The United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation has awarded the Jacqueline B. Mars National Competition & Training Grant to Liz Halliday-Sharp, and her mount, Cooley Quicksilver (Womanizer x Kylemore Crystal), a 9-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding owned by The Monster Partnership.
As the recipient of the grant, Halliday-Sharp, who is an athlete on US Equestrian’s Eventing High Performance Pre-Elite Training List, will receive $10,000 to support her trip from Lexington, Kentucky, to Temecula, California, to compete in the CCI4*-L at the Galway Downs International Three-Day Event on October 28-31, 2020.
“It’s very, very exciting, and it makes a big difference to the owners as well—we’ve got to support the good owners in the sport as much as we can,” said Halliday-Sharp of receiving the grant. “We’re very grateful to the [USET] Foundation. It’s an expensive sport, and you don’t get a lot of prize money. [This] really makes it all possible."
“I think next year, we’ll start to think about five-star competition for [Cooley Quicksilver],” Halliday-Sharp continued. “I very much hope he’ll be considered for the Olympic Games, and that’s part of our reasoning for going to Galway."
Each year, the Jacqueline B. Mars Grant is awarded to eventing riders who have been identified and recommended by the USEF Eventing Selectors, with an impressive record and the potential to represent the United States in future international competition. Halliday-Sharp, who has not yet represented the U.S. at an Olympic Games or international championship, received this select distinction following a strong performance as part of the 2019 FEI Eventing Nations Cup Team at the Military Boekelo CCIO4*-L in Enschede, the Netherlands. According to Erik Duvander, US Equestrian’s Performance Director for Eventing, it will be important for Cooley Quicksilver and Halliday-Sharp to receive the opportunity to produce a competitive performance, as the pair trend toward joining the Elite list.
Thanks to the Jacqueline B. Mars Grant, Halliday-Sharp and Cooley Quicksilver can continue their training with the goal of representing the United States in future international competitions.
Until this past May, qualifying for the USEA American Eventing Championships presented by Nutrena Feeds let alone actually making plans to compete, seemed like a far-off dream. Going into this show season the AEC was a goal I had set in the back of my mind but maybe only said out loud a few times.
The Millbrook Horse Trials kicked off on July 25 with lower level dressage at Riga Meadow Equestrian Center at Coole Park in Millbrook, New York. There are more than 400 total entries competing at Millbrook, from Beginner Novice to Advanced level. Today the upper level horses cantered down the centerline, while the lower levels headed out on cross-country.
The United States Eventing Association, Inc. (USEA) is thrilled to announce Adams Horse Supply as the new title sponsor of the USEA Adult Team Championships (ATC) at the American Eventing Championships (AEC). The ATC will now be titled “The Adams Horse Supply USEA Adult Team Championships at the AEC.”
The world’s best eventing horses and riders will be first out of the starting blocks when the equestrian action gets underway at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games in Versailles, France, tomorrow morning with the opening dressage test.