Devon, Pa.—May 30, 2024

The Devon Horse Show had never been on Jordan Coyle’s calendar, but when his wife Kim Coyle qualified in the adult jumpers he agreed to put For Gold on the truck. And is ever he glad he did.

The Irish rider galloped For Gold to the top of the $226,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon CSI4*, edging out Lillie Keenan and Kick On, with Mark Bluman and Ubiluc, representing Colombia, leaving all the jumps in the cups to take third.

“I was very lucky at the first jump [in the jump-off],” said Jordan. “A few horses didn’t jump it great tonight. But after that it got me and the horse’s blood up, and I think from then on everything came up very good.”

It was the third time this week the Irish national anthem rang out at the Devon Horse Show, as Darragh Kenny won the first two Fédération Equestre Internationale classes at the show.

“For me this is what America’s losing,” Jordan said of Devon and its electric atmosphere. “This is a proper horse show. The crowd here is amazing with the whole atmosphere and everything. Look how many people are still here. We can jump five-star grand prix [classes] and there’s 50 people there. This show—for sure I’ll be back. It’s my first time, but I can’t say enough good things. I already told my parents that they have to come here next year.”

Watch their winning jump-off round, courtesy of USEF Network:

Seven riders found a clear way around Alan Wade’s track. Second to come back over the short course, Jordan sliced his turns to find a zippy way around the course. Keenan came close on Kick On in that horse’s second four-star grand prix.

“I, to be honest, missed at jump 1, and then like Jordan said sometimes that’s almost like a kick in the butt and puts you in gear,” said Keenan, who arrived at Devon fresh off helping Team USA finish fourth in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup of Rome. “I had planned to be a bit quicker than I was. I wanted to do eight strides to the last fence. I think watching Jordan, he’s always fast on anything, but I think that combination’s really fast. So I knew he would be really hard to catch and I did what I could without taking too much risk. In hindsight there’s definitely a few things I would have changed. But my horse jumped phenomenally, and I think he’s on the way to be an actual grand prix horse.”

Watch Keenan’s jump-off round with Kick On, courtesy of USEF Network:

Bluman struggled with the horse he described as quirky to nail his right hand turns (“He’s not very good at [them],” he said.)

“I think it’s one of the ugliest jump-offs I’ve ridden in my riding career, but thankfully he left the jumps up and he came up on the podium so it’s a good day,” said Bluman.

But Jordan had the best day, which he credited to his Holsteiner (For Fashion—S-Heralda, Heraldik).

“I’ve had him just over a year now,” he said “He’s been for sure the most consistent horse I ever had. He’s an unbelievably genuine horse. Maybe he doesn’t have all the talent in the world but he’s so genuine that he can do anything. He’s already had like four top threes in five-star grand prix [classes]. I love the horse, to be honest. I can’t thank my wife’s family enough for buying him.”

The Chronicle has a pair of reporters at Devon bringing you photo galleries, stories from the competition and more at www.coth.com. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Instagram to make sure you don’t miss a thing. You can see a full report from the entire competition in the June 17 issue of The Chronicle of the Horse magazine.

Important Links: Devon Horse Show website / Detailed schedule / Results and orders of go / All the Chronicle’s coverage