Show jumper Kyle King has long thought of Spruce Meadows, where the native Californian first competed as a 14-year-old, as a second home. That decades-long connection to the venue made his clear round and jump-off aboard Kayenne Z in the $5 million ($3.62 million USD) CPKC ‘International’ CSI5 Grand Prix on Sept. 7 an especially meaningful career milestone. King stood second on the podium beside winner Scott Brash, collecting $735,300 USD of the biggest purse in the show’s 50-year history.

King’s 10-year-old partner “Kaya” (Kannan—Alexsandria, Canezaro) had previously competed up to the four-star level in Europe before King took on the mare as a sale project in early 2025. It took only a few months of working with the Zangersheide before he realized that with every increasing challenge, Kaya got better. He made a plan to secure the mare, knowing he’d never had a horse quite like her, and moved her up to the five-star level in June.

“She’s impressive,” said King, 50, who now lives in Langley, British Columbia. “When you’re around her, you feel it. She’s got the ‘it factor.’ ” 

In Sunday’s grand prix, King felt the mare rise to the occasion once again, tackling one of the sport’s most demanding courses with her signature sense of ease.

“Honestly it felt like I was jumping a 1.20-meter course the other day,” he said. “You’re not looking at the jump cantering down to them thinking, ‘Oh, they’re big,’ when you’re on her. You really feel like you have this tremendous power underneath you—tons of ability, careful, smart. She’s got it all.”

We caught up with King to learn more about Kaya, whom his team lovingly calls “Big Momma,” and to learn more about his plans for the talented mare following their near-win at Spruce Meadows. 

Congratulations on your weekend. Can you tell me about the first round and the feeling of making the jump-off?

You know, when I walked the first round, everybody’s always so excited to see what’s going to be set out there in a class like that. We knew there would be something special. The first thing we kind of all noticed was the water jump with a pole in the middle of it. So, you know, it’s a 10- or 11-foot water jump and then, like, a 1.50-meter vertical in the middle of it. It was very intimidating looking. We don’t get to see that kind of stuff very often. So that was the first thing that got everybody’s attention, and it turned out to be a pretty good jump to jump. 

Then there was the skinny [before the open water]. It was a little bit of a question; some people were getting seven or eight to the water. When I walked it, my first instinct was to get the seven, which I thought would make the six, and then the five [to the next two fences] ride better for my mare. That’s what I ended up doing, and that worked out pretty good. That was about the time I kind of settled down. 

Kaya tried really hard. I got some really lucky rubs through the triple combination [which led into the last fence]. It was a great feeling, jumping the last jump, looking up and realizing you’re clean in a class like that. Those are the little moments you dream about. For sure, it was one of those moments—all these years and training build up to a moment like that. Then to be able to pull it off was pretty cool.

[Watch their second-round performance, which earned them a jump-off spot as just one of two riders with a single rail down.]

What did you think when you’re suddenly in a two rider jump-off with Scott Brash, the only person who’s ever won the Rolex Grand Slam?

Again, it’s one of those dream scenarios. That’s exactly what you dream up. I was pretty happy with myself—the way I conducted my head, anyway—through the whole thing. I was in a good zone. I was in there to compete, and I was going to win it. 

It was just down to us two. So I got on and they said [Brash] was heading up to the ring. I got ready and jumped; I just wanted to jump in the paddock, because I had just come out of the ring. They said he pulled a shoe. So then it was kind of like icing the kicker; I had to sit there for about five or six minutes—the longest five or six minutes of my life. But I kept it together. 

My wife [Emily King] was there, and I had Tiffany Foster on the ground. She’s been in that situation a lot, and it was really nice to have her kind of there on the ground just kind of helping me through. 

I stood in the in-gate and watched [Brash] go and saw what I needed to do. And, oh man, I thought I did it! I knew I was pretty quick on the rollback to the wall. That showed up just beautiful. And then I just caught a really good one coming around the end of the double. I knew I was ahead on time. I slowed down, got on her hocks to the planks to make the rollback [on the third to last fence] and just rubbed it behind. 

Watch King’s jump-off round, courtesy of ClipMyHorse.tv:

Honestly, I haven’t really had time to watch it. Obviously I ended up second, but like I said, it’s a career moment—what you dreamed about your whole life and to be lined up and have a seat at the table and walk in there, I was very proud of my mare’s performance and my performance.

“It’s a career moment—what you dreamed about your whole life and to be lined up and have a seat at the table and walk in there, I was very proud of my mare’s performance and my performance.”

Kyle King

I read that you do like to watch videos of your riding. What do you think it will feel like to watch this one?

Oh, it’ll be super exciting. I’m sure I’ll analyze it. Nick Skelton told me after that if I would have left that step out, I probably had a better chance of leaving that plank up. I’m kind of dying to watch that, because in my head, I was thinking about making the turn on the backside of it. You don’t want to go run at the planks either, but he’s obviously the master, and I’m kind of curious to watch that back and see.

Tell me about this mare. Where did she come from, and how did that partnership come together for you two?

I got super lucky. She was [ridden] by Ann Carton-Grootjans. Very good friends of mine for many years, Michael Korompis and Kirsten Rombouts, they’re partners in Europe, and they’re who I trust finding horses for me over there. I had gone over looking for a horse this time last, and they had taken me to Ann’s stables to try another horse.

I wasn’t in any position to try that mare; I was trying some younger horses. And then when I came back this winter, Michael called me and asked me if I’d be interested in taking Kayenne, and getting her sold in America.

I think she got there kind of the middle of February. She’d been in quarantine for a month, so I put her in a couple 1.30-meter rounds. Didn’t think all that much. I’d seen some videos of her jumping some 1.50-meter classes, but the rideability was a little different, and I wasn’t totally sold on her. Then I moved her up to the 1.40 meters, and she was a lot better. Then I put her in a 1.45-meter class, and she was even better. 

Then I put her in a 1.50-meter class one night in really weird conditions: a windstorm, very spooky. I almost scratched, but I’m glad I didn’t because I learned a lot about her that night. She went clear and ended up really good in the jump-off. And then at that moment, I knew that I had something pretty cool. I was sitting on a really cool horse, and was trying to figure out how to secure her for my future for myself. 

One of my very good friends, Greg Tomb, stepped up and backed me on securing her for the future, and that was just done right before we went to Spruce Meadows. We went to Spruce, and she just kind of grew and grew and grew. We got second the Queen Elizabeth Cup, and then got ourselves invited to the [Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’]. We fought hard all week and got qualified, which it was not an easy task to even qualify for the grand prix this year. She then fought her way all the way into second place in the biggest grand prix in the world. That’s pretty cool. 

It seems like you have spent a lot of time at Spruce Meadows over the years. I’m wondering if there’s a familiarity with the venue that you think kind of helped you with this recent success.

Oh, one hundred percent. Spruce Meadows, I know very, very well. I’ve been coming up here since I rode in that ring when I was 14 for the first time, which, you do the math! That’s a long time ago. I know that ring very well, and I’m very comfortable in it. 

I’ve lived in Calgary for a lot of time, a lot of summers, and it does feel like home. I feel like I have a home-field advantage, and then I also show up there all summer. So I couldn’t have had a better training grounds to get ready for what we just did.

It’s so interesting to hear you say that the higher you raise the fences, and the tougher the conditions, the more the horse rises to the occasion. What in her personality do you attribute that to?

She’s just one of those special mares. I used to always get the mares and stallions that were difficult back in the day, but I haven’t had a really good mare in a while—and maybe never quite like this one. She’s very intelligent. She’s like a bull, very strong in her body, but very willing. 

What’s next? What are your goals with Kaya?

What’s next up is pretty cool. I caught a spot on one of the Major League Show Jumping teams, the Northern Lights. So I’m going to join up with the Major League five-star tour here starting in two weeks. I go back and do Connecticut, New York and then Tryon. 

So she gets a few weeks to recover, we go back, and we do one big five-star, and then a week off, and then two more big five-stars. She’s got a lot of work ahead of her, but she does need the miles at this level and some different venues. 

We’re going to be busy the rest of the season. I gave her a really big break after the summer series of Spruce, anticipating this big push. She had six weeks of downtime after Spruce Meadows in the summer, so she should be just right for this push.