A few weeks before the National Horse Show, Nov. 29-Dec. 3 in Wellington, Fla., Phil Henning gave Sergio Campos a call. As owner of Mill Creek Stables in Cambridge, Ont., Canada, Henning invited Campos to come ride a few horses.

Twenty or 30 horses later, Henning asked Campos which one he preferred. Campos responded right away: “Sandhya.” His instincts proved dead-on, as at the National, Campos rode Mill Creek Sandhya to the top of the 6-Year-Old Young Jumper Championship International.

Campos had only ridden Sandhya for two weeks but felt confident enough to go fast on the lanky chestnut mare, making an inside turn that no one else attempted. “She’s very fast–she can do those tight turns like no other horse,” Campos said. “I’m enjoying her a lot, and I see a great future for this horse. I think she can be a great grand prix horse.”

By Silvio II and out of a Mondial mare, Sandhya is a graduate of the Canadian young horse Jumper Development series. She also showed earlier this year in the low amateur-owner jumper division with Tonya Henning.

“She doesn’t ride green at all. She’s a very honest, straightforward horse. There aren’t any tricks to her. She’s very willing to do whatever I ask her to do,” Campos said of Sandhya.

It was a great start to Campos’ career with Mill Creek. He’ll compete on the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit (Fla.) next year with a string of Mill Creek horses, and Campos is on the hunt for a grand prix horse.

Campos, 30, won national titles as a young rider in Brazil and rode with Nelson and Rodrigo Pessoa in Europe in the early 90s. In 1995, he moved back to Brazil and showed there. But in 1999, Campos made an interesting career move. He came to the United States with the Brazilian bull riding team and spent four years competing on the Professional Bull Riders circuit here.

In 2003, he decided to get back into riding horses instead of bulls and began to make his way back into the grand prix ranks, winning consistently in 2005 and 2006 with Shakira do Jacare. And his old friend, Rodrigo, helped him make the connection with the Hennings.

“They had a problem horse named Cognac, who was bucking people off. Rodrigo and I have been friends forever, and he told them to send the horse to me. I did a good job with the horse, and then I just started riding the younger horses,” Campos said.

Campos and Rodrigo bought Cognac for Campos to ride, and he’ll show him in the grand prix classes at Ocala. After his Young Jumper win, Campos is optimistic for the future.

“This is the best of the best, and it means a lot to win here. And it’s nice to start out winning for Mill Creek,” he said.

Bob Kraut has had three years to get to know Accordian, and the relationship paid off with the win in the 7- and 8-Year-Old Young Jumper Championship Invitational. Kraut and Accordian sped around the jump-off with aplomb.

“There were a lot of fast horses behind me,” Kraut said. “I know my horse likes to gallop, and it was a nice, big, galloping kind of course, so it fit into what he does best. He just rolls along and gallops, so I thought I’d just go.”

Kraut found Accordian (Jacorde–Norozo, Armstrong) at the barn of Paul and Emil Hendrix in the Netherlands for owners Happy Hill Farm and Peter Wetherill. The lanky bay gelding, 7, has been competing in the Young Jumper program since he was 5.

Kraut plans to spend next year giving Accordian mileage in both the Young Jumper classes and the 1.40-meter classes. “I’d like to keep my sights set high with him. I think he’s a grand prix horse. He’s super-scopey, very fast and very brave,” Kraut said.

Formerly an amateur rider, Kraut started riding as a professional in April 2005, and has been enjoying branching out on his own. “Wetherill and Happy Hill Farm have been very supportive of my career and my horses,” he said.

Top honors in the 5-Year-Old Young Jumper Championship Invitational went to Laura Kraut riding Mary Moricoli’s Uno. “He’s such a sweet horse. He hasn’t been to a show since July, and I hadn’t ridden him since March,” Laura said. “Mary spent the whole summer getting him broke, and he rides around like a 12-year-old now. I think he has a big future. He’s got a great brain, and he’s careful and scopey. Whatever he does, he’s going to be really good at it.”

Uno (Potsdam–J. Olympia, Latano) is an investment project for Moricoli, so Laura doesn’t anticipate having the ride for much longer. The tall bay gelding is another find from the Hendrixs in the Netherlands.

Laura attributes Uno’s success to Moricoli’s patience in bringing him along. “Jumping is just so easy for him, so instead of showing him and getting him bored, Mary kept him at home and did flatwork and got him stronger,” she said. “He’s a very tall, lanky horse, and she got him really muscled up. When I saw him for the first time since March the other week, I couldn’t believe how much he’d filled out. He used to be all legs, and now he looks very well put-together.”

Laura–who is currently separated from husband Bob–enjoys showing the young jumper prospects. She has six young future stars of her own who will be coming up the ranks.

Molly Sorge