Military Boekelo’s fall festival CCI4*-L features on the global eventing calendar as the final leg of the FEI Eventing Nations Cup, and team USA historically sends a developing team of horses and/or riders to this despite not participating heavily on the Nations Cup circuit. Boekelo has yielded a fair share of future five-star and Championship horses, and its late-season spot on the calendar lines up as a natural goal for many riders based overseas.
This year’s Defender U.S. roster has just been announced by US Equestrian for the October 1-4 competition in Enschede, Netherlands. The team is made up of:
- Hallie Coon (Ocala, Fla.) and Sirius SB, a 2014 Hanoverian gelding (Scuderia x Contendro I) owned by Katherine Coleman and cared for by Conor Comey
- Jack Curtis (Beverly, Mass.) and Luska Candy Clover, a 2013 Irish Sport Horse gelding (Sligo Candy Boy x White Clover) owned by Betsy Curtis and cared for by Jason Wood
- Allie Knowles (Lexington, Ky.) and Montpellier Scais, a 2017 Anglo European gelding (Quasimodo van de Molendreef x Indoctro) owned by Katherine O’Brien and cared for by Alex Cain
- Allie is also an alternate for this squad with LS Crown Royal, a 2018 Hanoverian gelding (Comte x Escudo 19) owned by Katherine O’Brien and cared for by Alex Cain
- Lauren Nicholson (The Plains, Va.) and Landmark’s Jungle Gold, a 2015 Holsteiner-Irish Sport Horse cross gelding (Diarado x Cougar) owned by Jacqueline Mars and cared for by Sally Roberston
The majority of this team is currently based or stationed overseas; Hallie Coon has been based overseas for the past couple of seasons, Jack Curtis recently begun a stint riding with Tom McEwen in England, US Olympian Lauren Nicholson is traveling over for Boekelo before returning to the U.S. to compete in the US Equestrian Open of Eventing Final with I’ll Have Another the following week, and Allie Knowles is globetrotting her way from competition to competition, shuffling herself back and forth to compete in the UK as well as stateside. Here’s a look at her current rough schedule: most recently, she competed in Blenheim’s 8/9-year-old Championships 4*-S with her Boekelo-named horses and has a horse or two entered at Jump Start in Kentucky this weekend before she’ll hop back over for Boekelo, then do quick scamper back to Virginia to run four horses at Morven Park. Oh, and Allie’s doing this all while balancing motherhood and her full business at home in Kentucky — no biggie.
There will be ample live streaming available to follow along from wherever you are, and EN will be bringing you updates throughout competition week as well, though we won’t have a team on site this year. Use the link list below to follow along October 1-4:
Military Boekelo CCIO4*-L (Netherlands): [Website] [Schedule/Timing] [Live Stream – ClipMyHorse.TV] [Live Stream – FEI YouTube]
