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Cooley Nutcracker

Nickname: Bali Owner: The Nutcracker Syndicate Groom: Mia Braundel and Abby Steger Gender: Gelding Breed: Irish Sport Horse Disciplines: Eventing Sire: Tolan R. Dam: Ballyshan Cleopatra Foal Date: 6/15/2014

Cooley Nutcracker (Bali) joined Liz Halliday’s program in 2022 after beginning his career with Astier Nicolas in France. Halliday and Cooley Nutcracker debuted at the CCI3*-S level in 2022 and worked their way up to the CCI5*-L level by 2024. The duo collected two wins at the CCI4*-L level in 2023, the first at Tryon International in Mill Spring, N.C., and the second at Galway Downs in Temecula, Calif. With their win at Galway Downs at the end of the 2023 season, they earned their first National Championship together. The pair have placed outside of the top ten only twice in their FEI career and finished eighth in their debut at the CCI5*-L level at the 2024 DEFENDER Kentucky Three-Day Event.

The pair were moved into the team roster of three for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, which will be Bali's first Olympic Games.