SHOW jumper Kacy Lyn Smith began the 2025 competition year with a strong showing at Week 1 of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), riding her own 14-year-old Oldenburg gelding D’Angelo 6 in the 1.20m Amateur Jumpers Division and placing in 2 out of 3 classes.
Although 2025 marks Smith’s first year competing out of the junior ranks, she and “Angel” had no trouble as they faced off against a field of 75 other horse-rider combinations, in one of the most hotly contested divisions of WEF Week 1.
The pair went double clear on Thursday to place 7th in the two-phase class, followed by another fast clear round on Friday to place 5th overall in the speed class.
A rail down in Sunday’s $10,000 NAL 1.25m Amateur Jumper Classic meant that they finished with 4 faults in a time of 76.622: good enough to finish in the top 20, but out of the ribbons.
Held each year in Wellington, FL, the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) is the world’s largest and longest-running horse show, featuring 13 consecutive weeks of national and FEI (international) competition and attracting thousands of riders and horses from all over the world. Currently in the 2nd semester of her freshman year at Liberty University in Virginia, Smith plans to return to Wellington for Week 3, and then to continue competing consistently throughout the winter as her studies allow.
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