Paget Rytter claimed the Classement Espoir Championship at the Grand Caraibe, the Caribbean’s premier international youth show jumping competition, in Guadeloupe last week.

Rytter, 16, secured the overall Espoir title from a field of 19 finalists — narrowed from 24 starting entries after the opening day — across courses set at 0.80m and 0.85m and a concluding jump-off.

The win continues a breakthrough 2026 campaign that began with her victory at the WEC Ocala Winter Spectacular in March.

Paget rode a pony named Vroum Vroum, in a partnership newly formed on the ground in Guadeloupe last week. Little Vroum Vroum’s size was best suited to lower heights and tight turns, and Rytter’s coaches selected the Espoir’s 0.80m and 0.85m classes accordingly.

With Bermuda not fielding a team this year, Rytter was invited to compete under the flag of Suriname, receiving on-the-ground coaching from Shaun Lim, one of the region’s most respected show jumping trainers, of Ponderosa Equestrian Centre.

The Suriname delegation included Caitlyn Beems, Kimora Chin a Lien, Jeamo Karsodikromo, and Gia Van Dijk. Paget was prepared for the competition by Bermudian Grand Prix rider Rai Burch of Caribbean Equestrian Academy, and Kirista Rabain of KR Equestrian, where Rytter trains in Bermuda.

“To be welcomed onto another country’s team, competing on a pony I just met, and to come away as champion is almost a surreal experience,” Rytter said.

“I’m so grateful to Shaun and the Surinam team, to Vroum Vroum, to our hosts at A.E. La Martingale in Guadaloupe and to Rai and Kirista for getting me there ready to jump.”

The Grand Caraïbe brings together riders from Guadeloupe, Martinique, Suriname, Jamaica, the Bahamas, French Guiana and the wider region and is regarded as a proving ground for the Caribbean’s emerging jumping talent.

More than a competition, the Grand Caraïbe is a gathering of nations’ riders, coaches, and families from across the Caribbean and beyond, building friendships that endure after the final jump-off.

A former student at Bermuda High School, Rytter currently attends the Taft School in Watertown, Connecticut, where she serves as a Point Rider for the Fox Crossing Equestrian Varsity High School IEA team, trained by Emilee Knox in equitation.

The Grand Caraibe result is Rytter’s second international title of 2026 and signals a rapidly rising competitive showjumping trajectory for a rider who, until this winter, had trained exclusively as a hunter/equitation competitor.

She will be back in Bermuda this summer and training at KR Equestrian.