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Hagyard Equine Medical Institute Returns as Presenting Sponsor; Event Brings Major League Show Jumping to 2026 Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS EQUESTRIAN™

Inside Kentucky 2026: The Review Show

Think you know everything about horses? Put your knowledge to the test. In this episode of Behind The Barn, riders take on horse trivia and share their answers along the way. This episode is brought to you by DMP Insurance .

What really goes through a rider’s mind on cross-country day? How do they get in the zone, and what do they eat? In this episode of Behind The Barn, we take you inside the mindset of riders as they prepare for one of the biggest moments of the competition. This episode is brought to you by DeNiroBootCo .

The Trewlany Trailblazers (Lillie Keenan/Chagrin D’Amour, Abdel Said/Max, Charlotte Jacobs/Rincoola Milsean) showed their grit and speed as they flew to the win in the $200,000 1.50m CSI5* MLSJ Team Competition, a popular new edition to the Kentucky International CSI5* Grand Prix presented by Hagyard Equine Medical Institute at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian (K3DE). “We had a lot of fun tonight because we won,” Keenan joked as they waited for their prizes. The innovative design of the Major League Show Jumping’s team competition brings 8 teams of three riders together over a season. In the first round, all three riders jump a round, with their scores being combined. The top four teams after round one come back for round two, but this time, only two riders can compete. For the third and final round, all teams put forward their last rider (who cannot have competed in the second round) with the first-and second-placed teams’ riders jumping off for the gold and silver medals, with the 3 rd -and 4 th -placed teams’ riders jumping off for the bronze medal. In that final round, rails down add three seconds of time to their final time.

Conventional wisdom says that full Thoroughbred horses — once the mainstay of eventing — struggle with the demands of the dressage phase in the modern sport. New Zealand’s Monica Spencer and her Thoroughbred gelding Artist proved that wisdom wrong as they grabbed the top spot at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian (K3DE) to sit in first in the CCI5*-L on a score of 22.3. She doesn’t have much cushion though, as fellow Kiwi Tim Price sits less than a point behind in second aboard Vitali (22.6), Tom McEwen and Brookfield Quality from Great Britain are hovering in third (25.1). The highest-placed American and leader of the Defender/USEF CCI5*-L Eventing National Championship presented by MARS Equestrian is Caroline Pamukcu and HSH Blake, her Pan Am Games winner, who sits fourth with a score of 26.6. Thursday’s dressage leaders Will Coleman and Diabolo sit 5 th (27.3). “‘Max’ was super today and gave me good energy in the test,” Spencer said of her long-time partner. “I’m really pleased with him.”