Lexington, Ky.  – US Equestrian is pleased to announce that Caracole de la Roque, Signe Ostby’s 2012 Selle Français mare, was voted the 2024 International Horse of the Year, and McQueen, Walkenbach Equestrian LLC’s 2014 KWPN gelding was voted the 2024 National Horse of the Year by the USEF membership. Caracole de la Roque and McQueen were honored during the SmartPak/USEF Horse of the Year Awards Dinner at the USEF Annual Meeting in Lexington, Ky., on January 25, 2025. 
 

2024 International Horse of the Year: Caracole de la Roque

 Caracole de la Roque (Zandor Z x Pocahontas d’Amaury, Kannan) has remained one of the top horses on the international jumping scene since her career debut with France’s Julien Epaillard, but 2024 marked an extraordinary year for the 2012 Selle Français mare owned by Signe Ostby and ridden by U.S. Show Jumping team member, Karl Cook. With Cook in the irons, Caracole de la Roque finished inside the top ten 15 times in FEI competition, with major podium finishes at the CSI5* level at major events in Wellington, Rome, La Baule, and Santa Anita. In total, the pair jumped clear an impressive 27 times in FEI events in just 2024. Their incredible win in the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome CSIO5* and their second-place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of La Baule CSIO5* helped secure their ticket to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.

Cook and Caracole de la Roque were initially selected as the traveling alternate combination for the U.S. Jumping Team at the 2024 Paris Olympic Games but were called onto the team after the withdrawal of Kent Farrington and Greya. The pair were phenomenal on the biggest stage in the sport, pushing the team to qualification for the Team Final. Caracole de la Roque and Cook followed up with a second clear round, helping to secure a coveted podium finish, with the U.S. Team ultimately winning the silver medal.

Ostby shared a heartfelt speech, detailing the love and care that went into the success achieved by “Roly Poly,” Caracole’s nickname at the barn. That attention and care includes custom 3D printed horseshoes and hand milled titanium studs that allow the mare, who usually goes barefoot, to be successful on the grass in Rome and La Baule. “It’s an incredible honor to own a horse like Caracole,” Ostby remarked, “I am full of joy and thrilled to be her owner.”  

Signe Ostby was the recipient of the Horse of the Year trophy and a custom engraved leather lead provided by SmartPak.

2024 National Horse of the Year: McQueen

 With numerous high-profile victories in the hunter ring at shows across the country, Walkenbach Equestrian LLC’s McQueen (Cornet Obolensky x Sanea, Marlon) was one to watch in 2024. The 2014 U.S.-bred KWPN gelding earned top spots in the amateur classes with Lanie Walkenbach and in the performance hunters with Nick Haness and Javier Abad Barragán. In February, McQueen and Haness topped the $100,000 USHJA WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular during week six of the Winter Equestrian Festival.

The pair went on to win the reserve championship in the High-Performance Conformation Hunter division at The Devon Horse Show in May and the $100,000 WCHR Central Hunter Spectacular at Traverse City Horse Shows in June. A highlight of McQueen’s many successes with owner Lanie Walkenbach came back home in California at the Blenheim Racing Festival in July when they won the 3’6” West Coast Amateur Owner Hunter Challenge. Their season was capped off with victories at Desert Circuit, San Juan Capistrano International, Blenheim Surf & Turf Classic, and Traverse City Spring Horse Show.

“There is no horse quite like him,” Walkenbach remarked about “Dash” as McQueen is called around the barn, “[He] has without a doubt created a special place in my heart and I am so thankful to be his owner. It truly takes a team to make a horse like him so special and we couldn't do it with out you.”

Lanie Walkenbach of Walkenbach Equestrian, LLC was the recipient of the Horse of the Year trophy and a custom engraved leather lead provided by SmartPak. 

 
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