Interview with Lucy Davis Kennedy

15 September 2026

For more than two decades, the Dutch Sport Horse Sales has built a reputation for identifying talented young show jumping horses and connecting them with owners and riders from around the world. One of the horses to emerge from the auction is Carlin, who was sold under the name Nik as part of the 2024 collection.

Purchased by Old Oak Farm, Carlin is now ridden by Olympic medallist Lucy Davis Kennedy and has made an exciting start to his international career. After making his international debut at Peelbergen Equestrian Centre last year, Carlin quickly demonstrated his potential, winning a Youngster Tour class in Chantilly at only his second international show. His promising first season saw him named DSHS Youngster of the Year, and since then, the pair have continued to gain valuable experience together, including competing at Spruce Meadows and the Gallagher Dublin Horse Show.

Carlin joined Old Oak Farm after being sold through the Dutch Sport Horse Sales in 2024. What first attracted you and the team to him, and what qualities made you feel he could be an exciting horse for the future?

Carlin has definitely exceeded my expectations. When I first tried him, I was immediately impressed by how easily everything seemed to come to him. He also struck me as a very intelligent horse; whatever situation you put him in, he thinks about what is being asked of him and works out how to respond. What has become particularly special is his mentality in the ring. At home, he is very relaxed, but when he steps into the competition arena, he seems to find another level and really shines. In some ways, I think I was fortunate that we had already tried him and set our sights on him before the auction, because he really rose to the occasion there. Looking back, it feels quite serendipitous that we were able to secure him.

What were your first impressions of Carlin when you started working together, and how has your partnership developed since then?

Carlin has always been a very impressive, good-looking horse. He is tall and naturally quite a big horse, so when we first got him at the age of six, he still had some developing and filling out to do, but you could already see the potential in him. More importantly, even at that age and competing at a lower level, there was an intelligence and cleverness about him that really stood out. With the demands of the sport today, I think those qualities are incredibly important. Horses have to be able to think for themselves and understand what is being asked of them, and Carlin showed that ability from very early on.

At only his second international show, Carlin won a Youngster Tour class in Chantilly before stepping up to 1.40m level. Did the way he handled that progression give you an early indication of the potential he has?

Absolutely. When we bought him, I thought he would develop into a very nice, athletic and competitive horse, but with any young horse there is always an element of uncertainty. They can develop in different ways, and that is part of both the excitement and the risk of buying them young. Carlin began exceeding those expectations very quickly. When I took him to California in the fall, I think he jumped ten clear rounds in a row in the 1.20m youngster classes, which really demonstrated how naturally careful and consistent he was. He then carried that form into his seven-year-old year at a higher level, jumping clear in the final in Chantilly and all three days of the Youngster Tour at the Dublin Horse Show, which I always describe as the seven-year-old Olympics. Later that year, he jumped his first national Grand Prix in California and was double clear, and more recently he finished third in a 1.50m national Grand Prix in Del Mar. At this stage, it is about managing him carefully, maintaining his fitness and confidence, and keeping that consistency so that hopefully he can have a real breakout year as a nine-year-old.

Carlin was named DSHS Youngster of the Year at the end of 2025. What does that recognition mean to you and the team, particularly so soon after he was discovered through the Dutch Sport Horse Sales?

It was incredibly exciting. It was Carlin’s first significant award and hopefully the first of many. To receive that recognition after discovering him through the Dutch Sport Horse Sales made it particularly meaningful, because it highlighted not only his progress but also the potential that was identified in him at the auction. One of the great strengths of the programme I am part of with Laura Kraut and Nick Skelton is their ability to identify and develop top talent, and that is something the Hendrix family has also done exceptionally well for many years. I feel very fortunate to be surrounded by people who understand how to develop a young horse from those early stages through to the highest levels of the sport. Old Oak Farm, which is myself and my mom, is committed to Carlin and to giving him the opportunity to fulfil that potential. In the current sporting environment, it is increasingly rare to have the opportunity to take a horse all the way through its career, so we are incredibly grateful and excited to have him.

The Dutch Sport Horse Sales specialises in carefully selected young horses at an important stage of their development. From a rider’s perspective, what qualities do you look for when assessing a young horse and trying to judge whether it could have the potential for top-level sport?

For me, the most important qualities are very similar to those I found in Carlin. Regardless of a horse’s ultimate ability or the role it might go on to have in the sport, I want to see that it is honest, intelligent and willing to work with the rider. I don’t mind a young horse making mistakes; what matters is how it responds to them. You want to feel that the horse is thinking about what has happened, learning from it and trying to understand what you are asking. Those are qualities you can begin to recognise both when you sit on a horse and when you watch it. That is one of the strengths of the Dutch Sport Horse Sales. A great deal of work has already gone into identifying and developing the horses, whether through the Hendrix family themselves or their partners in the region. As a buyer, that provides a valuable filter and gives you confidence in the quality of the horses being presented.

Carlin’s journey from the 2024 auction to competing internationally at venues such as Spruce Meadows and Dublin less than two years later demonstrates the pathway the Dutch Sport Horse Sales can provide. How valuable are auctions such as the DSHS in bringing promising young horses to the attention of international owners and riders?

They are incredibly valuable, particularly for international buyers. Coming from the US, the auction format is less familiar to us than it is in Europe, where there are so many established sales for horses at different stages of their development. Because of that, the reputation and credibility of an auction become particularly important.