Tanner Korotkin, 23, closed out six weeks of competition at the 2024 Great Lakes Equestrian Festival (Michigan) by besting an 11-horse jump-off Sunday to win in the $120,000 Four G Surfaces CSI3* Grand Prix. 

Thirty-four pairs jumped the first-round course set by Manuel Esparza of Mexico, which included multiple challenging combinations and a tidy time allowed. Only three riders in the first half of the opening round managed a clear before a total of 11 entries eventually qualified for the tie-breaking jump-off. 

Korotkin returned early in the jump-off and clocked an unbeatable time of 36.68 seconds aboard Kinmar Quality Hero, an 11-year-old Irish Sport Horse (OBOS Quality 004—Magician Hero) owned by Sandalwood Farms. 

“ ‘Kinmar’ is probably the most incredible horse I’ve ever ridden,” Korotkin said. “I’ve only had him for about two and a half months now. He’s a great horse with tons of scope; he’s a little slower type but he’s quick off his feet so I knew I could do the leave-outs and he did a great job.

“He’s a big guy, but as you saw today, he can make some quick turns and he’ll get out of the way,” he continued. 

As Korotkin has been working to build a string of top-level horses, he took a chance on Kinmar. 

“I saw Jessica Mendoza riding him during WEF and approached her because I thought he had all the scope in the world, which is all I need,” he said. 

After struggling to break back into the international level, Korotkin’s new partnership has inspired him to set some exciting goals for the upcoming season. 

Watch their winning round in the $120,000 Four G Surfaces Grand Prix, courtesy of ClipMyHorse.tv:

“There are a lot of very high highs and low lows and that’s the way it goes,” he said. “You just have to take it day by day and regroup for the next thing, and hopefully they come out better. My goal this year is to qualify for FEI World Cup Finals, so if my world ranking gets up a bit, I want to come back [to Traverse City Horse Shows] for the American Gold Cup and the World Cup Qualifier in the fall.” 

Korotkin’s GLEF victory was part of a winning weekend for his family: His 13-year-old sister, Carsyn Korotkin was at USEF Pony Finals (Kentucky) at the same time, where she rode Pepsi to reserve in the small pony hunters and won the Marshall & Sterling USEF Pony Medal Final.

Behind Korotkin on the GLEF podium were Margie Goldstein-Engle and JackOfHearts, with a time of 39.69 seconds. Engle’s consistent efforts throughout the week also earned her the Turnham Green Leading Lady Rider award. Hallie Grimes piloted Chaccato PS to third place with a time of 40.52 seconds.

See full results here.