Lexington, Ky. – US Equestrian is pleased to announce the 2024 Equestrian of the Year nominees. The International and National Equestrians of the Year will be announced during the 2024 Pegasus Awards Dinner on Thursday, Jan. 23, at the 2025 US Equestrian Annual Meeting in Lexington, Ky.
Equestrians of Honor are nominated by their USEF affiliate organization or USEF breed or discipline committee, and the finalists are selected by the USEF Awards Committee. The final Equestrians of the Year are determined by member voting.
Voting is open now through 11:59 p.m. ET on Dec. 31. Click here to vote now. Please note that you must be logged in to your USEF account to vote. After submitting your selections, you will receive an email asking you to confirm your vote. You must confirm your ballot in order for your votes to count!
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National Equestrians of Honor
Nick Haness
San Clemente, Calif.
Hunter/Jumper
The Emerson Burr Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing with any horse or pony breed shown in over-fences hunter classes.
Since his time as a junior, Nick Haness has consistently exceeded expectations and established himself as one of the top hunter/jumper riders and trainers in the United States.
In 2024, Haness took the hunter world by storm. At the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, he was Green Conformation Hunter Champion, Green Hunter Grand Champion, and Grand Hunter Champion. In June, he won the 3’0-3’3” Platinum Performance/USHJA Green Hunter Incentive Champion riding Custom Romance, owned by Romance Sport Horses, at the Traverse City Horse Shows Spring II in Michigan. Through his successes he was invited to compete as one of the top-10 nationally ranked riders at the World Championship Hunter Rider Capitol Challenge, winning the following: USHJA WCHR Central Hunter Spectacular Champion; USHJA WCHR West Coast Hunter Spectacular Champion; and USHJA WCHR Peter Wetherill Palm Beach Hunter Spectacular Champion.
Nick owns and trains at Hunterbrook Farms, where he not only houses his own and client’s horses but other exotic animals. Hunterbrook is home to camels, zebras, pigs, goats, and rescue miniature horses. He currently serves on the board of directors for the Pennsylvania National Horse Show as well as the USHJA Hunter Working Group.
Ashton Kiesner
Louisville, Tenn.
Arabian
The C.J. “June” Cronan Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing under saddle in a non-hunter and/or non-Western discipline.
Ashton Kiener began riding and showing Arabian horses from a young age, igniting what has led to a lifelong passion for the sport. In her youth, she spent summers working at the barn and on the road competing as a junior rider and handler. Since 2000, Kiesner has had great success in English Pleasure, Country English Pleasure and Hunter Pleasure disciplines
Her saddle seat accolades include receiving seven National Champion titles, nine Reserve Champion titles and 45 Top Ten honors since 2002. Kiesner’s regional record includes 18 Champions, 29 Reserve Champions and 33 Top Five winners over the same span of time.
Kiesner’s success continued in 2024, closing out the season at U.S. Nationals. Here she had 3 Top Ten performances in the Arabian Country English Pleasure Jr. Horse, Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian English Futurity, and the AEPA $100,000 Arabian Saddle Seat Futurity. Additionally, she was Reserve Champion in the Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian Country English Pleasure Jr. Horse. She was able to ride two different horses to big wins, winning the highly competitive Arabian English Pleasure Championship with KW Micah and the Arabian English Pleasure Jr. Horse Championship with KT Lasting Love.
Kirstin McKillop
Alamo, Calif.
Arabian
The Vaughan Smith Trophy is presented to the best rider of any horse or pony breed shown in hunter pleasure, show hack, hunter hack, dressage hack, costume, sidesaddle, or Western dressage.
Kristin McKillop comes from a long history of prominent equestrians and following in the footsteps of her mother, Jill Mitchell, has become one of the top Arabian trainers in the U.S. Before transitioning her focus to the Arabian breed, McKillop competed successfully across several disciplines, ultimately earning a spot on the Fresno State Equestrian Team.
To date, McKillop has earned 43 Regional Championships, 29 Reserve Championships, and more than 40 top-five finishes since 2002. Nationally, she has earned five championships, thirteen reserve championships, and nearly 40 top ten finishes. In 2024, McKillop earned multiple top finishes in the Arabian Hunter Pleasure Futurity as well as the Half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian Hunter Pleasure Open. With Ashley Reimer Caprio’s 2020 purebred mare Aria Vixxen, McKillop took home the coveted AHPA $100,000 Arabian Hunter Pleasure Futurity Champion title, where she topped the class of 24 stellar entries.
Lynn Peeples
Creekside, Pa.
Morgan
The Norman K. Dunn Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing in national in-hand/halter divisions.
Lynn Peeples grew up in the Morgan industry and with over 30 years of experience, quickly became a leading trainer and breeder of Morgan horses. He began his journey working under Cecil Brown and Tom Butler in Western Pennsylvania, finding a deep passion for the breed. In 1989, he bought his first foundation mare, MI First Love (Devon Wexford X HLM Caption), who became his best producing mare. Soon after that, he bought Devan Melmore (Devan Mel x Devan Madam). Both mares became Broodmare Hall of Fame Inductees under Lynn Peeples.
He is now the owner and trainer of Lynn Peeples Stables located in Creekside, Pennsylvania. Here, he breeds, trains, and shows some of the top Morgans in the industry. Peeples is known for setting an industry standard of high levels of horsemanship and quality breeding, focusing on a family of horses, rather than an individual horse. He has either shown or bred five World Champion Stallion title winners and shown many World Champion Mares.
In 2024 alone, he has accomplished over 20 achievements at top Morgan championships. At the Morgan Grand National & World Championship Horse Show he won Reserve World Champion Futurity In-Hand 2-Year-Old Gelding and Reserve Grand National Champion 3-Year-Old Gelding. In addition, he attended the Morgan Gold Cup Regional Championship where he brought home Reserve Grand Champion Gelding, first place in the Geldings 3- & 4-Year Olds, Reserve Grand Champion Senior Stallions, Reserve Champion Senior Stallions, and First in the 3- & 4-Year-Old Stallions.
Colby Powell
Scottsdale, Ariz.
Arabian
The Barbara Worth Oakford Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing in non-reining Western disciplines.
For the Arabian western community, Colby Powell needs no introduction. A lifelong equestrian, Powell’s resume includes numerous Horseman’s Awards through the Arabian Professional & Amateur Horseman’s Association in the Junior Western and Junior Working Western categories and the Professional Working Western category. Since 2002, he has won 132 titles at the national level in the Western disciplines on the Arabian and Half-Arabian show circuit.
Powell’s 2024 record continued his long streak of success, earning wins at the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show in the ranch division with Hesa Taylor Made, Vintage Swagger, and Bringin Sexy Back, and in the Western Pleasure classes with Whiskey Girl KM, Khukia J, and Astar Is Born SF
Powell added more national champion titles to his record in 2024, including in the Half-Arabian Ranch Rail Pleasure Championship and the Ranch Horse Riding Championship at the Youth and Mid-Summer Nationals. At October’s U.S. Nationals, he won both the champion and reserve titles in the Half-Arabian Ranch Horse Riding Futurity with Nspiredbyhollywood RA and Vintage Swagger, respectively. He also won the highly competitive Half-Arabian Western Pleasure Championship with Fixations Khash.
Andrew “Andy” Sellman
Scottsdale, Arizona
Arabian
The Norman K. Dunn Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing in national in-hand/halter divisions.
Andrew Sellman is a lifelong equestrian, first showing horses at the age of eight. During his career, Sellman has been an accomplished Arabian trainer and owner, handling more than 127 National Champions, 88 Reserve Champions and 194 top-ten winners since 2002 when the AHA started recording all handlers. As a sought-after handler, Sellman also showed 4 National Champion Stallions in four different countries in the same year.
At U.S. Nationals in 2024, Sellman placed in a total of 13 classes, which included five top-ten placings in the Arabian Junior Mare Breeding Open, the Arabian Breeders Sweepstakes Arabian Yearling Colt, the Arabian 2-Year-Old Filly Breeding, the Arabian 2-Year-Old Colt Breeding, and the Breeding Pays Futurity Arabian 2-Year-Old Fillies. He received a Reserve Champion placing in the Arabian Jr. Stallion Breeding.
Sellman handled seven horses to a National Championship in the Arabian Filly Breeding Futurity, the Breeding Pays Futurity Arabian 2-Year-Old Colts & Geldings, the ABS Arabian Yearling Filly, the Arabian Colt Breeding Futurity, the Arabian Gelding In-Hand Futurity Breeding Futurity the Arabian Sr. Stallion Breeding, and the Arabian Sr. Mare Breeding. In six of the seven National Championship wins, Sellman handled his charge to unanimous Championship wins. Sellman also has obtained 12 Regional Championships during the 2024 competition year.
James "Jim" Taylor
Medina, Ohio
Morgan
The Bill Robinson Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing in national harness/driving performance disciplines.
Jim Taylor began his involvement with horses as a young boy in Pennsylvania, starting with hunter/jumpers that his father trained part time. When he turned 13, Taylor started working at a local Saddlebred farm to earn spending money and got hooked. With an impressive career with Arabians, Saddlebreds, Hackney Ponies, and Morgan Horses, Taylor’s ability to train and present a harness horse is unmatched. Having won world titles in all age groups for both pleasure driving and park harness, he has claimed the Open World Grand Championships in Pleasure Driving, Park Harness, and Roadster to Bike.
At the 2024 Grand National and World Championship Morgan Horse Show, Taylor earned World Grand Champion Roadster to Bike and Grand National Champion Roadster to Bike with SHLM Dura Max. In addition to these two accomplishments, Taylor earned an additional five first-place awards during this competition year, including first in Pleasure Driving Junior Horse at the New York Morgan Regional and a first in Morgan Roadster to Bike Stake at the 2024 Morgan Gold Cup Regional.
In addition to his career showing, driving, and training harness horses, Taylor has been an integral part in the United Professional Horseman’s Association, including serving as president for two years and on their executive board for more than a decade. Taylor helped organize the UPHA Pink Ribbon Program and was instrumental in forming the UPHA American Royal National Championship. In his home state of Ohio, Taylor has been an active member of the Ohio Morgan Horse Association and served as Chair of the Morgan Gold Cup Regional Championship Horse Show for many years.
International Equestrians of Honor
Karl Cook
Rancho Santa Fe, Calif.
Jumping
The William C. Steinkraus Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing in the Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing, or show jumping.
The 2024 competition year was a career breakout year for U.S. Jumping Team athlete Karl Cook, piloting Caracole de la Roque to many of the top U.S.-produced results in international jumping competition. The pair represented the U.S. Jumping Team in three different Nations Cup competitions, finishing as the winners of the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome CSIO5*, and taking an impressive second-place finish in the Rolex Grand Prix of La Baule just two weeks later.
Cook, who represented the U.S. on his first major championship team at the Pan American Games in 2023, earned his second senior championship selection for the program with Caracole de la Roque, owned by Signe Ostby, for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games. The pair were called into the three-combination team after the withdrawal of Kent Farrington and Greya, and together produced the only two consecutive clear rounds for the team in the highly competitive Team competition, helping secure the program’s third consecutive Olympic silver medal. The duo went on to compete in the Individual Final, finishing in 16th overall.
To close out an incredible year, the pair also won the FEI World Cup Qualifier Santa Anita CSI5* in impressive fashion, marking another win at the CSI5* level for the pair. In total, Cook and Caracole produced clear rounds more than 25 times in international competition in 2024, including 12 finishes inside of the top five placings, becoming one of the most consistent combinations in the world.
Liz Halliday
Lexington, Ky.
Eventing
The William C. Steinkraus Trophy is presented to an equestrian competing in the Olympic disciplines of dressage, eventing, or show jumping.
Elisabeth “Liz” Halliday began riding when she was 8 years old as a member of the United States Pony Club. The California native moved to England in 2000 to work for famed eventer William Fox-Pitt and was based in Europe for many years before bringing her operation to the U.S. with locations in Ocala, Florida, and Lexington, Kentucky, in 2020.
Halliday achieved her first CCI5*-L completion in 2016 at the Kentucky Three-Day Event with Deborah Halliday's HHS Cooley. She has also brought numerous horses to top-ten finishes at the level, including Ocala Horse Properties, LLC's Deniro Z, The Monster Partnership's Cooley Quicksilver, and The Nutcracker Syndicate's Cooley Nutcracker. Halliday has represented the U.S. Eventing Team in several FEI Nations Cup competitions, including the 2022 CCIO4*-S at Bromont in Canada, where she rode Miks Master C to individual victory and led the U.S. team to secure the win.
In 2023, the pair saw success at CHIO Aachen with a 5th place finish in the CCIO4*-S and they went on to be a part of the silver medal-winning team at the Pan American Games in Santiago, Chile.
Halliday continued her consistency in 2024, marking several top results with both Cooley Nutcracker and Miks Master C, with a top-ten finish coming for Cooley Nutcracker at the Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5*-L in April, as well as a top-twenty finish at CHIO Aachen CCIO4*-S with Shanroe Cooley in July, contributing to the U.S. Team’s second-place finish. The pair were named as traveling reserves for the 2024 Paris Olympic Games. Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker went on to make their Olympic debut, finishing 19th overall in individual competition.
Rebecca Hart
Wellington, Fla.
Para Dressage
The Becky Grand Hart Trophy is presented to international-level non-Olympic athletes.
A familiar presence on the Paralympic stage over the past decade, Rebecca Hart continued her success in 2024. A member of the U.S. Para Dressage Team at the 2008, 2012, 2012, 2020 and 2024 Paralympic Games, Hart has shown extreme dedication and passion for the sport over the years. This has allowed her to become the No. 1 ranked Grade III rider in the world and 2nd ranked out of all grades on the FEI Para Dressage World Individual Ranking list.
Recent success for Hart and Paralympic mount Floratina include winning rides in the FEI Para Grand Prix Test A and Freestyle at the CPEDI3* in Hagen, the Grand Prix test B and Freestyle at the CPEDI3* in Mannheim and the Grand Prix test A, B and Freestyle at the CPEDI3* in Ocala. She also won the Fontainebleau CPEDI3* test event where she received the highest score at the competition.
Hart proved herself as one of the top pairs contending at the 2024 Paris Paralympics, winning three gold medals with Floratina. She won the Grade III Individual Event with a score of 77.900% to bring home their first gold medal as a pair, which was followed by another gold medal ride in the Grade III Individual Freestyle where she received an 83.534%. She became a triple gold medalist by finishing on top of the podium in the team event.
Fiona Howard
Boston, Mass.
Para Dressage
The Becky Grand Hart Trophy is presented to international-level non-Olympic athletes.
After her debut as a para-equestrian athlete in 2023, Fiona Howard’s successes only grew in 2024. Howard started the year off strong with a clean sweep at the CPEDI3* in Qatar riding her own horse, Jagger (Johnson X Sigur Ros) accomplishing high scores in the Para Grand Prix A, B, and Freestyle.
She started her new partnership with Diamond Dunes (De L’Or X Wibella) in early 2024, making their official debut with a score of 72.356% in the Grade II Para Grand Prix A, 74.111% in the Para Grand Prix B, and 79.923% in the Para Grand Prix Freestyle granting her first place in all three classes.
Howard made her Paralympic debut at the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games this summer where she rode Diamond Dunes. The pair brought home three gold medals and high scores in the following: 80.000% in the Grade II Para Grand Prix Test B and 81.994% in the Grade II Para Grand Prix Test Freestyle. She currently stands as 1st for FEI Para Dressage World Individual Ranking – Grade II and 3rd for FEI Para Dressage World Individual Ranking across all Grades.
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