When McLain Ward was making his entrance into the arena for the second round of the Longines League of Nations Saturday night, the crowd welcomed him with a booming roar of appreciation. But they might as well have been silent; McLain didn’t hear them.
The anchor rider for the U.S. team was tasked with having to produce a clear round on the plucky Ilex, a Dutchbred gelding who likes to buck after the first jump. (Mclain attributes that to a bit of competition nerves.)
Nothing but perfection would do, since the German squad was a mere one penalty behind the Americans at that point. If McLain had a single time fault; there would be a jump-off. Should he topple a rail, Germany would be on the podium. So the noise didn’t register.
“In the moment of competition, you try to block it out and honestly, if I’m focused, I don’t hear much of anything,” he explained about his reaction to the clamor from the stands at the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, Fla.
But after turning in the clean round that brought victory to the U.S., he then welcomed the recognition from fans for what he had done as he raised his right arm in triumph.
McLain Ward celebrates the clean round that brought the U.S. victory. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
“You appreciate the crowds and support and you try your best not to disappoint and give them an inspirational performance. It’s always nice to jump a clear, it went right down to the wire, it was great sport,” he said.
The U.S. team on the podium: McLain Ward, Laura Kraut, Lillie Keenan and Aaron Vale. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
His trip followed a fault-free effort by Germany’s Sophie Hinners on Iron Dames Signclair.
“She’s a very good friend of mine, so I knew she was going to deliver a good round,” McLain said.
“So it was game on and that’s what you live for.”
McLain Ward can always be counted on as the anchor rider for the U.S. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
It was a friendly rivalry. McLain and his family vacation with Sophie and her boyfriend, Richie Vogel, who was also on the German team but had 16 faults in the first round and didn’t ride the second round.
Mclain was out for a month this season with a back injury following a fall, and Ilex then had a “hiccup” that kept him out of the ring for a week, so it was nice to see them both back in such good form. Now that he’s back in action, McLain will be debuting his newest ride, Imperial HBF, in national classes to get acquainted before moving him up to international classes. The horse previously was ridden by British team member Tim Gredley.
The League format includes 10 squads of four, but only the top eight countries come back for another go over the same course, in this case, a route designed by Alan Wade and his team. While in the first round each country has a drop score, that’s not the case in the second round, where only three riders are allowed to come back for each nation and every score counts.
“I love the format the League of Nations has, specifically for the excitement,” said U.S. coach Robert Ridland.
“Of course, it’s always nice to be on the right end of the excitement. But how things can so change in that second round! We had a veteran team here, these are horses that have done it before. There was a reason why that we picked the team here, it’s our home Nations’ Cup (actually League of Nations is different from Nations Cup) and we had some incredible competition that we had to beat.”
Team member Aaron Vale, who is from the Ocala area and a WEC regular, said, “it’s really special when you get an opportunity to jump against the world’s best in your backyard.” He had a rail in the first round with Carissimo, which was the U.S. drop score, and he did not ride in the second round.
Laura Kraut was aboard her 2023 Pan American Games team gold medal mount, Dorado 212, an Oldenburg who was out for a year with an injury.
“So I’m extra proud of him for the performance he put in tonight. His first round was impeccable and the second round I was really worried about my time, because I was only 0.25 under (the time allowed),” she said.
“I thought the place to make it up was to the wall and clearly that was a bad idea,” she said with a smile, referring to knocking off a block there for a 4-fault penalty.
She apologized for putting extra pressure on McLain, who was clearly capable of handling it.
There were only four double-clears in the class; McLain and Lillie Keenan with Argan de Beliard for the U.S. along with Sophie and another German, Olympic individual gold medalist Christian Kukuk (the winner of Thursday’s grand prix) on Please Be Gentle.
Germany’s Sophie Hinners’ second clear round on Iron Dames Singclair posed a challenge for the USA’s McLain Ward. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
Lillie trains with McLain and said he selected her mount, a 15-year-old Selle Francais by Mylord Cathargo, but she wasn’t impressed at first.
“I didn’t want him. I didn’t see how special he is and McLain really convinced me.”
He was right, of course. The grey gelding has amazing scope and style.
“His nickname is Mr. Consistency. To be honest, he would probably jump clear every single round if I managed to stay out of his way,” Lillie said.
Lillie Keenan and Argan de Beliard. (Photo © 2025 by Nancy Jaffer)
“Luckily, I did that both rounds today. To be able to ride a horse that is so reliable is such a gift, especially when you have to jump two rounds and there’s obviously immense pressure, which is what he grows from.”
Without a major championship in 2025, the “quiet” year of the Olympic cycle, Robert said the U.S. will have a lot of team events “so that we can bring in some of the younger riders and give opportunity. We’re going to continue to try to get riders riding with the veterans and learning the ropes, so when we get back into the championships swing of things next year, we’ll have more depth.”
With two legs of the four League qualifiers to go, in Rotterdam and St. Tropez, the U.S. stands fourth with 140 points in the race to qualify for the finals in Barcelona this fall, the year’s biggest goal. Germany and Ireland are tied for the lead on 170 points, and France is third with 150.
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