When Stephanie Dubois-Esmond entered the ring aboard Carrera Z to jump off in the $10,000 North American League Children’s Jumper  Final, Oct. 14, she knew she was going for broke. After all, come to the Pennsylvania National Horse Show twice before to try to grab blue, and at 18, she wouldn’t have another chance.

“I knew we were going to go fast in the jump-off,” said Dubois-Esmond. “He’s either going to crash and burn or he’s going to win. There’s no point in going in and being terrified of what’s going to happen.”

First to go in the seven-horse jump-off, Dubois-Esmond left all the jumps up and set a smart pace of 34.17 that no one else could catch, clinching the win for Rebecca Reisberg. Jacquelyn Shearer came closest to her time, stopping the clock at 39.99 to take second.

Dubois-Esmond, Gurnee, Ill., rode three mounts in this year’s NAL final, finishing sixth with Lance Williamson’s Rebound. She got the ride on Carrera two months ago to keep him sharp for Reisburg, but the bay gelding already had all the makings of a winner. Alex Jayne found Carrera Z—who is by Calvin Z and out of Beezie Madden’s grand prix partner Jalonie K—as a 4-year-old, and the bay gelding went on to compete successfully for years in the low juniors with Kristen Vanderveen. But Dubois-Esmond still had her work cut out for her.

“With Carrera every jump is a problem,” she said. ”He likes to stop. He really likes to be at the base of the jump, so I need to get him there every time, then there’s no problem.”

Having won this championship, Dubois-Esmond has set her sights on a new goal: qualifying for the North American Junior/Young Riders Championships. She’s already started stepping up a level this summer, and is on the look-out for an amateur-owner mount to take her there.

A working student for Williamson, she’s taking college courses on line so that she can continue to compete and work toward her equestrian goals.  “I want to ride in the [grand] prix,” she said. “It would be a dream come true.”