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, Ridland 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.

Ridland's vast experience as an international course designer helped shaped his analytical approach to the sport. He won the Course Designer of the Year Award twice while building the courses for the U.S. Olympic Trials and numerous international competitions. As an international official, he was the only American to have served as the FEI Technical Delegate for four FEI World Cup Finals. As a television commentator, he worked for many years as the color analyst for ESPN and CBS, as well as two stints for NBC at the Barcelona and Athens Olympic Games.

Since being named the U.S. Show Jumping Chef d’Equipe/Technical Advisor in 2013, Ridland has led the U.S. team to team bronze medals at the 2014 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games and Toronto 2015 Pan American Games as well as silver medals in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and the 2017 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final.

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.   

Chesson as Team Leader and Robert Ridland as Chef d’Equipe have gone on to deliver many medals and successes with the U.S. Jumping Team on the worlds stage while also building a strong pathway for the future. She enjoys hunting with the Essex Fox Hounds when she has time, she is also an avid amateur gardener and her life revolves around a littler terrier named Rags who many would have seen standing guard in the Gladstone office.

As the daughter of international Grand Prix riders Mario and Lisa Deslauriers, Lucy Deslauriers has followed their path to the show ring. At only 21 years old, Deslauriers has accumulated many prominent wins, including those against her father. The bond she shares with her partner Hester has molded Deslauriers into one the most successful young riders, winning FEI NAYC medals, a USEF Junior Jumper National Championship, and a USEF U25 National Championship. In 2017, they won the $100,000 Suncast Jumper Classic CSIO4* during week eight of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF), where Deslauriers was the youngest rider in the class. In 2018, Deslauriers and Hester won the $132,000 Equinimity WEF Challenge Cup CSI5* during week 12 of WEF following a 23-combination jump-off. She made her senior nations cup debut in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ Canada and competed in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final in Barcelona, Spain.

In 2019, Deslauriers and Hester placed third in the $500,000 Rolex Grand Prix CSI5* during week 12 of WEF. She competed in the 2019 FEI Jumping Nations Cup USA and the 2019 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Canada, helping the U.S. secure a spot in the 2019 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final. Deslauriers and Hester aided the U.S. in taking home the team bronze medal at the Lima 2019 Pan American Games. Next, they had a strong showing at the Hampton Classic, winning the $75,000 Douglas Elliman Grand Prix Qualifier CSI4* and finishing second in the $300,000 DOHA.INC Grand Prix CSI4*.

Deslauriers and Hester tallied two wins in 2020: $214,000 Holiday & Horses Grand Prix CSI4* and the $73,000 Sweet Oak Farm Holiday & Horses 1.50m Qualifier CSI4*. The pair started 2021 with a fourth-place finish in the $214,000 Marshall& Sterling/Great American Grand Prix CSI4* during week 4 and a win in the $73,000 Adequan WEF Challenge Round 5 CSI5* during week five of WEF. With Billy de Beaufour, Deslauriers was second in the $25,000 FEI Hermes U25 Grand Prix during week two of WEF.

Originally from Salt Lake City, Utah, Alex Granato began English riding lessons at nine years old. He became the youngest rider to win the Utah Hunter Jumper Association Medal Finals at 13 years old, going on to win it three years in a row. He competed in his first Grand Prix when he was 18 years old. During his final year as a junior competitor, he found Mad Season, who fueled his career for over 12 years, ultimately winning over 20 grand prix events and over $500,000 in prize money. In 2017, he began his partnership with Carlchen W, and the two have moved up the levels amassing impressive results. They won the $130,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI3* at the Kentucky Spring Classic, their second grand prix as a combination. In 2018, they earned their first start on a senior FEI Nations Cup team in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Mexico, where they were one of only two pairs to produce a double-clear. They were also part of the NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team for the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final, jumping a clear round. They continued with a string of notable results in 2019. In February, they won the $208,200 FEI Palm Beach Masters World Cup Qualifier Grand Prix CSI4*-W followed by a second-place finish in the $391,000 Palm Beach Equine Clinic Grand Prix CSI5* during week seven of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). In March, they placed fourth in the $391,000 Douglas Elliman Grand Prix CSI5* during week nine of the WEF. In May, they won the $134,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix CSI3* at the Kentucky Spring Classic and were part of the silver medal-winning NetJets U.S. Jumping Team in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Mexico. Their consistent record resulted in Granato’s selection for his first Pan American Games. Granato runs the show barn Mad Season, LLC, based out of Wellington, Fla., and Lexington, Ky., with professional rider Josh Dolan. In his spare time, Granato helps rescue and rehabilitate miniature horses for a non-profit he and Dolan created, The Peeps Foundation.

Eve Jobs developed her love of horses when her parents sat her on a horse at two years old. She stared riding when she was six years old. With the encouragement and support of her family, Jobs turned her early fascination into a life goal. From USEF Pony Finals to the Grand Prix arena, Jobs has made a name for herself on the circuit as one of the top-ranked under-25 jumpers in the world. In March, she earned the Martha Jolicoeur Leading Lady Rider Award following a second-place performance in the $209,000 Lugano Diamonds Grand Prix CSIO4* during week eight of the Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). Jobs donned the prestigious NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team pinque coat for the first time at the 2019 FEI Jumping World Cup Final, where she placed in the top 15 with Venue d’Fees des Hazalles. She earned her first spot on a senior NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team for the 2019 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Mexico. She and Venue d’Fees des Hazalles jumped the only clear round for the U.S. team helping the U.S. secure a team silver-medal finish. They followed this effort with a double-clear jumping performance in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Canada, assisting the U.S. in their bronze-medal effort and its goal of advancing to the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final. Jobs’s equestrian success has been no easy feat, as along with her riding she is a full-time undergraduate student at Stanford University.

Originally from Milwaukee, Wisc., Elizabeth ‘Beezie’ Madden has been riding since the age of three and received her first pony as a Christmas gift at age four. Madden rode throughout her childhood and competitively for Southern Seminary Junior College, in addition to playing basketball and softball. However, riding was her true passion. She made her debut at the Grand Prix level at the age of 22. For nearly three decades, Madden has represented the United States in the world’s most prestigious competitions becoming the first American to break into the top-three on the FEI Jumping World Ranking List. She was the first woman to pass the $1 million mark in earnings in the sport of jumping. Madden has won the USEF Equestrian of the Year title five times, including back-to-back honors in 2006 and 2007 - the first rider ever to do so - and then again earning back-to-back honors in 2013 and 2014.

In 2018, Madden and the Dutch Warmblood stallion Darry Lou placed sixth in the Rolex Grand Prix at the 2018 CHIO Aachen in July. In 2019, she and Chic Hin D Hyrencourt were selected to represent the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4*, where the combination helped the team secure gold. Later in the year, Madden and Darry Lou captured the coveted $3,000,000 CP ‘International’ Grand Prix presented by Rolex during the Spruce Meadows ‘Masters’ CSIO5* before she guided Garant to a win in the $210,000 FEI Jumping World Cup Qualifier New York CSI4*-W in Old Salem, N.Y. in the same month. Madden and Darry Lou began the 2020 competition year representing the NetJets U.S. Show Jumping Team at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup USA, where the team secured a first-place finish after the combination produced a clear jump-off effort in a tightly contested competition with Great Britain. Most recently, Madden has captured grand prix wins and numerous top finishes at the 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival with Garant, Breitling LS, and Chic Hin D Hyrencourt.

In addition to competing, Madden runs a successful training and sales business with her husband John out of their Cazenovia, N.Y., and Wellington, Fla., bases.

Richard Spooner grew up in Glendale, Calif., and became involved with horses due to his mother owning a training facility. He began competing in jumping at the age of 10 and turned professional at the age of 20. Spooner earned the nickname “The Master of Faster” on the grand prix jumping scene for his quick, efficient rounds. He has contributed to numerous U.S. Nations Cup team medals and has participated in 15 FEI Jumping World Cup Finals. Spooner began competing Quirado RC in 2015 in six-year-old young jumper classes and has steadily brought the horse up the levels. They reached the international level in 2017 and collected wins at Spruce Meadows in 2018. In 2019, the pair helped earn team silver at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Mexico and was double-clear for team bronze at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Canada, earning qualification for the U.S. Jumping Team to attend the 2019 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final.