Lexington, Ky. — US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athletes selected to represent the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team at the RDS Dublin Horse Show CSIO5* hosted in Dublin, Ireland, from Wednesday, August 14, through Sunday August 18, 2024. The team will be led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland and Team Leader Lizzy Chesson.

The following athletes have been selected to represent the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team and are listed in alphabetical order.

◆ Lucy Davis (Brooklyn, N.Y.)
◆ Laura Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.)
◆ Spencer Smith (Wellington, Fla.)
◆ Aaron Vale (Williston, Fla.)
◆ McLain Ward (Brewster, N.Y.)

Competition Information

The RDS Dublin Horse Show will begin on Monday, August 12, and continue with top-level international jumping classes through the week, concluding with the Rolex Grand Prix of Ireland at 3:00 p.m. GMT+1/10:00 a.m. ET on Sunday, August 18. The Jumping Nations Cup of Ireland CSIO5* for the Aga Khan Trophy is set to begin at 3:00 p.m. GMT+1/10:00 a.m. ET on Friday, August 16.

◆ Event Website
◆ Schedule
◆ Start Lists & Results

— Edited Press Release | Source: US Equestrian

Thanks to CareCredit for our 2024 equestrian coverage.

The post US Equestrian Announces NetJets U.S. Jumping Team for Jumping Nations Cup of Ireland CSIO5* appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The 30 riders returning for the 2024 Paris Olympics individual jumping final today faced a really tough track co-designed by Santiago Varela from Spain and Grégory Bodo from France―higher, wider, longer and requiring a faster pace. Only three went double clear in the first round, requiring a jump-off for medals: Germany’s Christian Kukuk on Checker 47; the Netherlands’ Maikel van der Vleuten on Beauville Z, and Switzerland’s Steve Guerdat on Dynamix de Belheme.

When the last fence of the jump-off had been jumped, the medals were set: Kukuk gold, Guerdat silver, and van der Vleuten bronze. The USA’s Laura Kraut was eighth with Baloutinue and Karl Cook was 16th with Caracole de la Roque.

◆ Final Results
◆ First Round Fence-by-Fence Analysis
◆ Jump-Off Fence-by-Fence Analysis

For more coverage, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

For broadcast information, go to NBCOlympics.com. All equestrian coverage is streamed live and available for replays on Peacock.

Thanks to CareCredit for our 2024 equestrian coverage.

The post 2024 Paris Olympics: Show Jumping Individual Final Results appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

In an exciting first day of individual show jumping competition, two of the three U.S. riders qualified to move on to the Paris 2024 Olympics individual jumping finals tomorrow. Seventy-three riders attempted the course co-designed by Santiago Varela from Spain and Grégory Bodo from France today. View the order of go here.

The course included 14 numbered obstacles and 17 jumping efforts. The time allowed was 79 seconds, and the course was 525 meters long with a prescribed speed of 400 meters per minute. Included in the track were a water jump, and one double and one triple combination.

◆ Course Map
◆ Fence Description

Leading the way for the USA, in both the order of go and in the standings, was Karl Cook riding Caracole de la Roque. They entered the ring 11th in the order and blazed around, jumping clear and within the time (76.97).

Entering the arena 35th in the order for the USA was Laura Kraut and Baloutinue, who jumped well, but had an unfortunate rail and rattled a few others. They finished on a quick time (73.22), however, which in the end allowed them to qualify to move on to the final as one of the faster four-fault rounds.

The final rider for the USA and 60th to enter the ring, McLain Ward riding Ilex, jumped a gorgeous round, but had the most unlucky twist of fate when the top rail of the final fence fell. Their time was slower than 12 other four-fault rounds (75.50) so they just missed the cut to compete in tomorrow’s final, finishing in 34th today.

There were 20 clear rounds posted today, including Cook’s and Caracole de la Roque’s. One horse and rider combo accrued only one time fault. Nine riders who had four penalty points qualified, including Kraut. Finishing first in the standings today as the fastest clear round was Julien Epaillard of France with Dubai du Cedre. To see the final results and who else qualified for the individual final, go here.

The top 30 horse and rider combinations move on to the final tomorrow. Riders in tomorrow’s individual jumper final will start again on a zero score, so it really could be anyone’s day.

The individual final and medal ceremony are tomorrow, Tuesday, August 6, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. Central European Time (4:00 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time).

◆ Individual Final Order of Go
◆ Individual Final Course Map
◆ Individual Final Fence Description

For more coverage, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

For broadcast information, go to NBCOlympics.com. All equestrian coverage is streamed live and available for replays on Peacock.

Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.

The post 2024 Paris Olympics: Show Jumping Individual Qualifier appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

The U.S. Jumping Team captured their third consecutive Olympic silver medal today in the Show Jumping Team Final here at the Château de Versailles in France. In addition to Paris 2024, they also won silver in the Tokyo 2020/21 Olympics Games and Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympic Games. Great Britain won gold today with a total of two penalties (their last Olympic jumping team medal was gold in 2012 in London). Home country France took the bronze on a score of seven penalties (their last Olympic show jumping medal was gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro).

About the Course

Co-designed by Santiago Varela from Spain and Grégory Bodo from France, the course today was a bit more technically challenging today according to some of the riders. It was a bit longer in length too, yet the time allowed was the same as yesterday. There were 14 obstacles with 18 jumping efforts, including two doubles (which was one more than yesterday) and one triple combination. Time allowed was 79 seconds, the course length was 310 meters, and the prescribed speed was 400 meters/minute. Fence heights ranged from 0.9 meters to 1.65 meters. There was no water jump today, but there were liverpool jumps (essentially a “pan” of water under or behind a set of standards and rails). Many French landmarks and cultural items were incorporated into the design of the jumps again; there was one jump that looked like the base of the Eiffel Tower and one with standards that looked like the Arc de Triomphe, for instance.

Olympic Show Jumping Team Final Summary

For today’s Team Final, the qualified teams (9 teams, 3 riders each) started this morning with a clean slate. (There were supposed to be 10 teams, but at the very last minute the Mexican team had to withdraw due to a “veterinary issue” for one of their horses, Carlos Hank Guerreiro’s horse Porthos Maestro WH Z, leaving nine teams and 27 riders on the start list). Any jumping or time faults a rider incurred were added to their team’s cumulative score and the lowest score won. The teams competing today were: Belgium; France; Germany; Great Britain; Ireland; Israel; the Netherlands; Sweden, and the USA.

After two riders for each team took their turn around the course and the scores were tallied during a ring grooming break, the final rider from each country jumped the course in reverse order of the standings (so, the top teams’ riders went toward the end in the final group). That put riders from the Netherlands, Ireland, USA, France, Sweden and Great Britain as the final countries to go in the last group.

When others dropped rails, but the USA’s McLain Ward and Ilex and Great Britain’s Scott Brash and Jefferson left them up, the medals were finally decided. Even though Brash and Jefferson had a time fault, they carried Great Britain to a two-point victory. France’s Julien Epaillard and Dubai Du Cedre took one rail down, but no more, so their team had the bronze in front of a very appreciative crowd.

U.S. Team Steps Up

Team members Karl Cook (making his Olympic debut riding Caracole de la Roque), Laura Kraut (four-time Olympian—plus a year as an alternate—riding Baloutinue) and McLain Ward (six-time Olympian riding Ilex) earned their red, white and blue stripes by laying down two days of stellar team jumping rounds. They carried on a long tradition of U.S. show jumpers winning Olympic hardware.

Yesterday, the U.S. team finished on only six faults in the qualifier class, which easily put them into today’s team final. Today, starting on zero again, they only had four penalties to take the silver. Each day, two of the USA’s team riders jumped clear and within time, with the third rider only having one rail down. In the qualifier class yesterday, McLain Ward had one rail and two time faults for the total of six. Today, Laura Kraut and Baloutinue pulled one rail, but finished well within the time allowed.

Yesterday Kraut admitted to being quite nervous before her ride, but today she felt more confident, “Today I’m great. I’m disappointed I had one down, but he performed beautifully. I’m surprised that he had that down, but he kind of looked at it a little bit and I had maybe too much momentum. But other than that, I mean, he didn’t put a foot wrong. He’s the best.”

Cook had been the traveling reserve rider for the U.S. team with Caracole de la Roque, but was called up to compete in the very early hours of yesterday when Kent Farrington’s mare Greya horse showed signs of an allergic reaction (Greya is reported to be doing well now). Cook and Caracole de la Roque stepped up beautifully, producing two double-clear rounds in two days and making it look easy in the process.

The pair had also been members of the U.S. team for the Santiago Pan American Games last fall. At that time, Caracole de la Roque was still a fairly new ride for Cook and he was still figuring out the best way to ride her. They have really gelled since then and he rides her in a hackamore in competition (although he uses a different bridle on her in the warm-up ring, then switches to the hackamore).

Cook talked about the course and his horse after his ride today, “It’s a really tough course out there, as it should be―longer, bigger, wider, more careful, more technical than yesterday. It requires you to ride on the track that suits the stride you have. She’s such an amazing horse [Caracole]. She stuck with me the whole time. I couldn’t be happier. I felt more confident today, starting with a bigger canter and not having that fear that I’m going to have no ride-ability.”

After the USA won silver, Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland reflected on their team’s Olympic performance, “Arguably we came here with the strongest U.S. team in the last three Olympics. We had a strong one in Rio, but this team was stronger and certainly a stronger team than we had in Tokyo. What they pulled off in Tokyo was great.”

“We have three of the greatest riders that have ever ridden for our country on this team, Kent Farrington, Laura Kraut and McLain Ward,” Ridland continued. “And then we brought him, [Karl Cook]. But what that is, is that’s the present and the future. The first thing he [Karl] said when we talked about him travelling was, ‘I’m here to do whatever I need to do to help the other three do whatever is needed for the sport.’ Well, guess what? He did. Because that is, as McLain said, that’s one of the hardest things to do to get a last-minute [call up] two hours before.”

Ridland marveled at the venue and the crowd in the grandstands, “There’s not an empty seat in the house. This is the sport at its best. It was an amazing Games. I hear the President of France was here for the whole event. I mean, it just doesn’t get any better.”

◆ Show Jumping Team Medalists
◆ Full Show Jumping Team Results
◆ Show Jumping Final Course & Fence Description

Dressage Returns Tomorrow

Now the show jumpers will get some well-deserved rest for two days as the dressage horse and rider team pairs return to contest the Grand Prix Special Test to determine the Paris 2024 Olympic team medals. Thirty horses from 10 countries are slated to compete. The competition runs from 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. Central European Time (4:00 a.m. – 9:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time).

◆ Grand Prix Special – Team Final Order of Go
◆ Grand Prix Special – Team Final Start List

For more coverage, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

For broadcast information, go to NBCOlympics.com. All equestrian coverage is streamed live and available for replays on Peacock.

Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.

The post 2024 Paris Olympics: Three Times Olympic Silver for U.S. Jumping Team appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

In an exciting finish to the 2024 Paris Olympics team show jumping final, Great Britain’s riders all jumped clear, but incurred two time penalties to grab the gold ahead of the U.S. team, who captured silver with only four penalties. The home nation, France, finished on seven penalties for bronze.

Laura Kraut and Baloutinue, the lead-off pair for the USA, brought down only one rail and stayed within the time allowed to start the U.S. team out with four faults. The USA’s Karl Cook riding Caracole de la Roque, the middle rider to go for the U.S. team this afternoon, jumped clear and was the fastest (75.88) for the team. Team anchor rider McLain Ward on Ilex jumped clear as well in 76.57 to add no penalties to the team’s score.

This is the USA’s third consecutive Olympic silver medal, with the other two being in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, in 2016 and in Tokyo, Japan, in 2021. Great Britain last won show jumping team gold in London in 2012. The last Olympic team show jumping medal for France was gold in 2016 in Rio de Janeiro.

◆ Show Jumping Team Medalists
◆ Full Show Jumping Team Results
◆ Show Jumping Final Course & Fence Description

For more coverage, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

For broadcast information, go to NBCOlympics.com. All equestrian coverage is streamed live and available for replays on Peacock.

Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.

The post 2024 Paris Olympics: Show Jumping Team Final Results, USA Wins Silver appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Changes were announced to the U.S. Show Jumping Team roster for today’s 2024 Paris Olympics Jumping Team Qualifier Class before the sun came up (at 3:55 a.m.). US Equestrian (USEF) issued a press release saying that, due to a slight allergic reaction, Kent Farrington’s mare Greya would be replaced. They called up the U.S. team’s traveling reserves, Karl Cook (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Caracole de la Roque, a 2012 Selle Français (Zandor Z x Pocahontas d’Amaury) mare owned by Signe Ostby and cared for by Tessa Falanga.

Cook joined team riders Laura Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Baloutinue, a 2010 Hanoverian (Balou du Rouet x Utika) gelding owned by St. Bride’s Farm and cared for by Margo Thomas, and McLain Ward (Brewster, N.Y.) and Ilex, a 2013 KWPN (Baltic VDL x Calendula) gelding owned by Bonne Chance Farm and McLain Ward and cared for by Virginie Casterman.

The Netherlands also made a last-minute change yesterday to their team, substituting in Kim Emmen riding Imagine for Willem Greve who was to have ridden Grandorado TN. Other riders for the Netherlands remained the same, Maikel van der Vleuten riding Beauville Z and Harrie Smolders riding Uricas vd Kattevennen.

Twenty teams of three riders each started today, with representatives from Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, France, Germany, Great Britain, Ireland, Israel, Japan, Mexico, the Netherlands, Poland, Saudi Arabia, Spain, Switzerland, Sweden, United Arab Emirates and the USA.

About the Course

The course, which was run under FEI Table A rules, was co-designed by Santiago Varela from Spain and Grégory Bodo from France. There were 14 numbered obstacles (with one double and one triple combination and a water jump among them) with 17 jumping efforts and a time allowed of 79 seconds (400 meters/minute). It was a pretty course, with elements of French culture mixed into the design. One example was a pink-colored double with French pastries decorating the standards and a wall with artistic graffiti painted on it. Although 1.65 meters is allowed, the fences for today ranged in height between 1.53 and 1.63 meters.

Class Highlights

Jumping fifth in the order and first up for the Swedish team, reigning Olympic Champions Henrik von Eckermann and King Edward gave a master class on just how to jump an Olympic course, chalking up the first clear round of the day. King Edward continues to impress and today jumped in a bridle with no brow band. He’s also known for jumping barefoot, although for this Games he has glue-on shoes. The Swedes are famous now for researching ways to keep their horses comfortable and performing well.

While many found the course quite challenging, there were also a number of clear rounds. All three riders from Germany jumped double clear. There were two clear rounds each for riders from the Netherlands, Sweden and the USA. And, the Belgian, British, French, Irish and Israeli teams all had one rider jump double clear today.

One rider from Brazil’s team, Pedro Veniss who rode Nimrod de Muze, was eliminated in the post-ride check because blood was found on the horse’s flank. While the FEI recognized in their statement that no actual blame was assigned to the rider for this, the rule requires elimination of the competitor. After the elimination of Veniss, Brazil rider Rodrigo Pessoa and his mount Major Tom withdrew from team competition.

U.S. Performances

First up for the USA was Laura Kraut riding Baloutinue, jumping in the 13th spot; they jumped clear and within the time. Kraut talked about emotions, the course designer and her horse, “Well, it’s a relief right now. It was pretty nerve wracking before I went in. It’s never a low-stress event at the Olympic Games. The course is very, very technical and big. Gregory Bodo is a brilliant course builder. I’ve been jumping his courses quite a bit lately. He has a way of sneaking in things that are far more difficult than they appear to be, as he’s done today. So, I’m just very fortunate that I have an absolutely amazing horse [Baloutinue]. He was in the zone; he was on it. He has it all. He’s got personality in the stable. But when you get on him to ride him, he is all about the business. And he’s brave, careful and scopey. That’s kind of what you need when you go to the Olympics.”

Twenty riders later, Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque also jumped clear (no rails down and no time faults). Cook talked about how he prepared to step up for the team today and his horse, “It was very clear, obviously, that I was the alternate, but it also was very clear how late I could be called. We knew that going in and it was important to prepare everything yesterday. I’m just so appreciative for the opportunity. I feel proud that I could do that for Team USA and my other team members. She’s [Caracole de la Roque] committed. She loves this. I would say she’s zero percent stressed and one hundred percent excited.”

The anchor rider for the USA, McLain Ward riding Ilex in the 53rd time slot, put in a smooth round, but had an unlucky rail and two time penalties to finish on 6. Ilex is a new ride for him and the horse is only 11. Ward, a veteran of six Olympic Games, talked about his ride on Ilex after, “I was thrilled. I mean, I knew going in that we had a pretty big margin of error. So, I made a plan to just be a little conservative to make sure there wasn’t a big blow up. It was a very light rub [that took the rail at fence number 8], but not a big deal. I think all the team performed brilliantly. We look very good going into tomorrow.”

The USA finished on a score of 6. They were the second best team in the rankings today, behind Germany who finished in the top spot on zero faults.

Teams Moving On To The Show Jumping Team Final

In addition to the Germany and the USA, other teams qualified are Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands all on 8 faults, Ireland on 9, France with 12, Sweden with 17, and both Israel and Mexico on 20 faults.

Teams will start with a clean slate (on zero faults) in the team finals tomorrow. According to FEI rules, each team also has the right to substitute in a new rider in between today’s qualifier class and up to two hours before tomorrow’s team finals. They have until that time to declare which three horse and rider combinations they will have in the team finals. The only catch to that rule is that whichever three riders they declare for the team finals are the three that have to move forward to the individual competition early next week.

Tomorrow’s Olympic jumping team final runs from 2:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Central European Time (8:00 – 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time). For broadcast information, go to NBCOlympics.com. All equestrian coverage is streamed live and available for replays on Peacock.

◆ Full Qualifier Results
◆ Jumping Team Final Order of Go
◆ Jumping Team Final Start List

For more coverage, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.

The post 2024 Paris Olympics: Jumping Competition Underway with Jumping Team Qualifier appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

With great rides by all three U.S. riders, the U.S. Show Jumping Team here at the 2024 Paris Olympics have qualified to move into tomorrow’s jumping finals on a score of only 6 faults. They were the second best team in the rankings today, behind Germany who finished in the top spot on zero faults.

First up for the USA was Laura Kraut riding Baloutinue, jumping in the 13th spot; they jumped clear and within the time. Twenty riders later, Karl Cook and Caracole de la Roque also jumped clear (no rails down and no time faults). The anchor rider for the USA, McLain Ward riding Ilex, put in a smooth round, but had an unlucky rail and two time penalties to finish on 6 penalties. Thus, the USA finished on a score of 6.

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Other qualified teams are Great Britain, Belgium and the Netherlands all on 8 faults, Ireland on 9, France with 12, Sweden with 17, and both Israel and Mexico on 20 faults. Tomorrow’s Olympic jumping team final runs from 2:00 – 4:00 p.m. Central European Time (8:00 – 10:00 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time).

◆ Full Qualifier Results

For more coverage, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

For broadcast information, go to NBCOlympics.com. All equestrian coverage is streamed live and available for replays on Peacock.

Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.

The post 2024 Paris Olympics: U.S. Show Jumping Team Qualifies for Team Final appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

Tomorrow, Thursday, August 1, is the 2024 Paris Olympics show jumping debut, beginning with the team qualifier. There will be 20 teams of three riders each for a total of 60 competing in the qualifier class. Competition runs from 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. Central European Time (5:00 a.m. – 8:00  a.m. U.S. Eastern Time).

Then, the next day, Friday, August 2, is the jumper team finals and medal ceremony. For the team final, the number is whittled down to 10 teams of three for a total of 30 riders. Competition runs 2:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Central European Time (8:00 a.m. -10:30 a.m. U.S. Eastern Time).

Then the jumpers will take two days off while the dressage horses finish up. Finally, jumping returns to close out the 2024 Paris Olympics equestrian competition with the individual qualifier (75 starters) on Monday, August 5, 2:00 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. CET (8:00 a.m. – Noon U.S. ET) with the individual final (30 riders) and medal ceremony on Tuesday, August 6, from 10:00 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. CET (4:00 a.m. – 6:30 a.m. U.S. ET).

Today, July 31, the jumping horses had their first horse inspection in the morning. All of the U.S. horses passed inspection on the first try, as did most horses presented from other countries. However, there were two jumpers held for re-inspection later in the day, one from France and one from Mexico. They were not accepted for competition upon re-inspection, so those teams will have to call up either a direct reserve horse for the same rider or an alternate horse and rider combination. The horse from France was Viking d’la Rousserie to have been ridden by Kevin Staut. The horse from Mexico was Contendros 2 to have been ridden by Andres Azcarraga.

The U.S. Jumping Team members set to compete are:

◆ Kent Farrington (Wellington, Fla.) and Greya, a 2014 Oldenburg mare (Colestus x Contessa) owned by Kent Farrington LLC, and cared for by Denise Moriarty

◆ Laura Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Baloutinue, a 2010 Hanoverian (Balou du Rouet x Utika) gelding owned by St. Bride’s Farm and cared for by Margo Thomas

◆ McLain Ward (Brewster, N.Y.) and Ilex, a 2013 KWPN (Baltic VDL x Calendula) gelding owned by Bonne Chance Farm and McLain Ward and cared for by Virginie Casterman

◆ Traveling Reserves: Karl Cook (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Caracole de la Roque, a 2012 Selle Français (Zandor Z x Pocahontas d’Amaury) mare owned by Signe Ostby and cared for by Tessa Falanga

The U.S. Olympic Jumping Team will be led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland alongside Team Leader Lizzy Chesson, and supported by Team Veterinarian Heather Sherman, Team Equine Physiotherapist Janus Marquis, Team Human Physiotherapist Jennifer Mitchell, and Team Farrier Chuck Jones.

FEI officials for jumpers include: Co-course designers Santiago Varela (ESP) and Gregory Bodo (FRA); Technical Delegate Guilherme Nogueira Jorge (BRA); Ground Jury President Frances Hesketh-Jones (ITA); Ground Jury Member Patrice Alvado (FRA); Ground Jury Member Harrij Braspenning (NED); Ground Jury Member David Distler (USA); Ground Jury Member Karoly Fugli (HUN); Limb Sensitivity Liaison Judge Manuel Carvalho Martins (POR).

◆ Team Start List
◆ Order of Go

For more coverage, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

For broadcast information, go to NBCOlympics.com. All equestrian coverage is streamed live and available for replays on Peacock.

Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.

The post 2024 Paris Olympics: Show Jumping Begins Tomorrow appeared first on Horse Illustrated Magazine.

LEXINGTON, KY. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the athlete-and-horses combinations selected to represent the U.S. Olympic Jumping Team as a part of Team USA at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games, to be held in Versailles, France, from July 27 – August 9, 2024. The jumping competition will begin on August 1, 2024, and continue through August 6, 2024, at the equestrian grounds of Versailles.

“We are very lucky to have three of the most experienced athletes in the sport riding horses that are in top form heading into the Games. Additionally, we have a strong alternate athlete horse combination in Karl and Caracole who have shown great recent form,” said Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland. “Now that selection is complete, we are 100% laser-focused on Paris.”

The U.S. Olympic Jumping Team will be led by Chef d’Equipe Robert Ridland alongside Team Leader Lizzy Chesson, and supported by team veterinarian Heather Sherman, team equine physiotherapist Janus Marquis, team human physiotherapist Jennifer Mitchell, and team farrier Chuck Jones.

For more news, visit our 2024 Paris Olympics main page.

The following combinations have been selected to the U.S. Olympic Jumping Team and are listed in alphabetical order.

Kent Farrington (Wellington, Fla.) and Greya, a 2014 Oldenburg mare (Colestus x Contessa) owned by Kent Farrington LLC, and cared for by Denise Moriarty

Laura Kraut (Royal Palm Beach, Fla.) and Baloutinue, a 2010 Hanoverian (Balou du Rouet x Utika) gelding owned by St. Bride’s Farm and cared for by Margo Thomas

McLain Ward (Brewster, N.Y.) and Ilex, a 2013 KWPN (Baltic VDL x Calendula) gelding owned by Bonne Chance Farm, Gilberto Sayão da Silva, and McLain Ward cared for by Virginie Casterman

The following combination has been selected as the alternate athlete and horse.

Karl Cook (Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.) and Caracole de la Roque, a 2012 Selle Français (Zandor Z x Pocahontas d’Amaury) mare owned by Signe Ostby and cared for by Tessa Falanga

— Edited Press Release

Thanks to CareCredit for our spring and summer equestrian coverage.

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Stepping out to the rail of the Grand Outdoor Arena, flanked by the towering Equestrian Hotel on one end and grandstands on the other three, everything felt shiny and new at the World Equestrian Center (WEC) last weekend. The Florida sun was shining over the 387-acre facility which was completed in December 2020, but still looked like it might have opened yesterday instead of three years ago.

In addition to the existing hotel, a new hotel called The Riding Academy had opened just as visitors arrived for the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s newest “baby”, the FEI Longines League of Nations show jumping competition. And, the crowds came in throngs to see the WEC host its first really global event.

Ocala League of Nations Recap

On Thursday night of the same week, the $330,000 CSCIO-5* Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix gave the League of Nations nominated riders, and other international stars, a first look at the Grand Outdoor Arena and course designer for the week Alan Wade’s (IRL) tracks in Ocala. While it wasn’t actually part of the League of Nations competition, it was top-level sport and fans packed the stands that night, too.

Swiss riders took the top two spots in the Lugano Grand Prix, with Martin Fuchs and Leone Jei grabbing the win and $108,900 and Steve Geurdat riding Albfuehren’s Iashin Sitte in second. The USA’s Callie Schott finished third with Garant.

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The Ocala League of Nations took place on Saturday, March 23, 2024, during a week of top-level international (CSIO-5*) jumper competition at WEC. Forty horse and rider combinations from ten nations came to battle for national pride on U.S. soil for the second leg of this new Nations Cup-style competition: Belgium, Brazil; France; Germany; Great Britain; Ireland; the Netherlands; Sweden; Switzerland, and the USA.

Riders for the U.S. Team were (in the order in which they jumped) Laura Kraut on St. Bride Farm’s 14-year-old Hanoverian gelding Baloutinue, Aaron Vale on Debbie Smith’s 11-year-old Holsteiner gelding Carissimo 25, Kent Farrington on Haity McNerney’s 11-year-old Zangersheide gelding Landon, and McLain Ward on Beechwood Stable’s 16-year-old Holsteiner mare Callas.

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After all 40 horse and rider combinations had their turn around the technically challenging first-round course, and each team dropped their lowest score, the USA, Ireland and the Netherlands each sat on zero total faults. But, the total accumulated time over the course of the top three riders from each team was used to break the tie, leaving the USA slightly ahead of Ireland (1.12 seconds faster). The Netherland’s team time was the next one in line, 1.79 seconds slower than the USA.

Moving down the list of first-round scores, Belgium, France, Germany, Switzerland, and Brazil followed and qualified to move on to the second round. Unfortunately, Great Britain and Sweden did not have the best day, so they ended up being the two teams who did not jump in round two.

In round two, the Irish Team was not to be denied and they pulled ahead to take the win, adding only five faults (one rail and one time fault). As the awards ceremony began, the skies opened up and rain came down in sheets, but the guys from the Emerald Isle (Darragh Kenny riding Amsterdam 27, Daniel Coyle riding Legacy, Cian O’Connor riding Maurice and Shane Sweetnam riding Otis Blue) didn’t seem to mind a bit as they celebrated on podium.

“I said we wouldn’t [be] the favorites tonight, and it suits us. But, as I said, we always ride better than you think we are,” said Ireland’s Chef d’equipe Michael Blake with a smile in the final press conference.

O’Connor had nothing but praise for the WEC, “It’s one of the great wonders of the world. The facility is fantastic. Sometimes the unsung heroes of our sport are the grooms, and for them, the way they’re looked after… the stables and the level of detail here is second to none. We’re absolutely delighted to be here. A big thanks to Roberts family for building this wonderful facility for us.”

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Switzerland’s riders, including FEI World Rankings number 3 Steve Guerdat on Is-Minka, had an exceptional second round with their three riders adding no faults to their total from the first round. They finished as the runners-up in Ocala.

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With the exception of Kraut and Baloutinue, who jumped clear in both rounds, the other U.S. riders were not as lucky in round two, with Ward taking down one rail with Callas and Farrington two rails with Landon to end the competition on 12 faults and in third place. (Vale did not jump in round two.)

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US Chef d’equipe Robert Ridland commented on his team’s performance after the awards ceremony, “We achieved our objective, which was to be on the podium. Obviously, we’d have rather been where Ireland was, but when you’re dealing with the top 10 teams in the world, third is a valid achievement.”

Check out the complete results from the 2024 FEI Longines League of Nations Ocala.

How the League of Nations Competition Works

The League of Nations is a revamp of sorts of the Nations Cup format (although old-style Nations Cup competitions do also still exist at other shows). In the new Longines League of Nations competition, the top 10 nations from the FEI’s show jumping rankings field four-athlete teams in the first round of competition (with the best three scores from each team from the first round counting toward their score). For the second round, the best eight teams return, this time with three athletes each.

The three returning athletes are selected by each nation’s chef d’equipe. In the second round, they start in reverse order of placing from the first round. The final results are determined by the combined penalties of each team’s three best athlete scores in the first round and all of the team’s three athlete scores in the second round.

The first leg had been hosted by the United Arab Emirates in Abu Dhabi in February, where Germany took the top spot. Two more qualifying legs are planned in St. Gallen, Switzerland, May 30-June 2, and Rotterdam, the Netherlands, June 20-23. The final will be October 3-6 in Barcelona, Spain. For more information on the FEI Longines League of Nations, click here.

All legs of the League of Nations competition may be viewed (both live and on-demand replays) on FEI TV via Clip My Horse (paid subscription required although a free 30-day trial is available). For more information, click here.

View replays of the Ocala competition here.

More About the WEC Venue

The WEC in Ocala is billed as the largest equestrian competition facility in the world. In total, there are 6,000 acres owned by the Roberts family in Ocala, so there is much more space available for future expansion.

Currently there are two main outdoor arenas, a grass outdoor arena, five indoor arenas with spectator seating (and a sixth opening soon), 15 outdoor arenas with more planned, over 20 barns and 3,000 stalls, turnout paddocks, lunging areas, wash racks, tack rooms, a veterinary hospital, feed and bedding suppliers, with polo fields planned for the future.

On the human side, there are the two aforementioned hotels, plus “Home Away From Home” cabins, an RV park, walking trails, a pool and splash pad, a chapel, medical and physical therapy facilities, a spa, dining and shopping. Two multi-use exposition centers are already on the property as well, and a new 80,000-square-foot shopping venue is in the works near the WEC’s main entrance with a projected completion date in 2025. Find more information about the WEC here.

This article about the Ocala Longines League of Nations qualifier is a web exclusive for Horse Illustrated magazine. Click here to subscribe!

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