It was a Cinderella story for the Land Rover U.S. Eventing Team at the 2018 FEI Eventing Nations Cup Great Britain. The team comprising of Katherine Coleman and 2018 Karen Stives Endowment Fund Grant recipients Caroline Martin and Hallie Coon clinched the silver medal under the guidance of Chef d’Equipe Leslie Law with a score of 109.1 during the second leg of the 2018 FEI Nations Cup series.
Law, who also serves as the Emerging Athlete Coach for the Karen Stives Endowment Emerging Athletes Tour, was pleased with the team’s performance and focus during each phase of the event.
“They’ve done so well; they were brilliant,” said Law. “All the girls were great and put in solid dressage tests with room for improvement and went from strength to strength in jumping. They rode like a team.”
U.S. chef d’equipe Leslie Law with Hallie Coon, Katherine Coleman and Caroline Martin. Photo by Libby Law.
Competing against a field of 102 entries, and five Nations Cup teams, Coon and Celien, a11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, were the last combination out of the start-box. They produced a double clear round, ending the competition on their dressage score of 34.7, confirming a team podium finish.
“Leslie has been an absolutely amazing coach and has been there every step of the way,” said Coon, who placed 15th overall. “We wanted to do well as a team, and Leslie made it seem we were at home and could really focus on each phase and be competitive.
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“[Celien] went really well this weekend,” she continued. “We’ve been working on our dressage as she’s a bit of an extravagant mover. She was wonderful this weekend.”
Hallie Coon and Celien were the best placed U.S. combination, finishing 15th. Photo by Libby Law Photography.
Martin and Danger Mouse, her 10-year-old Warmblood gelding, executed a professional outing. She added 2 time penalties to their show jumping round and went double clear on cross-country to finish with a score of 35.0. Martin also competed The Apprentice in the CICO*** as an individual, placing 17th with a score of 38.6.
Coleman and Monte Classico, Kalai, LLC’s nine-year-old Deutsches Sportpferd gelding, set the tone for the team as the trailblazers on cross-country. The duo produced a fault-free round in show jumping and added only 3.6 time penalties on cross-country to finish the competition on a score of 39.4.
Germany won the Nations Cup with a score of 99.8 and Ireland placed third with a score of 118.1. Laura Collett and Mr. Bass won the CICO*** on a score of 26.3, Jesse Campbell and Amserdam II were second with a score of 27.6 and Franky Reid-Warrilow with Dooley Whisper were in third with a score of 28.9.
