What happens when you take an international show jumper and give them a leg up onto a show hunter?

The Baran Global Hunter Classic posed that exact question, exporting the largely American sport to Europe and showcasing it in a format that put together teams of three riders—each consisting of a professional hunter rider, a junior or amateur hunter rider, and a top Fédération Equestre Internationale jumper rider—to compete show hunters against each other in Valkenswaard, the Netherlands.

Harrie Smolders, whose accolades include as a stint as the No. 1 show jumper in the world, competing at three Olympic Games for the Netherlands and earning team silver at the 2022 Agria FEI World Show Jumping Championship (Denmark), was recruited to ride on Team French with John French and Paige Walkenbach. While they came second to Team Hesslink Williams (professional hunter rider Geoffrey Hesslink, junior rider Faith Schuttemeyer and FEI rider Lillie Keenan), Smolders was honored as the top international jumper rider after great performances on Walkenbach Equestrian LLC’s hunter star Ever So Often. The mare normally competes with Walkenbach, and together they’ve won grand junior hunter champion at the 2024 Adequan USEF Junior Hunter National Championships—West (California) and titles at the National Horse Show (Kentucky) and Pennsylvania National.

Brazil’s triple FEI World Cup Finals winner and individual Olympic gold medalist Rodrigo Pessoa was also on hand in Valkenswaard, riding on Team Artemis alongside hunter pro Lourdes De Guardiola and junior rider Katherine Babun. He tacked up a much greener hunter in No Touch.

Both Pessoa and Smolders have spent time on the U.S. show jumping circuit, and Pessoa is even based stateside—in North Salem, New York, and Wellington, Florida—most of the year. While Pessoa showed a few hunters decades ago, Smolders never had, but that didn’t stop the Dutch rider from shining in Valkenswaard, a half-hour from his home in Lage Mierde.

We caught up with both riders to find out how it was to take a turn over a course at a much slower pace.

How did you get involved with this class?

Smolders: I recently formed a new management company—M.70—with Chris Sorensen and Sean Crooks. We work closely together, and so when Chris told me about his involvement with the Baran, and knowing it would be at Valkenswaard—an arena I know and love, and just down the road—I didn’t need too much convincing when I was asked if I’d like to compete. I think it’s so good to try new things when you have an opportunity. You can never stop learning, especially when it comes to horses, so it was a genuine pleasure to say yes.

Pessoa: I was a last-minute fill in. My friend Lourdes de Guardiola was in Aachen (Germany) the week before and told me that they were missing an international rider, and [asked] if I could do it. I was at the show anyway, with other horses competing, and I had ridden some hunters before, so I said, “Yes, if you need me to ride, I’ll do it.” So I got there Thursday and rode the horse for the first time on Friday.

You’ve spent time on the U.S. jumping circuit. Have you watched hunters at U.S. shows or anywhere else before?

Smolders: Not a huge amount. Obviously I’ve been aware of it, and many riders I’ve worked with have experience in it, however it’s not something I’ve ever done before. 

Pessoa: I’ve ridden a little bit of hunters. When I started coming to the U.S., I rode hunters for Missy Clark a couple of times. This was in 2005, 2006, so I have not done that since then. But OK, I see a little bit of the hunters during [the Winter Equestrian Festival (Florida)] and at shows in America, we see how hunters go. So it was not a big, big surprise for me. I knew what to expect.

Watch highlights of Smolders’ weekend at the Baran, courtesy of ClipMyHorse.tv:

What did you think of the doing the class?

Smolders: It was fun! Clearly it’s different from my normal competition, but I enjoyed being able to focus on different elements of equestrianism. I did a lot of dressage when I was younger, and so I found that pretty helpful. I must say I had a lovely horse and a great team, so that definitely helped!

Pessoa: I think they did a very good job to showcase the sport of hunters in Europe where it really is not known at all. And I must say that I thought it was a real success.

What were your impressions of the sport?

Smolders: Good. I like the principle of harmony and a genuine partnership with the horse, something I believe in greatly myself, and it’s nice to see that being rewarded in competition. While scoring is subjective, it’s nice to see different elements being rewarded, which I think can help highlight horsemanship. 

Pessoa: It was great. The sport was showcased beautifully. The Tops Arena gave it a flavor that was really special, with great footing. They had magnificent jumps that were really pretty, and on the grass it looked really special. And I think they had everything done really well: the production, the cameras and everything. And the sponsors invested a lot of money to do it, and for a first time, a first edition, it was amazing.

Had you met the rest of your team before the event?

Smolders: We’ve crossed paths a few times, but it was a pleasure getting to know them both more. John and Paige and her family gave me an extremely good feeling, and I am very grateful for their support. 

Pessoa: I’d known Lourdes a long time, and her husband, Michael [Morrissey], also a long time. She rode a horse that belongs to my owner Kristy Clark. It’s a very nice horse that she bought for herself, called Dom Perignon, that was waiting on the flight to go to the U.S.

For the under saddle class did you get any tips, or just go in? 

Smolders: I definitely got a few tips! I hope that many elements of horsemanship came naturally from my day-to-day job, but I definitely leaned on John and the team to make sure I knew where I was going and what I was doing!

Pessoa: I just wanted the horse to be nice and loose and free, and I think we got 10th place out of 21, so it was OK.

How did you prepare for the jumping class? Did you watch videos or talk to riders?

Smolders: It was really just a chat through what was needed to do well. Jim Hagman was instrumental, and I’m grateful to him for preparing Ever So Often in the morning together with John’s team. I was lucky enough to watch a few go before me, and the team pointed out a few of the best rounds before me, so I knew what to aim for. 

Pessoa: I just tried to give him the best ride possible to showcase his talents and please the judges, and I guess he was pretty good because he got three ribbons. It was fun to do, and the horse was very nice as well.

How was the horse that you rode?

Smolders: I really liked [Ever So Often]; she’s well suited to hunters and was extremely kind and genuine. We clicked pretty quickly, and it was a pleasure to ride her. I particularly loved her ears!

Pessoa: I rode a horse called No Touch. He belongs to Chris Sorensen who has a business in Europe and is one of the organizers of the event. I didn’t know the horse. He had become a hunter on the Monday of the show. So he didn’t have much experience, but he reacted very well as he’s a talented horse.

How was this event different from your regular daily show jumping?

Smolders: Pretty different. Aside from the obvious in relation to competition, there’s a lot of emphasis placed on turn out. Luckily I had the team helping behind the scenes, I definitely don’t think I’d have won anything with my plaiting skills!

Pessoa: It’s a totally different discipline. Normally we do much bigger jumps and go much faster. And this is totally the opposite of what we do, but having said that, it still requires a lot of precision and calm and a lot of feel for where you’re at with your horse.

Did you have any conversations with other jumper riders who were also doing the class? What did they think?

Smolders: Yes, absolutely, I think everyone really enjoyed it. It’s always good to try something different. As I said before you can never stop learning, particularly when it comes to horses, in all areas—and while many principles of horsemanship are the same, it is a genuine pleasure to be able to educate myself in different areas of sport. 

For me it was very interesting to see and listen from the very best of the hunter sport but beside that also to feel on a horse that is on top of the game in its discipline.

Pessoa: They thought it was interesting. You know, it’s not something that they had done before. We ride 1.60-meter jumps at full speed, so this is going really slow and jumping really small jumps, so there should not be any mystery, but you need to understand it a little bit. I think the riders that did the class did a very good job to assimilate what they had to do. Some had probably been to America and seen some hunter classes, so it’s not a total unknown. It was interesting and fun to do.