Kentucky Three-Day Event five-star winners Will Coleman and Diabolo will head up the US squad for the eventing World Championships at Aachen in August.
The US selection pathway for the Aachen 2026 eventing team is more straightforward than some others such as Britain’s – where riders have the pick of multiple events – in that the vast majority of US contenders head to Defender Kentucky for either the five-star or four-star short, so these two classes act as the major spring championship trial.
As such, the US squad includes the five-star winners in Will and Diabolo and runners-up Caroline Pamucku and HSH Blake, plus frequent team rider Phillip Dutton, who was eighth on Possante. Also included are Boyd Martin and Cooley Nutcracker (11th in the five-star) and Kentucky four-star winners Tamie Smith and Lillet 3. The four-star runner Very Dignified is one of two direct reserve mounts for Will.
There are no major surprises in the squad. Selectors obviously decided they could forgive Tamie her fall at Defender Bramham Horse Trials.
Perhaps the only real question mark is the absence of Boyd’s Commando 3 (sixth at Kentucky five-star after very good five-star form in 2025) from either the squad or reserve bench – one has to assume this smart horse is out of contention with some kind of setback. Boyd has a reserve listing for Shanroe Cooley, who was third at Longines Luhmühlen Horse Trials.
The selection of Cooley Nutcracker has a particular emotional pull because he was ridden at Paris 2024 by Liz Halliday, before her life-changing injury in a fall, and is owned by a syndicate called Liz’s Nutcrackers, which includes Liz and her mother, Debby. Liz watched the horse in action at Kentucky in April, her first return to an event since her accident.
Of interest to British fans will be the inclusion on the reserve list of Wiltshire-based Tiana Coudray with her Bramham podium finisher D’Artagnan. Should she be called up, this would be Tiana’s first championship since the 2012 London Olympics.
Fellow reserve Hallie Coon (Kapriccio) is also based in Wiltshire, while Allie Knowles (Montpellier Scais) has been competing in Britain this season as part of the development tour and sealed her reserve listing with results at Bicton Horse Trials and Bramham.
The squad includes three riders from the US’s 2022 world silver medal-winning team (Will, Tamie and Boyd), but no horses – unless Will ends up riding his old favourite Off The Record (seventh individually at the 2022 worlds), who is one of his two direct reserve horses.
It will be decided nearer the time of the World Championships which four riders from the US squad make up the eventing team and which rides as an individual.
US eventing squad for the 2026 World Championships
The full squad, in alphabetical order by athlete surname, is:
Will Coleman with 14-year-old gelding Diabolo
Owner: Diabolo Group
Breeder: Fritz Maschmann
Breeding: by Diarado out of a mare by Aljano 2
Groom: Erin Jarboe
Phillip Dutton with 13-year-old gelding Possante
Owner: The Possante Group
Breeder: De Radstake B.V
Breeding: by Namelus R out of a mare by Otangelo
Groom: Emma Yanek
Boyd Martin with 12-year-old gelding Cooley Nutcracker
Owner: Liz’s Nutcrackers
Breeder: Gary Doherty
Breeding: by BMC Tolan R out of a mare by Cobra
Groom: Stephanie Simpson
Caroline Pamukcu with 11-year-old gelding HSH Blake
Owners: Mollie Hoff, rider’s mother Sherrie Martin, rider and her husband Deniz
Breeder: Justin Burke
Breeding: by BMC Tolan R out of a mare by Kannan
Groom: Chloe Teahan
Tamie Smith with 10-year-old mare Lillet 3
Owners: Molly and Jennifer Duda
Breeder: Morena Petersen
Breeding: SIEC Livello out of a mare by Calidio I
Groom: Savannah Gwin
Direct reserve horses for Will Coleman:
Seventeen-year-old gelding Off The Record
Owner: Off The Record Syndicate
Breeder: Peter G. Brady
Breeding: by VDL Arkansas out of a mare by ARD Ohio
Groom: Erin Jarboe
Eleven-year-old mare Very Dignified
Owners: Jerome Broussard, Gloria Callen and Elizabeth Lendrum
Breeder: Deirdre Bowler
Breeding: by Dignified Van’t Zorgvliet out of a mare by Ricardo Z
Groom: Erin Jarboe
The following combinations have been selected as alternates and are listed in alphabetical order (grooms have not been published for the reserves):
Jennie Brannigan with 16-year-old gelding FE Lifestyle
Owners: Tim and Nina Gardner
Breeder: Danny Arnold
Breeding: by Leo Von Faelz out of a mare by Brandenburger
Hallie Coon with 11-year-old gelding Kapriccio
Owners: rider and Helen Coon
Breeder: E. Van Hal
Breeding: by Dexter R out of mare by Carambo
Tiana Coudray with 12-year-old gelding D’Artagnan
Owners: Kyrle Arscott, Tiana Coudray, and Annabelle James
Breeder: unlisted
Breeding: by Diamant De Semilly out of a mare by Cassini II
Phillip Dutton with 11-year-old gelding Denim
Owners: Ann Jones, Ann Lapides, Caroline Moran, and Neill Sites
Breeder: Bachmann
Breeding: by Dinken out of a mare by Ibisco
Sydney Elliot with 16-year-old gelding QC Diamantaire
Owner: Carol Stephens
Breeder: Berthold Gerdes
Breeding: by Diarado out of a mare by Sandro Hit
Emily Hamel with 19-year-old gelding Corvett
Owner: Black Flag Option, LLC
Breeder: Doris Schimmer
Breeding: by Corrido out of a mare by Clearway
Allie Knowles with nine-year-old Montpellier Scais
Owner: Katherine O’Brien
Breeder: Ben Wentink
Breeding: by Quasimodo Van De Molendreef out of a mare by Indoctro
Boyd Martin with 11-year-old Shanroe Cooley
Owner: Dallas LLC
Breeder: Anthony Smyth
Breeding: by Dallas VDL out of a mare by Condios
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