January 30, 2026 
Popular culture spends a lot of time on the concept of make-it-or-break-it shots, and the necessity of not wasting them.
From the words of Lin-Manuel Miranda’s titular character in Hamilton—“I am not throwin’ away my shot”—to Rocky’s epic title fight with Apollo Creed, and Eminem’s famous ballad “Lose Yourself,” the idea of a singular, life-defining moment is a reliable motif in arts, culture, and sports.
In the summer of 2024, Dutch show jumper Kim Emmen found herself at the precipice of her own career-making performance in the lead-up to the Paris Olympic Games. It was a tipping point she’d been working toward her entire life.
Growing up, Emmen has said she was introduced to horses by her mother, who rode recreationally. Her parents, who both worked regular jobs, were able to keep Emmen in ponies, typically green mounts that she would train-up herself.
But in doing things the old-fashioned way, Emmen came up the junior ranks with essential skills that would ultimately benefit her as a young professional, riding sales projects and young horses for trainers including Niels Bruynseels (NED).
Eventually, Emmen graduated to campaigning in the international Young Horse classes, going on to work for Erik Berkhof’s De Margaretha Hoeve, where her career truly took off. While there, Berkhof helped Emmen get a place on the Shanghai Swans Global Champions League team, where she gained invaluable 5* experience at the 1.50m-1.60m level.
For two years, Emmen also worked for Sean Cubitt, where she was able to don the orange jacket during debut Nations Cup performances for the Dutch team. But it was only after she returned to Berkhof’s De Margaretha Hoeve that Emmen was introduced to a special grey gelding by Cassini Gold—Imagine N.O.P.—that would ultimately change the course of her life.
Emmen’s bond with Imagine was apparent right from the start, and after getting to know one another on the winter circuit in Oliva, Spain, they began to show promise on bigger stages. The pair finished sixth in the Gothenburg (SWE) leg of the Longines FEI Jumping World Cup™ series, then went on to jump 0/0 during their debut performance for the Dutch team at the Longines League of Nations™ Rotterdam.
And their best was still to come.
In July of 2024, chef d’équipe Jos Lansink announced that Emmen and Imagine N.O.P. would be pulled up from traveling reserve to compete on the main Dutch team at the Paris Olympic Games. Undoubtedly, Lansink was taking a big chance on Emmen—then just 29—but he had the numbers to back his play.
At that time, Emmen and Imagine had competed 11 rounds at 1.60m, jumping clear at a 45% clip and averaging just 2.4 faults, according to Jumpr Stats. When the pair did have rails, it was rarely more than one, earning them a 4-faults or less average of 91%.
Lansink’s faith in the young combination proved out in Paris, where Emmen and the then-11-year-old KWPN gelding delivered multiple clear rounds, helping the Dutch team to a fourth-place finish overall. Despite her young age, the Dutch rider—who has said she rarely gets nervous about competing in the ring—quickly solidified her ice-in-the-veins reputation in the most intense moments show jumping has to offer.
“When you go in the arena, [Imagine] gives you a super safe feeling,” Emmen told the FEI last fall. “He’s not looking at anything, he knows his job, and as a rider, he makes it easy.”
One year later, Emmen and Imagine once again earned their keep on the championship stage, jumping five consecutive clear rounds in the European Championships in A Coruña, Spain, while helping the Netherlands to a sixth-place finish, winding up eighth individually.
But the pair still had one major checkmark left to go on their already impressive resume: winning a 5* Grand Prix. Having boosted their overall 1.60m+ clear round percentage to a whopping 58% over the last two years, Emmen and Imagine have not only become fast fan favorites, but earned a reputation as one of the sport’s most consistent combinations.
Even still, they aren’t necessarily known for their speed in the jump-off, finishing on 1.60m+ podiums 35% of the time (or 7 times out of 53 starts). Their luck changed in a major way, however, in January of 2026, during the Longines CHI Classics Basel 1.60m Grand Prix.
There, they defeated a field of 43 starters as one of only six combinations to jump clear on Course Designers Gérard Lachat (SUI) and Gregory Bodo’s (FRA) first round track. In the jump-off, they were the only pair to log a double-clear effort against the likes of Julien Epaillard (FRA) and Donatello d’Auge, and Pieter Devos (BEL) aboard Casual DV Z.
“I am, of course, very happy,” Emmen reflected after the class. “My first Grand Prix victory, that’s something very special.”
With the upcoming 2026 FEI Jumping World Championships in Aachen just around the corner, if their good form continues, there’s little doubt that Emmen and Imagine N.O.P. will once again be called upon to do their thing for the Dutch squad. “I’ve had some good horses before,” Emmen told Horse Show Jumping, “but Imagine brought everything to another level.”
