Decorated Junior Rider Begins Professional Career Working under Shane Sweetnam

For Immediate Release — June 19, 2020 — Rising young professional Tanner Korotkin (USA) has joined the staff at Sweet Oak Farm, working under Shane Sweetnam (IRL) this summer in events at Tryon, North Carolina, USA; Lexington, Kentucky, USA, and Traverse City, Michigan, USA.

A highly decorated junior rider while riding for his family’s Castlewood Farm, as well as Missy Clark and John Brennan’s North Run operation, Korotkin earned the prestigious Junior Jumper Championship at the 2019 Devon Horse Show and concluded his junior career with ribbons at the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals — East, the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund WIHS Equitation Final, and the ASPCA Maclay National Championship. Taking up professional status in December, he joins Sweet Oak Farm with his two international mounts, Country Boy and Deauville S.

“I’m beyond excited for this opportunity, to the point where it’s hard to explain,” said Korotkin, 18. “I have my own big dreams, like most riders, and to have the opportunity to learn from Shane, one of the best riders on the Irish squad, is a huge opportunity that most don’t get. There are countless things that I know I’ll learn, both on and off of a horse, and I’m ready for every bit of it.”

Tanner Korotkin and Deauville S jumped to a top-10 finish in the $75,000 Grand Prix at Tryon Spring, the first U.S. competition of their partnership. Photo: © Angela Vogel

Korotkin has gotten off to a strong start with his new team, riding Castlewood Farm’s Deauville S to a top 10 finish in the $75,000 Grand Prix at Tryon Spring, the pair’s first competition stateside after debuting this winter on the Sunshine Tour in Spain. Korotkin also got back in the ring aboard Sandalwood Farm’s Country Boy, another new partnership that debuted in February at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, FL, and logged rounds aboard Sweet Oak Farm’s Indiana Twin and 8-year-old FLB Lux Inclusive.

“Tanner has been with us two weeks now, and he fit right in straight away,” said Sweetnam, a veteran of the 2018 World Equestrian Games and a member of the Irish squad that took top honors at the 2017 European Championships in Rotterdam, The Netherlands. “He’s working very hard and has already put in some good rounds. He comes with a good education from his parents at Castlewood and also with Missy and John. I think it’s going to be another step in the learning process for his career.

“He’s a talented rider and can be a real plus to the team here at Sweet Oak Farm,” he added.

Korotkin and Sweetnam continue their summer tour at Split Rock Jumping Tour’s Lexington International CSI 2*, the Great Lakes Equestrian Festival in Traverse City, and Kentucky Summer Horse Shows.

“So far, everything’s going great,” Korotkin said. “Deauville S and Country Boy both jumped absolutely incredible their first show back post-quarantine. I have already learned so much from Shane, and I am getting the opportunity to ride great horses. I definitely think it has been helping me in the show ring.”

About Tanner Korotkin

U.S. show jumper Tanner Korotkin sets out professionally in the sport following a most decorated junior career that included the 2019 Junior Jumper Championship at the Devon Horse Show; ribbons at the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals — East, the Lindsay Maxwell Charitable Fund WIHS Equitation Final, and the ASPCA Maclay National Championship; and a runner-up finish in the 2019 Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jr/AO Grand Prix at the National Horse Show, among other accolades.

A product of his family’s Castlewood Farm, along with Missy Clark and John Brennan’s North Run, Korotkin was a part of the winning U.S. junior squad in team competition at the 2019 Palm Beach Masters. He made his FEI debut just before his 16th birthday and finished among the top 10 in his first CSI3* grand prix in 2019. Now working under top Irish rider Shane Sweetnam at Sweet Oak Farm, Korotkin is unquestionably one of U.S. show jumping’s brightest young stars.

Source: Press release by Catie Staszak Media

Photos: © Angela Vogel