Chef

Robert Ridland

Hometown: Irvine, Calif. Birthday: 11/7/1950 Sport/Disciplines: Jumping

The show jumping community always knew Robert Ridland as a great rider, but now they also see him as the brilliant, strategic mind guiding the NetJets Show Jumping team to unprecedented success. Ridland brings several decades of international experience to the U.S. Show Jumping. As an athlete he competed in the Montreal 1976 Olympic Games and won several grand prix competitions throughout his riding career. Ridland has been extensively involved in the governance of the sport, including several terms as a board member of US Equestrian and the United States Equestrian Team Foundation.


Team Leader

Lizzy Chesson

Hometown: Gladstone, N.J. Birthday: 4/3/1977 Sport/Disciplines: Jumping

Lizzy Chesson has been deeply rooted in international equestrian sports for many years. As a groom for her mother, she was part of two World Championship Driving teams. At the age of 22, Chesson was selected to drive a pair of horses in the World Pair Championship in Hungary. Chesson is a graduate of Columbia University where earned a degree in Art History. She began working for US Equestrian in 2006, first in the Show Jumping department as an assistant to then Managing Director Sally Ike. She was then promoted to Managing Director of Jumping in 2013.


Competitor

Laura Kraut

Hometown: Royal Palm Beach, Fla. Birthday: 11/14/1965 Sport/Disciplines: Jumping Olympic Years: 1992 (alternate), 2000, 2008, 2020, 2024

Laura Kraut is a four-time Olympian, including a team gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Games and a team silver medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Games. She was a member of the gold-medal winning NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team for the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018, as well as a WEG Lexington 2010 team member, and WEG Aachen 2006 team silver medalist. Kraut has been a member of numerous medal-winning FEI Nations Cup teams, including a member of the historic first all-women’s FEI Nations Cup CSIO5* Dublin gold-medal winning team and recipient of the Aga Khan Trophy in 2017. More recently, Kraut helped the team earn gold at the 2023 Santiago Pan American Games, where she finished fourth individually with Dorado 212. She was selected to represent the U.S. Jumping Team at the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris, France, with Baloutinue.


Competitor

Beezie Madden

Hometown: Cazenovia, N.Y. Birthday: 11/20/1963 Sport/Disciplines: Jumping

Beezie Madden is a four-time Olympian and a team silver medalist from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a team gold and individual bronze medalist at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games, and a team gold medalist from the Athens 2004 Olympic Games. She was a 2014 Alltech/FEI World Equestrian Games™ individual and team bronze medalist. Madden won the 2018 and 2013 FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final and is a three-time Pan American Games athlete, winning the Lima 2019 team and individual bronze; Guadalajara 2011 team gold and individual silver; and Santo Domingo 2003 team gold. Madden is a valuable member of several medal winning FEI Nations Cup teams for the U.S. Jumping Team, including her most recent appearance on the gold-medal winning team at the 2020 FEI Jumping Nations Cup USA and the gold-medal winning team at the 2019 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4*.


Competitor

Devin Ryan

Hometown: Long Valley, N.J. Birthday: 1/16/1982 Sport/Disciplines: Jumping

Devin Ryan was a member of the gold medal-winning NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team for the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 and was the 2018 Longines FEI World Cup™ Jumping Final Paris runner-up. He placed third in the 2018 $250,000 Sapphire Grand Prix of Devon and won the $216,000 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping New York CSI4*-W at the 2017 American Gold Cup.


Competitor

Adrienne Sternlicht

Hometown: Greenwich, Conn. Birthday: 5/9/1993 Sport/Disciplines: Jumping

Adrienne Sternlicht was a member of the NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team for the FEI World Equestrian Games™ Tryon 2018 riding Cristalline, where she helped the team secure the gold-medal, the first team win at the event in more than three decades. She has been part of several Nations Cup teams, including representing the the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4* in 2019 with Toulago, the gold-medal winning team at the 2020 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4* with Just a Gamble, in 2021 at Sopot, Poland, and Rotterdam, The Netherlands, with Benny’s Legacy, and in 2022 at CHIO Aachen with Cristalline.


Competitor

McLain Ward

Hometown: Brewster, N.Y. Birthday: 10/17/1975 Sport/Disciplines: Jumping Olympic Years: 2004, 2008, 2012, 2016, 2020, 2024

McLain Ward is a five-time Olympian, including a team silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 and Rio 2016 Olympic Games as well as team gold medalist at the Beijing 2008 and Athens 2004 Olympic Games. He was also a member of the gold-medal winning NetJets U.S. Jumping Team for the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018, as well as a WEG Normandy 2014 team bronze medalist, and WEG Aachen 2006 team silver medalist. Ward is a Pan American Games Toronto 2015 individual gold and team bronze medalist as well as Guadalajara 2011 team gold medalist. In 2017, he was the champion at the FEI World Cup Jumping Final. In 2022, he was the winner of the Turkish Airlines – CHIO Aachen CSIO5* Grand Prix and the RWE Prize of North Rhine-Westphalia – Aachen CHIO CSIO5* Grand Prix riding Contagious. In 2023, Ward helped the U.S. Jumping Team earn team qualification to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games aboard Contagious, where they secured team gold and individual bronze at the 2023 Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile. Ward debuted both Callas and Ilex as potential horses for team selection ahead of the Olympics, with his sixth straight selection coming in July, confirming Ilex his mount for Paris 2024.