Vestavia student becomes National Champion jumper

Caroline Michele Dugas, a junior at Vestavia Hills High School, spends almost every afternoon riding horses. All her time in the saddle paid off this fall as she traveled to Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, and became a National Champion.

Dugas trains with Tim Maddrix and Camille Maynard, who run a hunter/jumper training program out of Hawks View Farm in Leeds. Under their guidance, she has spent the last year traveling around the country to compete her horse Skyfall against other riders under the age of 18. 

Based on her results at each show, Dugas gained national standing points that qualified her to the North American League Children’s Jumper Finals held at the Pennsylvania National Horse Show in October. Only 30 riders in the country are invited to compete at the Children’s Jumper NAL finals. Her results throughout the year meant Dugas came into the finals ranked seventh nationally.

The competition is a two-round format, where riders attempted to leave all the jumps standing and complete the course under a set time. Ten qualified to come back for the second round. The second round, called the “jump off,” is a shorter course of seven jumps, the winner to be the horse/rider combination who completed the jumps the fastest without knocking any jumps down.

When the last one crossed the finish line, Dugas and Skyfall held onto the fastest spot and became National Champions.

Submitted by Camille Maynard.