March 5, 2026 
As a longtime fan of show jumping, there are few parts of the sport more rewarding than getting to watch your favorite stallions (and sometimes mares) competing against offspring they sired as young horses more than a decade ago.
Those of us who watched Emerald and Harrie Smolders competing in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and making the podium at the FEI Jumping World Cup Finals in Gothenburg, for example, loved watching the stallion compete against his son, Igor, under Jos Verlooy (BEL) at GCL events including Doha and Cannes in 2018.
Ditto for Germany’s Christian Ahlmann, who after many years of success with the famous stallion, Taloubet Z, also campaigned his son—Take a Chance on Me Z—at the championship level.
And now, at long last, we will get to see the offspring of show jumping’s current modern marvel—the 14-year-old stallion United Touch S—in action at the top of the sport. Of the some-500 offspring so far registered under United Touch S’s name, only two, 10-year-olds are currently competing at the top of the sport—and they’re doing it well.
Both horses seem to have inherited their father’s lofty jump and effortless way of going. And, with two of the best jockeys in the sport on their backs, both look poised to not only do their breeders’ proud, but perhaps even fill their sire’s prodigiously large horse shoes.
Una Mariposa
To say Laura Kraut has been putting her stock in the 10-year-old chestnut Westphalian mare Una Mariposa by United Touch S and Hors La Loi II is an understatement. The cat-like, chestnut mare certainly has her own style over jumps, but has inherited more than her fair share of her father’s athleticism.
After Kraut campaigned Una Mariposa herself in 8-Year-Old Young Horse classes at venues such as Aachen, Chantilly, and Brussels, the pair closed out their 2025 season with a National Grand Prix win at the Split Rock Jumping Tour Santa Anita CSI5*-W, and earned a top-10 finish in a 5* 1.60m Grand Prix in Thermal in December.
Untouched LB
If anyone is a dead ringer for their father’s coveted jumping style, tremendous scope, and almost hunter-esque way of traveling across the ground, it’s the 10-year-old stallion by United Touch under Christian Ahlmann, Untouched LB. In fact, from a distance, it can be hard to tell which bay is which in the arena, and that’s probably just the way that Ahlmann would have it.
Like Kraut, the German rider took over the reins of Untouched during his 8-year-old Young Horse season, jumping their first 5* 1.60m Grand Prix together last March at Saut Hermès—and finishing fourth! Later in the season, the pair jumped clear in GCL competition in St. Tropez and then in Rome for the Shanghai Swans, going on to take 7th in the LGCT Grand Prix of Rome. What’s more: they ended their year with a top-10 finish in the FEI Jumping World Cup™ qualifier in Stuttgart.
In other words, keep your eye on these two talents in 2026!
