Angel Karolyi, who rides with Andrea King of Hollow Creek Stables in Aiken, flew to Mayaguez, Puerto Rico this July to compete in the Central American and Caribbean Games as part of the Venezuelan show jumping team. Angel, who was born in Venezuela, was selected for the team this winter in Florida. He piloted Abigail Walker’s James T. Kirk, a 10 year-old half Thoroughbred gelding that he often shows in the Aiken-area Grand Prix.
The Venezuelan team, anchored by Pablo Barrios, beat all comers to win the Nations Cup competition, earning Angel, who jumped solidly, a gold medal. Barrios also won both the speed competition and the overall individual gold. It was the first time in the 21-year history of the games that one country has won all three gold medals in the jumping division.
“It was great experience,” says Angel, who will be back competing in Aiken at the Equus Events shows this fall. “It was a big step up for me and for the horse.”
Angel will be taking time off from his own showing schedule to attend the World Equestrian Games as a spectator this month. “Venezuela is not sending a show jumping team,” he says. “But there will be two Venezuelans there, Pablo Barrios and Andres Rodriguez. It’s very exciting to see the people from Venezuela starting to do so well on an international level.” Pablo Barrios recently won the puissance class at the Irish International Horse Show in Dublin.
Angel plans to show in Aiken and Tennessee this fall, riding several different horses, including James T. Kirk, Galant (a horse that has carried him to numerous Grand Prix wins) and a new horse for him, Rolling Stone who is, he says “a great horse that just needs a little more experience.”
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