United States Eventing Association

Hallie Coon and Will Coleman Stay on Top After Show Jumping at The Event at TerraNova

Myakka City, Fla.—March 29—Overnight leader Hallie Coon kept her cool riding Cute Girl to jump clear and in the time allowed in the B&D Builders CCI4*-S show jumping today at The Event at TerraNova in Myakka City, Florida. The 11-year-old Holsteiner mare owned by Coon popped around the course handily to maintain their lead on their dressage score of 28.5 heading into the final cross-country phase tomorrow.

“I thought the show jumping course was tough enough,” said Coon. “It was a lot of atmosphere, and with all the flags and the windy day it’s a lot for them–so I think they got in there, and they lit up a bit. That’s where we saw a few poles get rolled. With the VIP area it was a really lovely atmosphere, and it was a good preparation for some of the bigger events coming up. Cute Girl was great today, she just pinged around. I couldn’t be more pleased with her.”

Having walked the cross-country course by now, she said: “the cross-country looks big and bold, and it’s going to require a lot of forward riding. It’s early season, and there’s a lot to do, but it’s a great setup for horses going to Kentucky and onwards. I’m excited to tackle it.”

Coon, 29, of Brunswick, Maine, has spent the past couple of years training in England with Richard Waygood and Olivia Oakley, supported by the Karen Stives Endowment Fund grant from the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation. She has competed extensively throughout Europe, including events at Le Lion d’Angers, France, and Aachen, Germany. At the end of 2024 Coon competed as a member of the U.S. Eventing Team at the FEI Eventing Nations Cup in Boekelo, the Netherlands, where the team finished in second place, and Coon and Cute Girl placed third individually.

Phillip Dutton maintained his second place standing with Caroline Moran’s Quasi Cool (33.7), in spite of 0.8 time faults. A double-clear round with Denim (33.9), owned by Anne Jones, Ann Lapides, Caroline Moran and Neill Sites and secured the third place standing when Carolina Pamucku and Redfield Dexter had the first rail of the triple combination down and added .4 time penalties. Dutton is also placed fourth on Jewelent (34.1) and eighth on Possante (38.2).

Hannah Sue Hollberg on Christa Schmidt’s Irish Sport Horse gelding Carsontown moved up from ninth to fifth place on a double-clear, followed by Lynn Symansky and Bounce 6, who moved up from eighth to sixth place. Jessica Phoenix is the top-placed Canadian rider in ninth place riding Freedom GS, owned by Charlotte Schickedanz, on a score of 38.7.

Twenty horses will start cross-country tomorrow in the B&D Builders CCI4*-S, starting at 12:17 p.m., with Phillip Dutton and Possante first out of the start box.

In The Estates at TerraNova and Laughlin Tanner Group at Premier Sotheby's International Realty CCI3*-S, William Coleman and Chin Tonic HS, a 13-year-old bay Holsteiner gelding owned by Hyperion Stud, laid down a faultless round to maintain their overnight lead with an impressive 19.0 penalties. Chin Tonic had time off last year with a badly-timed minor injury that kept him off of the Olympic team; now Coleman is prepping the gelding for the Cosequin Lexington CCI4*-S in April, with the long-term goal of setting him up for selection to next year’s FEI World Eventing Championships in Aachen, Germany.

At TerraNova this morning, two rails and 3.2 time faults dropped Kelsey Seidel and Chico’s Man VDF Z from second to 20th place and Mya Poulos and Cock A Doodle Doo dropped from third place to a tie for 12th with 7.2 time faults.

Their misfortune was good luck for a couple of Irish-bred horses, opening the door for Leslie Law and the Oldenburg gelding Must Be Cooley, owned by Madeline Hartstock (31.2) to move up from fourth to second place and Jonathan Holling and Fernhill Esmeralda, an Irish Sport Horse mare owned by Team Charles McGrath and Team Rebecca (32.0) to move up from sixth to third. Caroline Pamucku and HSH Talbots Hill, owned by Sherrie Martin and Gayle Davis (32.9) round out the top four.

“Chin jumped super today,” said Coleman. “He’s really been very relaxed all weekend, and I thought we were very lucky to have Bernardo Cabral designing the course for us; he’s one of the top show jumping designers in the world, and having him here at TerraNova this weekend has been fabulous for everybody competing. He set a great track, and Chin handled it well. He’s an experienced horse, and he’s just doing the three-star here, so the height wasn’t necessarily what he’s accustomed to, but it was still a technical course, and for what we want out of this weekend, it was brilliant.”

Coleman also piloted a couple of horses around the Preliminary level cross-country today and said, “I walked around, and I think Alec [Lochore] has done a nice job with the tracks for the three and four-star courses. It should be a nice preparation for Kentucky. My other horses were great, I had nice rides on the Preliminary horses and just rode a very, very green young horse around the novice and was happy with him, too. It’s been a nice day for us.”

Competition began on March 28 and continues through March 30, featuring competition from Starter through the CCI4*-S level. Spectators are invited to attend with free daily admission, on-site food trucks, and children's activities such as Mini Horsemanship Camp on both Saturday and Sunday!

Sunday
Competition begins at 8:30am

• Feature event: FEI Cross-Country & National Show Jumping
• Special activities:
  • Non-denominational service (7:30 a.m.) on the back patio of the show office
  • Mini Horsemanship Camp (10 a.m. & 1 p.m.)
• Hospitality: Family Breakfast in the Pavilion (8:30 a.m. - 12 p.m.), purchase tickets at the door: $30/adults and $15/children
• Open on-site: food trucks, Tiny Town, boutique vendors, open viewing tent on the cross-country course (open to all)

Volunteers are still needed for Sunday! If you have an interest in becoming a volunteer, please click here to inquire. For every volunteer hour worked, $20 will be donated to Easterseals SWFL. No previous horse experience is required. We have roles for all levels, interests, and abilities!

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