October 12, 2026 
If Mark Bluman is familiar with William James, he likely finds common ground with the turn-of-the-century American psychologist and philosopher who famously gave the lecture “The Will to Believe.”
In it, James argued that the evidence for whether certain beliefs are true depends first on adopting those beliefs without evidence—especially during tasks that require confidence in oneself.
Like, say, navigating a horse over a 5* show jumping course in the rain, at speed.
On Sunday, October 11, Bluman put just that ethos to the test when he and Landon de Nyze topped the podium as the fastest double-clear in the 5* Highlands Cup Grand Prix at MLSJ Hudson Valley.
Stopping the jump-off clock at 36.32 seconds, the rider for Israel was just fast enough to hold off Jessica Mendoza (GBR) and Ascadina PP Z on 37.31 seconds, and Natalie Dean (USA) and Acota M on 37.65 seconds.
“I try to do my best, and when I’m in the ring, I think I’m the best. That’s my mentality,” Bluman explained of his James-adjacent mindset in the ring. “Coming in here, I was hungry to get it done.”
A dozen competitors qualified for the shortened course on Course Designer Gregory Bodo’s (FRA) first round track. Four went on to beat Bluman’s time but incurred jumping faults—among them MLSJ Individual Standings leader and world no. 2 Kent Farrington (USA) with Descartes SR, and recent MLSJ 5* Grand Prix of Greenwich winner and world no. 9 Daniel Bluman (ISR) with Corbie V.V.
In fact, more than a few of the globe’s best show jumpers booked their tickets to the Hudson Valley this weekend, with six riders sitting among the top-10 in the Longines Rankings named on the Highlands Cup start list. Among them: world no. 1 Richard Vogel (GER), world no. 3 Shane Sweetnam (IRL), and world numbers 7 and 8 McLain Ward (USA) and Nina Mallevaey (FRA), respectively.
It’s a fitting tribute to the MLSJ series which, with Bluman’s victory at MLSJ Hudson Valley this weekend, celebrated a milestone 50, 5* Grands Prix held across six seasons.
“Having six of the world’s top 10 here is unbelievable,” said Bluman, who finished second with Landon de Nyze during the Week 7, 5* Grand Prix in Wellington, FL in February. Bluman and Landon also won the RBC Grand Prix of Canada, presented by Rolex, during the Spruce Meadows Summer Series in June.
Together, he and the 13-year-old Zangersheide gelding and former Kent Farrington ride maintain a 50% clear rate in 10 rounds at 1.60m+, finishing on the podium 60% of the time they jump-off (Jumpr).
And, with this win, Bluman moves up to fifth place in the Individual Standings on 50 points, just behind Mallevaey on 52. Daniel Bluman and Shane Sweetnam sit on 63 and 67 points, respectively, while Farrington maintains his impressive lead of 82 points with just four legs remaining in the 2026/2027 season.
Next up: the series moves on to Tryon, NC October 15-17.
