Kimberley Martens Winsingh may have never competed at FEI shows in Canada, but she has been successfully developing and riding jumpers at CSIs in Europe for over a decade. Now, she is appearing on Canadian Show Jumping Team rosters.
Winsingh was born in Canada; her parents are Dutch and moved the family back to the Netherlands from Rivière Qui Barre, Alberta, when Kimberley was nine months old. Although she says she has loved horses as long as she can remember, her parents are not horse people, and it took some time to convince them that horses as a hobby were a good idea.
“My cousin had some small ponies at her home, so I went there every weekend,” remembers Winsingh. “When I was seven, my parents finally let me ride and I knew right away that this is what I wanted to do. I got my first pony when I was nine and there was no going back. I was eventually able to convince my parents to let me try to do this professionally, and now they come to every show and really have always done everything possible to support me.”
For eight years, Winsingh and her husband Mark Martens have developed and sold young horses out of a small sport horse stable in Belgium, just over the border from their home base in the Netherlands. Occasionally, the pair keep one that is extra special for Kimberley to compete at the higher levels, and at the moment that extra special mount is KW is Coridor JT Z, who was purchased in partnership with Stal Lenaerts as a very green six-year-old. Coridor was Winsingh’s mount for her first trip around the ring as a Canadian team rider when the pair were invited to compete for Canada at the Kronenberg CSIO 3* in the Nations Cup in May.
“I have been riding him for four years now, so I know him inside and out,” she says of the ten-year-old Zangershide gelding. “He is such a sweet horse that loves attention, and he is the only horse in the stable that we fully trust when the kids are around or want to sit on him.”
Winsingh’s husband, Mark Martens, is an accomplished rider and trainer in his own right, and the pair compliment each other in their business relationship. The pair have two children, James, 4, and Lillie, 1. “Working with my husband has been really nice,” says Winsingh. “He has made me a better rider and always challenges me. When we have horses that are more difficult or need more of a system he will help me or ride them himself for a while, but he also prefers if I ride them in the ring. He isn’t motivated to show, and I love to show, so it works perfectly.”
Their track record of producing horses up to the highest levels themselves is what gives Winsingh the greatest amount of pride. Notably, she jumped her first clear round in a 4* grand prix with Kinmar Quality Hero, a horse they produced themselves. “I like to work with young horses and develop them, and it really gives such a special bond when you are jumping big classes and know each other so well,” she says. “I believe it helps them put in that extra effort when things get difficult.”
Her invitation in May to join the Canadian team at the CSIO 3* in Kronenberg did not yield the result she was hoping for, but overall she was grateful for the experience and came away excited for more opportunities to prove herself in the ring. “I was really happy when I got the call that I was on the team,” she says, “and especially because I live in the area I was very determined to do well. My horse was in good shape, I had jumped some quite big classes before and my horse jumped great the day before, so I went in confident, but the Nations Cup didn’t turn out as expected. We finished the course with a few down, and to be honest, it was really disappointing for me.
“I really hope I will get another chance to ride for the the team so that we can prove we are in good form.” Winsingh will indeed get that chance, as she was recently chosen for the Canadian Show Jumping Team at the CSIO5* Nations Cup at Dublin, Ireland, August 6-10.
Winsingh says there are many benefits to being a European-based rider when it comes to the development of her string, primarily the ease of travel between quality shows that allow time in the ring for young horses ‒ although she says the competition can be stiff.
“For the younger horses there are shows almost every day of the week, but the level of horses and riders is very high, so the competition is quite serious. It’s not always easy to find good horses to develop, but I think if you have a good horse the horse dealers will find you if you’re at the right shows.”
Winsingh and Martens have dabbled in breeding, but prefer to source their prospects as young horses and use their contacts to find undeveloped talent.
“To be honest, it’s difficult enough to breed a good one that’s also healthy,” she says. “We have bred some cute hunters and jumpers, but it’s quite a long wait before we can do something with them, so we prefer to get them in our stable when they are five or older so we can get them started at the shows. We like to keep the amount of horses small, so we can provide them the best training.
“We’d always like to keep the good ones longer, but that isn’t always possible. As much as I enjoy jumping the bigger classes, we have a dealing stable, so everything is for sale.”
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