{"id":21472,"date":"2026-02-28T15:12:17","date_gmt":"2026-02-28T13:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/uncategorized\/maatta-and-pajunen-win-the-pohjola-road-to-helsinki-2026-kender-takes-the-lead-in-the-bronze-series\/"},"modified":"2026-09-10T11:58:39","modified_gmt":"2026-09-10T08:58:39","slug":"maatta-and-pajunen-win-the-pohjola-road-to-helsinki-2026-kender-takes-the-lead-in-the-bronze-series","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/home-page-campaign\/maatta-and-pajunen-win-the-pohjola-road-to-helsinki-2026-kender-takes-the-lead-in-the-bronze-series\/","title":{"rendered":"M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 and Pajunen Win the Pohjola Road to Helsinki 2026; Kender Takes the Lead in the Bronze Series"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The overall competition for the Pohjola Small Road to Helsinki<\/strong> final was decided at the Helsinki Horse Show\u2019s national Kultajousi Arena, with Salla M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 and Celabelle<\/strong> taking the win, as well as the Pohjola Road to Helsinki Finnish Horse overall competition<\/strong>, which was won by Paula Pajunen riding the mare Rinna L\u00e5gland<\/strong>. Kullo Kender on Agilero<\/strong> won the second final class of the Pohjola Bronze Road to Helsinki<\/strong>. The winner of the Bronze overall competition will be decided on Sunday. <\/p>\n\n

\"Salla
Salla M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 and Celabelle, photo by Hanna Heinonen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

In the Pohjola Small Road to Helsinki overall competition, held at the 115 cm level, there was a tight battle for points among the top three riders. Salla M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4, from M\u00e4nts\u00e4l\u00e4\u2014who won Friday\u2019s class and placed second in Saturday\u2019s class\u2014ultimately took the overall victory with Celabelle, ahead of Saturday\u2019s final class winner, Doris Axelson <\/strong>, a 12-year-old from Kirkkonummi, and Honfleur. <\/strong> Janni Rinne<\/strong> from Lahti, riding Stuart Little,<\/strong> placed third <\/strong>in the overall competition .<\/strong> <\/p>\n\n

M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4, who won the overall competition, was pleased with the revamped indoor season and also considered it an excellent start to the competitive season with an eye toward the outdoor season. He plans to celebrate his victory with good food and a few drinks. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt feels really great\u2014I wasn\u2019t expecting this [win] at all! I\u2019m definitely going to treat both my horse and my supporters to plenty of treats now!\u201d <\/p>\n\n

The overall winner of the Finnish Horse Pohjola Road to Helsinki competition was Paula Pajunen<\/strong> from Porvoo, riding the mare Ringa L\u00e5gland<\/strong> (Ramses L\u00e5gland \u2013 Vokkerilla) Second place in the overall competition went to Emma Kivim\u00e4ki<\/strong> from Vantaa on P\u00e4\u00e4llikk\u00f6<\/strong> (Musta Magia \u2013 Kihis), and third place went to Venla Vastamaa<\/strong> from Vesilahti, who won Friday\u2019s class, riding Mattilan Toivo<\/strong> (Liising \u2013 Viesker). Pajunen, who won the overall competition, also won Saturday\u2019s final class. <\/p>\n\n

\"Paula
Paula Pajunen and Rinna L\u00e5gland, photo by Hanna Heinonen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cIt\u2019s absolutely amazing! This was my first time riding at the Helsinki Horse Show. I\u2019ve been coming here as a spectator since I was little, and now that I\u2019ve finally gotten to compete, it really feels like a dream come true\u2014and the fact that I was able to pull this off makes it even better,\u201d Pajunen said excitedly. Riding Rinna L\u00e5gland, Pajunen was the only rider in Saturday\u2019s final to complete a double-clear round. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cIt seemed like everyone was struggling today; we weren\u2019t quite at our best either, but we fought together, and that was the key to our success today.\u201d<\/p>\n\n

The second final class of the Pohjola Small Road to Helsinki, held at the 125 cm level, was won by Estonian rider Kullo Kender riding Agilero. The Estonian rider, who is well known to Finns and has been active in the Lemp\u00e4\u00e4l\u00e4 area for a long time, is preparing his horses in Helsinki for the 2026 competition season. <\/p>\n\n

\"Kullo
Kullo Kender and Agilero, photo by Hanna Heinonen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n

\u201cAgilerolla doesn\u2019t have much experience on big stages, so I came to Helsinki primarily to give him some good experience in competitions at this level. Today we had a clean run with a fast time; let\u2019s see what we can do with that tomorrow,\u201d Kender says. <\/p>\n\n

\u201cMy own horses are currently in Tallinn, but I still go to Lemp\u00e4\u00e4l\u00e4 to train once a month. I enjoy competing in Finland, so I think that if a suitable race comes up during the outdoor season, I\u2019ll come here to compete.\u201d <\/p>\n\n

Second place in the Bronze class went to Annika Gr\u00f6nroos, 13,<\/strong> from Hangonkyl\u00e4 , riding Gigant<\/strong>, and third place went to Ella Nuuttila, 18,<\/strong> from Hyvink\u00e4\u00e4, riding Nolan<\/strong>. The overall winner of the Bronze series will be determined on Sunday. <\/p>\n\n

There are a total of three final classes in the Bronze and Small divisions of the Pohjola Road to Helsinki, and two for Finnish horses. The combined results of the final classes determine the ranking of the riders and horses in the overall Pohjola Road to Helsinki competition. You can follow the competition, both nationally and internationally, via the ClipMyHorse.TV broadcast. <\/p>\n\n

28.2. National Show Jumping Results, Helsinki International Horse Show, Messukeskus<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

Pohjola Small Road to Helsinki 2026, Overall Results<\/strong>1) Salla M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 \/ Celabelle, Ruohoj\u00e4rven Kartanon Ratsastajat ry2) Doris Axelson \/ Honfleur, Vittr\u00e4skin Ratsastajat ry3) Janni Rinne \/ Stuart Little, Ruohoj\u00e4rven Kartanon Ratsastajat ry<\/p>\n\n

Pohjola Small Road to Helsinki 3, 115 cm, time trial. Started 17th, finished 5th. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1) Doris Axelson \/ Honfleur, Vittr\u00e4skin Ratsastajat ry 0\/46.092) Salla M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 \/ Celabelle, Ruohoj\u00e4rven Kartanon Ratsastajat ry 0\/46.833) Betty Yliluoma \/ Duff’s Orders, Riding Club Solbacka ry 0\/48.58<\/p>\n\n

Pohjola Finnish Horses Road to Helsinki 2026, Overall Results<\/strong>1) Paula Pajunen \/ Rinna L\u00e5gland, Porvoon Mustang \u2013 Borg\u00e5 Mustang ry2) Emma Kivim\u00e4ki \/ P\u00e4\u00e4llikk\u00f6, Ratsastusseura KiVa ry3) Venla Vastamaa \/ Toivo Mattila, Vesilahti Region Riders Association<\/p>\n\n

Pohjola Finnish Horses Road to Helsinki 2, presented by Hankkija: 100 cm, basic course and jump-off. Started 10th, finished 3rd. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1) Paula Pajunen \/ Rinna L\u00e5gland, Porvoon Mustang \u2013 Borg\u00e5 Mustang ry 0-0\/27.852) Maija Nieminen \/ Suojari, Tallitiimi ry 4\/46.083) Emma Kivim\u00e4ki \/ P\u00e4\u00e4llikk\u00f6, KiVa Riding Club 4\/46.27<\/p>\n\n

Pohjola Bronze Road to Helsinki 2, 125 cm, basic course and re-run. Started 14th, finished 4th. <\/strong><\/p>\n\n

1) Kullo Kender \/ Agilero, Estonia 0-0\/30.632) Annika Gr\u00f6nroos \/ Gigant, Hankoniemen Ratsastajat ry 0-0\/30.893) Ella Sisko Nuuttila \/ Nolan, Hattel Riders ry 0-0\/31.95<\/p>\n\n

Full results: LINK<\/a>Series competition rules: LINK<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The overall competition for the Pohjola Small Road to Helsinki final was decided at the Helsinki Horse Show\u2019s national Kultajousi Arena, with Salla M\u00e4\u00e4tt\u00e4 and Celabelle taking the win, as well as the Pohjola Road to Helsinki Finnish Horse overall competition, which was won by Paula Pajunen riding the mare Rinna L\u00e5gland. Kullo Kender on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":8,"featured_media":18110,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[96,97,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-21472","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-home-page-campaign","category-new-article","category-news-2"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21472","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/8"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21472"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21472\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21477,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21472\/revisions\/21477"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/18110"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21472"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21472"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/helsinkihorseshow.fi\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21472"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}