Traverse City, MI - July 28, 2025 - Kels Bonham of Claremore, Okla., and her 11-year-old bay Orley, were victorious for the second time in as many weeks in today’s $10,000 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Prix at Horse Shows by the Bay II.
Sponsored by PhelpsSports.com, the class featured 16 entries and the course was designed by Hector Loyola. The course comprised 13 numbered obstacles and a total of 16 jumping efforts. The time allowed was 82 seconds. Of the 16 attempts, only four riders advanced to the jump-off. Eight horse and rider combinations had four faults. While Bonham finished in first place with a jump-off time of 41.753, Kaitlin Campbell placed second with Rocky W and a time of 47.225 seconds. Jennifer Waxman and Krystal Roe both had four faults in the jump-off to finish in third and fourth, respectively.
In the jump-off, Kaitlin Campbell rode first with Rocky W. The pair left all the rails up but rode fairly conservatively through a winding course that left little room to gallop, clocking in at 47.225 seconds. Krystal Roe and the big chestnut Vondergraaf followed Campbell and made good time thanks to his giant stride but unfortunately ticked the first rail of 13A-B for a total of four faults and a time of 49.001 seconds.
Bonham attempted the course third and started off fairly conservatively, although she picked up the pace toward the end over the final fence, a square oxer. She and Orley set the pace with 41.753 seconds. Jennifer Waxman, partnered with Outline, rode last in the class and set out to give Bonham a run for the money. The pair started out quick but grabbed the top rail of a vertical to finish with four faults and a time of 46.043 seconds.
“I love the first round course,” Bonham explained. “It was great to ride. I did a Low Junior also and it just rode smoothly on both of them. If you rode it correctly and you stayed on the stops, it just was one continuous pace. You didn’t have to chop it up a lot, and it was just a nice thing for the horses, too. It was long, so it caught up to the green horses, but it was really a fun course to ride.”
Bonham’s long partnership with Orley has contributed to their success together. According to Michael Bonham, Kels’ father and trainer, Orley was purchased to be a turn-around sale horse for the hunter ring, but injuries kept him at the home farm, where he eventually turned into Kels’ grand prix horse.
“We know each other really well. I know his moods and where I need to help him and where he’s going to be fine himself,” she said. “(Today) he was very fresh, and when he’s fresh, he’s stronger. But, he jumped amazingly. We gave him yesterday off so he would be. He was jumping everything with a foot to space, which is why I knew I could go faster in the jump-off - I didn’t have to worry about him catching anything.”
Julia Lourie and Napoleon, owned by Spy Coast Farms, finished in fifth place with the fastest four-fault first round at 71.318 seconds, and Henry Pfeiffer rounded out the top six with four faults and a time of 71.458 seconds.
Competition will resume on Sunday morning at Horse Shows by the Bay II. The highlight will be the $25,000 grand prix, which will begin around 2 p.m. For more information, please visit www.horsesportsbythebay.com.
For complete results, please visit www.horseshowing.com.
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