Devin Ryan of Long Valley was chosen for the short list of 10 show jumpers who are vying for spots on the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Tokyo this summer. The group heads for Sopot, Poland and Rotterdam, Holland for Nations Cups and observation competitions before the final team of three and an alternate is named before July 5.
Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue jumping on the gold medal team at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games. (Photo © 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)
Devin and Eddie Blue, a 12-year-old Dutch warmblood he has been riding since the grey gelding was a 4-year-old, won the National Horse Show grand prix last year. They put themselves on the international map in a big way with a second place in the 2018 FEI Longines World Cup finals and were on the gold medal team at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games..
Another rider with New Jersey roots, Jessica Springsteen, was selected with Don Juan van de Donkhoeve, a 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood stallion owned by her family’s Stone Hill Farm in Colts Neck, and RMF Zecilie, a 14-year-old Holsteiner mare.
As expected, those making the list include Kent Farrington of Wellington, Fla., with Austria 2, a 13-year-old Holsteiner mare and his longtime partner Gazelle, a 15-year-old Belgian Warmblood mare. Others who come as no surprise are New Yorker McLain Ward with his 2017 FEI World Cup Finals winning mount, HH Azur, Contagious and Kasper van het Hellehof; and Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, N.Y., with three mounts owned by Abigail Wexner– Breitling LS, Chic Hin D Hyrencourt and Garant. Laura Kraut, another Florida resident who rode on the 2008 Olympic gold medal team with Beezie and McLain, is listed with Confu, Goldwin and Baloutinue.
The list also includes Texan Brian Moggre, who won the Dover Saddlery/USEF Medal Finals as a junior. He was named with Balou du Reventon, and MTM Vivre Le Reve, the mount on which he became the youngest rider ever to win the National Horse Show Grand Prix. Others are Lucy Deslauriers of New York and Hester, Bliss Heers (Las Vegas) and Antidote de Mars, Adrienne Sternlicht of Connecticut with Bennys Legacy; Cristalline, her ride on the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games gold medal team and Just a Gamble.