United States Eventing Association

Diabolo Checks All the Boxes With Will Coleman at $40,000 Brooke USA CCI4*-S at Plantation Field

Unionville, Pa.—Sept. 22—While he might have flown under the radar a bit for the first year he was in Will Coleman’s barn, Diabolo is having his breakout year in 2024.

The Diabolo Group’s 12-year-old Holsteiner gelding (Diarado x Roulett M) won the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S in Kentucky this spring, then was chosen as Coleman’s alternate mount for the Paris Olympic Games. While he didn’t get a chance to compete on the team, he picked up a big win in August at the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds in Lexington in the $60,000 Adequan USEA Advanced Final.

This weekend, he was in top form again, leading the $40,000 Brooke USA CCI4*-S at Plantation Field from start to finish as he prepares for his five-star debut at the MARS Maryland 5 Star in October.

“I was really pleased with him,” said Coleman after today’s cross-country finale. “I actually had a hard time getting him in the box—he was so revved up on the other side of the hill [at the start box], and he could sense what was going on. He loves his job. Once he gets out there, he settles very quickly, and he’s a lovely horse.”

Coleman came to Plantation Field to use its rolling terrain as a fitness run before Maryland. Derek di Grazia’s course caused a few issues scattered throughout (Jennie Brannigan fell from Pascal but went on to ride her second horse, and Maddie Hale and Cinzano 87 had a mandatory retirement, but both were up and walking), and no one made the optimum time of 6 minutes 37 seconds.

Coleman had about 10 points in hand by the time he headed out last on course, and he added 3.6 time penalties.

“He jumped around today very well,” he said. “I was not really pressing him for time, but he was full of running all the way until the end. This will be his first five-star, and it’s a tough one, so I’m very aware that as easy as he’s making some of these horse trials feel, it will be a different story at Maryland, but hopefully we can help each other and put in a good performance. Any time you take a horse to their first five-star you’re always a little unsure about how they’re going to cope, but I feel like he’s as ready as we can make him, and he’s such a quality horse. I just want to give him as good a ride as I can.”

Coleman said his partnership with “Dab” is still evolving, but it feels very solid this season.

“There’s still some things we can improve upon in all three phases, but particularly the dressage and the jumping. I still don’t think he’s the finished article by any stretch, so we’ve got to just keep working,” he said. “The biggest thing about him as a horse is just how much he wants to do it for you. He’s such a genuine animal, and that is a wonderful quality if you can channel it in the right way. I think we’re doing that; we’ve just got to keep doing it until we get as far as we can go.”

Last year’s CCI4*-S winner Ariel Grald brought a younger Advanced horse, Annie Eldridge’s Isla De Coco, out this time around to get some experience on the hills, and they finished in second.

The 10-year-old Holsteiner mare (Cascadello x U-Lotti) is preparing for her first CCI4*-L at Morven Park (Leesburg, Virginia) in a few weeks.

“I think it’s an important event in the calendar,” she said. “The horses have been going all season, and we’re ramping up for our final longs of the year. It ticks all the boxes with atmosphere and good courses. [Morven] will be her first four-long, and she’s not the most blood, so I wanted to come here and make her run up and down the hills. Derek set a great track—it asked really good questions, and the horses were able to read it really well. I was really proud of her. She’s new to the level, so this was the first time I’ve sort of put the pedal down to see what we’ve got before we go to Morven in a few weeks.”

Grald has been bringing “Coco” along since she was 5. She laughed as she recalled being eliminated at a ditch in their first event together.

“She’s come a long way,” she said. “She’s always been an amazing jumper—probably should have been a show jumper—but earlier in her career I just wasn’t sure how much she liked the cross-country. She’d go jump, but now at Advanced and four-star, she’s like, ‘Finally! Something interesting,’ and she has really taken it on.”

Irish rider Michael Nolan has been making a name for himself at the top level this season on Balou Sport Horses’ Carrabeg Hulla Balou, a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding (Balou Du Rouet x Vella Flavour). The pair have earned several top-10 placings in Advanced horse trials this season, and this was the gelding’s first four-star. They finished in third.

While Nolan has been a less familiar name in the top international rankings, he says he’s not intimidated to find himself in the company of Olympic riders like Coleman or Boyd Martin.

“I’ve known all those guys for quite some time, and they’ve always been kind to me since I’ve been here. I wouldn’t say it’s a whole lot different than any other weekend—I’m just getting better scores now!” he said with a laugh.

He was thrilled with his weekend on “Louie.”

“His dressage is getting more consistent, and he’s been a good jumper most of his career. It was just how fast we can go and keep the cross-country good because I need the qualification to go four-long,” he said.

Nolan has worked for Robin Walker in Michigan for 10 years. He’s ridden to the Advanced level on other horses, but has yet to do a CCI4*-L. He’s hoping Louie will be the one to take him there. He’s brought him along since Walker got him as a 3-year-old. If he gets his final CCI4*-S qualification at Morven, Nolan hopes to do the CCI4*-L at TerraNova (Myakka City, Florida) in November.

“It seems like he has all the right tools [for five-star,]” he added.

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