The Desert International Horse Park Roadrunners made their first win of the 2025-2026 Major League Show Jumping season a particularly memorable one as they sealed the Leg 7 victory in front of the home crowd in Thermal. Photo © High Desert Sport Photo.
Press release from Desert International Horse Park, edited by World of Showjumping
The Desert International Horse Park Roadrunners made their first win of the 2025-2026 Major League Show Jumping season a particularly memorable one as they sealed the Leg 7 victory in front of the home crowd on Friday, December 12, at DIHP in Thermal, Calif.
Representing the DIHP Roadrunners on their way to the win in Friday’s $200,000 MLSJ CSI5* 1.50m Team Competition, presented by Clip My Horse, were Erynn Ballard, Kaitlin Campbell and McLain Ward.
“We play to win!” said Ballard. “You have a very strong group of winners riding on this team, so there’s nothing better than a win. There’s nothing better than a win at home. I think all of us rose to the occasion tonight.”
In MLSJ format, after all eight teams take on the first round, the top four teams advance to the first jump-off. There, each team selects two riders to represent them as they try to clinch a spot in the gold-medal podium jump-off round.“Our strategy was to put McLain and I [in the first jump-off] to get us into the winning round,” explained Ballard of the approach taken by the Roadrunners and team manager Alex Wilson.
McLain Ward and First Lady for Desert International Horse Park Roadrunners. Photo © High Desert Sport Photo.
That strategy proved quite successful as both Ballard on Her Game Ball BG (Carambole x Burggraaf NV) and Ward on First Lady (Don Diarado x Lordanos) produced clear rounds, with Ballard also earning the distinction of turning in the night’s fastest lap.
From there, it was Campbell’s turn to crank up the speed for the Roadrunners, as the gold-medal showdown came down to her and Maccabi United’s Daniel Bluman.
Bluman returned first aboard Hummer Z (Harley VDL x Hemmingway), and the pair threw down the gauntlet with a time of 44.95 seconds. However, Campbell and her top mount COSM Castlefield Cornelious (Cornet Obolensky x Contender) were ready to rise to the occasion. Thanks in part to some extra encouragement from teammate Ward, they blazed through the timers in 44.14 seconds to clinch the win for the Roadrunners.
“I’m absolutely terrified of letting McLain down!” said Campbell. “I heard him yell after jump number three, and I was like, ‘I am more afraid of McLain than pulling on the reins, so I’m just going to go!’ I think the advantage also I had tonight is I was on my best horse. I trust that horse so much. We’ve done so much together. I knew Daniel was maybe on a good horse, but not his best horse. I had my best horse in there, so I knew I could just let him go.”
With the win in Leg 7, the DIHP Roadrunners currently sit in third place in the overall MLSJ team standings with just two more legs remaining.
Kaitlin Campbell and COSM Castlefield Cornelious for Desert International Horse Park Roadrunners. Photo © High Desert Sport Photo.
Next, the DIHP Roadrunners will be looking to add more points to their tally in Saturday night’s $340,000 Go Rentals CSI5* Grand Prix as two weeks of top-notch competition come to a close in the desert.
“I love coming west; I love coming out to this coast,” said Ward. “I always have. It’s a nice change and a different group of people and professionals and fans. The work that’s been done here by the group at the Desert Horse Park is spectacular. Not only for the facilities and for all levels of the sport, but to bring top level world-class show jumping to the West Coast. You see the riders coming. You see the level rising, and you see the sport getting the exposure out here that it should have.”
Ballard concluded, “We’re slowly working our way up to that first-place. This was our goal this week and hopefully we win the grand prix tomorrow, but what a great way to finish 2025!”
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