looking like dominating the junior title after winning the first two rounds of the South Australian Junior Championships but was narrowly pipped at the post by reigning SA junior champion, Macy Watson on Finch Farm Lego, who managed to win the final by mere seconds in the jump-off round.

ABOVE: Indy Berden and EV Dolcetta on their way to taking the junior state showjumping championship. Picture: TY MANNING

ABOVE: Victorian Marly Wright brought a team of horses across the border for the championships and had a fantastic show. Picture: TY MANNING

ABOVE: Kaitlin Smith had a very successful show with her and daughter Carly’s team taking home placings in a number of their classes. Picture: TY MANNING

Kristy Bruhn backed up her senior title win by adding a third state title to her name, winning the mini prix championship on Pure Diamond. Again, with wins over the three rounds being shared amongst three separate horses, Bruhn narrowly claimed the title in the final round with one rail in hand from Adam Metcalfe and GPH Jane.

The senior speed championships saw a match-up between two renowned speed queens from the south-east – Sarah Elsden and Libby Halliday. It proved to be an entertaining class in which Elsden looked like taking in a quinella with Amor Perseus and Mister Rochester.  Halliday however, managed to split Sarah’s two rides and pinched second place with Elsden taking first and third respectively.

Arena two was as hotly contested as the main ring with some seriously speedy jump off rounds across the weekend from some very talented upcoming junior riders and experienced senior riders.

The series winners from arena two were:

• Topaz 70cm series: Libby Holiday and Libadee Park Golden Willow

• Jade 80cm series: Nat Robinson and Danson Gamestar

• Opal 90cm series: Indy Berden and McCartney Park Sugar N Spice

• Pearl 100cm series: Sophie Bairstow and Forbidden Dream

  
  

ABOVE: Sophia Bairstow on Forbidden Dream after her championship win with judge Jacqui Behsmann.  Picture: TY MANNING

ABOVE: Young Maddison Wissel was very hard to catch in arena two with her team of pocket rockets picking up multiple placings across the weekend. Picture: TY MANNING

ABOVE: Kali Rodda riding her own Riverton Kanntar on their way to winning a round in the Pearl series. Picture: TY MANNING

Beyond the competition in the arena, the Jumping SA organising committee arranged a range of social gatherings which helped to develop a sense of community and celebration.

A VIP “pavilion experience”, which connected riders and sponsors, a welcome pizza night and a three-course dinner with live entertainment (and a little karaoke) on the Saturday provided opportunities for all involved to connect, relax and enjoy a fantastic weekend of jumping to finish off the first half of the 2025 showjumping season.

Results

Schedule

View and purchase TY MANNING images from this event 

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