Eventer Liz Halliday was named the 2024 international equestrian of the year and hunter rider Nick Haness was named the national equestrian of the year on Thursday evening during the Pegasus Award Dinner at the USEF Annual Meeting in Lexington, Kentucky.
Halliday, of Lexington, Kentucky, began riding when she was 8 years old as a member of the U.S. Pony Club. The California native moved to England in 2000 to work for famed eventer William Fox-Pitt and was based in Europe for many years before bringing her operation to the U.S. with locations in Ocala, Florida, and Lexington, Kentucky, in 2020.

Halliday completed her first CCI5*-L in 2016 at the Kentucky Three-Day Event with Deborah Halliday’s HHS Cooley. She has also brought numerous horses to top-10 finishes at the level, including Ocala Horse Properties, LLC’s Deniro Z, The Monster Partnership’s Cooley Quicksilver, and The Nutcracker Syndicate’s Cooley Nutcracker. Halliday has represented the U.S. Eventing Team in several FEI Nations Cup competitions, including the 2022 Bromont CCIO4*-S (Quebec), where she rode Miks Master C to individual victory and led the U.S. team to secure the win.
In 2023, the pair saw success at CHIO Aachen (Germany) with a fifth-placed finish in the CCIO4*-S. They went on to be a part of the silver medal-winning team at the Pan American Games (Chile) later that year.
Halliday continued her consistency in 2024, marking several top results with both Cooley Nutcracker and Miks Master C, with a top-10 finish for Cooley Nutcracker at the Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5* in April, as well as a top-20 finish at CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S with Shanroe Cooley in July, contributing to the U.S. team’s second-place finish. The pair were named as traveling reserves for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker went on to make their Olympic debut, finishing 19th overall in individual competition.
In late 2024, Halliday sustained an injury competing in the USEA American Eventing Championships (Kentucky) and is continuing her rehabilitation from that injury. Her family asked Erin Sudikas, an emergency room nurse at the University of Kentucky who was a volunteer at the American Eventing Championships, to accept Thursday’s award on the rider’s behalf.
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“No matter what discipline you do, it is your community in each discipline, but also as a whole shown by all the breeds and all the people that are here tonight,” Sudikas said in her acceptance speech. “And Liz is really one of the first ones in the professional industry who truly showed me what it means to not only be in a community, but to step forward and be there for people who are also in the community, even if they don’t know you.
“The Liz smile is iconic among the eventing community,” she added. “I got to see Liz about a month ago, that smile is out in full force, and she is there, and she is herself. I’m just so proud of her. I’m proud of all she’s accomplished in her life, but I’m even more proud of her now. And no matter where her career and her life go, I think we can all say the same. We’re so proud of you, Liz.”
Halliday was awarded the William C. Steinkraus Trophy for 2024, which is presented to an equestrian competing in the Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing or show jumping.
Nick Haness Earns National Honors
Since his time as a junior, Haness, of San Clemente, California, has consistently exceeded expectations and established himself as one of the top hunter/jumper riders and trainers in the country.

Haness took the hunter world by storm in 2024. At the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, he earned the green conformation hunter champion, green hunter grand champion and grand hunter champion. In June, he won the 3’0-3’3” Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Champion riding Custom Romance, owned by Romance Sport Horses, at the Traverse City Horse Shows Spring II (Michigan). Through his successes he was invited to compete as one of the top 10 nationally ranked riders at the World Championship Hunter Rider series, winning a historic triple crown by topping the USHJA WCHR Central Hunter Spectacular (Michigan); USHJA WCHR West Coast Hunter Spectacular (California); and USHJA WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular (Florida).
Haness owns and trains at Hunterbrook Farms, where he not only houses his own and client’s horses but other exotic animals. Hunterbrook is home to camels, zebras, pigs, goats, and rescue miniature horses. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Pennsylvania National Horse Show as well as the USHJA Hunter Working Group.
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This will be Haness’ second time receiving the National Equestrian of the Year award, having won previously in 2019.
“I’m just incredibly honored and humbled to receive this award,” he said. “Being here tonight has been incredibly inspiring to me, to listen to the stories, to hear these amazing things that horses do for us and bring into our lives. I just cherish being a part of this equestrian community so much; it makes up our lives and our livelihoods, but it’s really all about the horses.”
Haness received the Emerson Burr Trophy, an award presented to an equestrian competing with any horse or pony breed shown in over-fences hunter classes.
USEF Gives Inaugural ‘Heart Horse Award’
The USEF Heart Horse Award was developed to bring recognition to the work horses are doing in the organizations that are a part of the USEF Community Outreach Program. These organizations share in USEF’s goals of increasing access to horses, horse sports, and equine-based learning opportunities.
Kilcarna French Fancy, a 17-year-old Irish Sport Horse from Great Oak Equine Assisted Therapies program in Aiken, South Carolina, was named the first recipient of the award. To read about “Arnie” and his impact on his community, click here.
2024 USEF Equestrians Of Honor
These 11 equestrians were named Equestrians of Honor and recognized for their achievements in 2024 with the following trophies:
- Norman K. Dunn Trophy: Lynn Peeples (Morgan) and Andrew Sellman (Arabian)
- C.J. “June” Cronan Trophy: Ashton Kiesner (Arabian)
- Barbara Worth Oakford Trophy: Colby Powell (Arabian)
- Bill Robinson Trophy: James Taylor (Morgan)
- Vaughan Smith Trophy: Kristin McKillop (Arabian)
- Emerson Burr Trophy: Nick Haness (Hunter/jumper)
- William C. Steinkraus Trophy: Karl Cook (jumping) and Liz Halliday (eventing)
- Becky Grand Hart Trophy: Rebecca Hart (para-dressage) and Fiona Howard (para-dressage)