Stars and stripes fly high into Longines League of Nations™ 2026

Their consistency throughout the series has positioned them as one of the top teams to watch in the upcoming season as they plan towards the Barcelona podium. As the Longines League of Nations™ returns across three continents, the United States is building on its momentum, blending experienced athletes with emerging talent capable of performing under pressure and vying for top honours throughout the season.

We spoke to Robert Ridland, long-standing Chef d'Equipe and Technical Advisor for the U.S. Jumping Team, a position he has held since 2013 and will continue through to 2028. A 1976 Olympian, he has led the team to numerous successes, including Olympic medals and FEI Jumping Nations Cup™ titles, focusing on strategic development and performance, as is evident in their past results - and hopefully the ones ahead.

The United States brings depth and scale to international Jumping. What were the key performance indicators that led to being the highest qualifiers for the 2026 Longines League of Nations™?

"Being a non-championship year for us in 2025, our performance focus was very much based around the Longines League of Nations™ season. Without the pressure of selection for a championship event, the 2025 season allowed us to utilise our depth and bring new horse and athlete combinations into the fold.

The quality of combinations in 2025 was tremendous, with most of our athletes bringing forward two or three horses capable of producing top results at the 5* level. The biggest challenge when competing against the best in the world is consistency and last year it felt like we were able to match the right combinations with the right events to maximise results, which we saw both with individual Grand Prix wins and across team competitions throughout the year.We know when you put on the pinque coat that you’re competing for something bigger than yourself, you’re representing your country at the highest levels and there’s a lot of pride and tradition in that for us and our program.”

Ocala hosts one of the legs of the Longines League of Nations™ series. How does competing on home soil influence preparation, team dynamics and expectations?

"Having a home leg of the Series is tremendous for showcasing the sport at the highest level here in the United States. Ocala has been an incredible venue in highlighting the best the sport has to offer, and each year we’ve seen strong spectator turnout and enthusiasm, which creates quite the atmosphere around that arena.

Our goal is to always aim for the podium and particularly at the home leg of the series, we’re shooting for the top. We were very successful in achieving that in 2025 and look forward to hopefully retaining that title again in March."

With a large pool of elite athletes, how do you approach selection to ensure cohesion and consistency across the season?

"For us it’s about pairing the right athletes and horses with the right events and ensuring that they are able to peak at the right moments. We are lucky that we do have a significant number of combinations competing consistently at the 5* level, which can make them ideal candidates for these major team events.

When looking at the calendar year, we need to consider how everyone is planning their year based on their individual goals and use that to help us identify key events that are most suitable for their horses. We have always used a 3-2 system, where we try to pair three veterans with two up-and-coming combinations.

With teams of four we typically do a 3-1 system, which provides necessary opportunities of exposure for the next generation of talent coming through the system and helping them to build confidence in the team environment."

Travel and logistics are significant considerations for the US team. How do you manage those challenges while maintaining peak performance?

"Our athletes and their teams are extremely professional and work closely with us on planning and communication around these major events….we work on a plan to optimise the horses' rest and recovery throughout the whole travel process.

While Ocala is typically a less logistically taxing trip for us with most of our top combinations in Florida during the winter season, once we head to Europe in the spring, that communication is very important in ensuring that we understand where horses are in their training and how we manage the logistics to ensure we’re not impacting performance.

Ultimately, we plan as much as possible with each respective team and always will lean on their judgement as to what is best for their horse."

What does the Longines League of Nations™ represent for the future of American Jumping on the global stage, and what would your advice be to aspiring athletes?

"The opportunity to view and access top international sport is hugely motivating to inspire the next generation of athletes, and we have seen that firsthand with the Longines League of Nations™ leg in Ocala. The platform Ocala has provided not only our U.S. athletes, but the top international athletes from around the world to showcase the sport on such a stage has built momentum and visibility for Jumping here in the United States.

For our younger athletes, my advice would be to take advantage of every opportunity to watch and learn from these types of events. Watch the warmup, the horsemanship, the course walks, how athletes work with their teams – it all builds towards the bigger picture of being capable of putting the pieces together on these stages in the most important moments."

American success in Rotterdam

The United States also boasts an impressive record in Rotterdam. Team USA has won the Nations Cup in the Kralingse Bos on four occasions, first in 1958 and most recently in 2010. In 2024, American rider Karl Cook claimed a memorable victory in the Grand Prix of Rotterdam, marking a historic moment as the first American male rider to win the class since W.C. Steinkraus in 1958. Over the years, legendary names such as Beezie Madden, Lucy Davis and Laura Kraut have also contributed to the strong American legacy in Rotterdam.