Devon, England – The Defender U.S. Eventing Team secured a well-earned podium finish at the FEI Eventing Nations Cup™ Great Britian CCIO4*-NC-S, held May 27–31 at Bicton International Horse Trials in Devon, England. The team closed the competition on a collective score of 182.2, earning silver behind host nation Great Britain (135.6) and ahead of New Zealand (199.5). The team was led by Chef d’Equipe and High-Performance Manager, Leslie Law, as well as USEF Eventing High-Performance Advisor, Karyn Shuter.
“Overall, I think it went very well,” Law said of the U.S. team, “We tend to bring Development 25 athletes over for this event, and I think they gained a lot of great team experience this weekend. We have to be happy with the result — to finish second behind a Great Britain team that had two of their Olympic riders, I think that was a very good result overall.”
The team competition started on the second day of dressage on Friday, May 28. Allie Knowles (Lexington, Ky.) and Montpellier Scais, a 2017 Anglo European Sport Horse gelding (Quasimodo van de Molendreef x Indoctro) owned by Katherine O’Brien and cared for by Alex Cain, led the U.S. effort with the team’s best dressage score of 32.1. Cassie Sanger (Wilmington, Del.) and her own Fernhill Zoro, a 2008 Anglo European Sport Horse gelding (Verdi TN x Voltaire) cared for by Meigs Rutherford, posted a 35.4, while Tommy Greengard (Petaluma, Calif.) and That’s Me Z, a 2017 Zangersheide gelding (Take a Chance on Me Z x VDL Indoctro) owned by Andrea Pfeiffer and Tommy Greengard and cared for by Mia Brown, added a 36.2. Quidley Kellermann (Wimberley, Texas) and her own Blakeneys Cruise, a 2017 Irish Sport Horse gelding (FSS Correlli Bravo x Cruising) cared for by Olivia Jenkins, rounded out the team on a 39.5.
In the short-format order of phases, the team competition continued with the show jumping phase, with a challenging track set by Krissy Spiller (GBR). Knowles, Greengard, and Kellermann all kept the rails in place and crossed through the finish within the time allowed, adding nothing to their dressage scores. Sanger and Fernhill Zoro had an unfortunate rail that added four penalties, bringing their cumulative score to 39.4 heading into cross country.
On cross country day, the combinations took on the track designed by Helen West (GBR), covering 3,755 meters at a speed of 570 meters per minute with an optimum time of 6 minutes and 35 seconds and featuring 36 jumping efforts.
Knowles and Montpellier Scais delivered a clear cross-country round, adding 18 time penalties for a finish time of 7:20 to close on a final three-phase score of 50.1, leading the U.S. effort start to finish. Sanger and Fernhill Zoro were bold across the course, finishing on a final score of 64.4. Kellermann and Blakeneys Cruise completed the track to close on 67.7. Greengard and That’s Me Z were eliminated on course and took the position of the team’s drop score. Per Nations Cup format, the team score was calculated from the best three of four combinations.
Competing as an individual outside of the team, Knowles also piloted Leo Santos, a 2015 Zangersheide gelding (L'Arc de Triomphe x LBH Calvados) owned by Katherine O'Brien and cared for by Alex Cain, to seventh place, with the combination also serving as an alternate on the 2026 USEF Eventing European Development Tour.
The 2026 USEF Eventing European Development Tour is supported by the USET Foundation's Karen E. Stives Endowment Grant, which aims to support the USEF Eventing program goal of producing sustainable success at the international level and to assist athlete/horse combinations to achieve elite level standard in the discipline of eventing.
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The USEF International High Performances Programs and the USEF High Performance Pathway Programs are generously supported by the USET Foundation, the philanthropic partner to USEF. High Performance Program support is also provided by the USOPC and USEF sponsors and members.