The jumping community always knew Robert Ridland as a great rider, but now they also see him as the brilliant, strategic mind guiding the U.S. Jumping Team to unprecedented success. Ridland brings several decades of international experience, both as a rider and coach, to the Chef d'Equipe position.

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. 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 team gold at the 2018 World Equestrian Games in Tryon, N.C. Under his guidance the team has medaled at the Toronto 2015 Pan American Games, 2019 Lima Pan American Games, and most recently secured team gold at the Santiago 2023 Pan American Games. The U.S. Jumping Team has earned three consecutive team silver medals in the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games, and 2024 Paris Olympic Games. 

Davis, a Los Angeles, California native, started taking riding lessons at the age of five. She grew as a rider and was supported by her family, who had some equestrian background, as her grandfather, Robert Barron Frieze, was a jockey's agent, and her mother rode casually.

Her early riding career was with trainer Chacha Levinson at the Sullivan Canyon Preservation Association. She later moved to train with Archie Cox at Middle Ranch to compete in the hunters and equitation on the A and AA levels. During her time with Cox, Davis won many national championships in the equitation and hunters including World Champion Hunter Rider in 2007.

Davis's international competition debut took place at the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships (NAJYRC). In 2009, she was the Individual Silver medalist with True Love, and in 2010 was on the Zone 10 Gold Medal winning team.

In 2016, she was selected to compete on the US Olympic Show Jumping Team in Rio de Janiero. She was selected to compete with her top mount, Barron, whom she had competed with in Nations Cups, World Cup Finals, and the 2014 World Equestrian Games. She and Barron went on to secure the silver medal in the team competition and qualified for the individual final.

In 2024, Davis-Kennedy achieved significant results across various events, including multiple CSI and CSIO competitions. Notablly, helping secure first place for the U.S. Jumping Team in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Ireland in Dublin with Ben 431. The pair were then selected to represent the team again at the Longines League of Nations Jumping Final in Barcelona, Spain. She and Ben 431 have also had consistent top ten finishes in Grand Prix events, with a commendable third place at the CSI4* Grand Prix in Wellington, Fla.

In 2025, Davis-Kennedy and Ben 431 were named to the U.S. Jumping Team for the first leg of the 2025 Longines League of Nations hosted in Abu Dhabi. The pair finished just off the podium in fourth place in the Grand Prix and produced a strong round in team competition. 

As a junior rider, Spencer Smith competed at the FEI North American Youth Championships in 2012 and 2013 riding Skara Glen’s Voltan H and was the winner of the 2014 Pessoa/U.S. Hunter Seat Medal Finals. He competed as part of the winning U.S. Young Rider Team Nations Cup team riding IV Ever at WEF in 2015 where the pair also won the CSIOY Grand Prix.

Smith had a breakout year in 2018, representing the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team for the first time in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Rome CSIO5*. That same year he won the first major Grand Prix of his career in the $132,000 Horseware Ireland Grand Prix CSI3* aboard his Selle Français gelding, Theodore Manciais. The pair went on to collect several more top placings in major international competition in 2018 and and 2019, including a win for the Massimo Dutti Trophy at the Global Champions League in Madrid. 

Spencer Smith represented the U.S. at the 2021 FEI Jumping Nations Cup Final CSIO5* in Barcelona, Spain, with Quibelle, where the pair were in impressive form. Later that year, Smith and Theodore Manciais marked another CSI5* win, earning a victory at the GCT/GCL CSI5* competition Samorin, Slovakia.

In 2022, Smith started the year off strong, winning the $140,000 Southern Arches Grand Prix CSI3* at WEF aboard Ayade Hero Z. Smith was selected to the short list for the 2022 FEI Jumping World Championships and represented the NetJets U.S. Jumping Team at CHIO Aachen and the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Ireland CSIO5*.

After taking over the ride on Keeneland in 2024, the pair have become one of the most consistent combinations for the U.S. Jumping Team representing the United States in the 2024 FEI Longines League of Nations St. Gallen CSIO5*, FEI Jumping Nations Cup Dublin CSIO5*, and the FEI Longines League of Nations Jumping Final CSIO5* in Barcelona, Spain. In Dublin, the duo's double clear helped push the U.S. to the top of the podium against an incredibly competitive field. 

Smith’s parents own and operate Ashland Farms, a hunter, jumper, and equitation stable with locations in Lexington, Ky., and Wellington, Fla.

Throughout his career, Aaron Vale has notched numerous Grand Prix wins and represented the U.S. in Nations Cups and FEI World Cup™ Finals.  

In 2024, Vale began the year by representing the NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team at the Longines League of Nations™ Abu Dhabi CSIO5*-LLN with Carissimo 25. He rode Prescott to the win in the $100,000 MARS Equestrian Grand Prix CSI3* at WEC Ocala later that season. With Carissimo 25, Vale represented the U.S. Jumping Team in numerous competitions abroad, including the Rome CSIO5*, La Baule CSIO5*, Falsterbo CSIO5* and Dublin CSIO5*, where the pair finished on the podium individually in the Dublin Grand Prix CSIO5*. They also returned to Europe to help the team contest the LLN Final in Barcelona, Spain.  

Vale was selected to the U.S. Jumping Team for the 2025 LLN Ocala CSIO5*, where they earned a team victory, and LLN Rotterdam CSIO5* with Carissimo 25. He continued the momentum, representing the U.S. at CHIO Aachen, which was followed by his first career CSI5* win at Dinard with Carissimo 25. The pair went on to represent the U.S. in the Dublin CSIO5* in August, before concluding their season for the U.S. Jumping Team at Spruce Meadows, where they helped secure a podium finish.  

Vale manages Thinkslikeahorse, a full-service training facility in Williston, Fla., training and producing quality jumpers, hunters, and equitation horses.  

McLain Ward was introduced to riding before he could walk and has a competitive prowess which only continues to increase with age. In 1990, Ward became the youngest rider ever to win both the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Medal Finals and the USET Talent Derby at age 14. After turning pro, he quickly became the youngest rider to reach the $1 million mark in earnings in 1999, at the age of 24. 

Ward is a six-time Olympian, including as a member of the gold-medal-winning U.S. teams in Athens 2004 and Beijing 2008 with his longtime mount, Sapphire. With HH Azur, he was part of the U.S. team that took silver at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. Ward was also a team silver medalist at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games riding Contagious and most recently earned team silver once again, this time aboard Ilex at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.  

He was a member of the gold-medal winning NetJets® U.S. Jumping Team for the FEI World Equestrian Games Tryon 2018 riding Clinta, WEG Normandy 2014 team bronze medalist with Rothchild, and a WEG Aachen 2006 team silver medalist with Sapphire, and represented the U.S. in 2022 in Herning with Contagious. As a Pan American Games athlete, Ward was a part of the gold-medal team in Guadalajara 2011 riding Antares F, as well as aboard Contagious at Santiago 2023, where the pair helped the team secure their Paris 2024 qualification. 

In 2025, Ward was selected to the U.S. Jumping Team for the LLN Ocala CSIO5*, where he and Ilex contributed to the team’s top podium finish. He went on the compete for the U.S. in the Rome Nations Cup CSIO5* on Imperial HBF and La Baule Nations Cup CSIO5* on Ilex. He was named to the winning U.S. Jumping Team for the CHIO Aachen CSIO5* with Imperial HBF and second place finishing team at the Falsterbo Nations Cup CSIO5* with High Star Hero. A highlight of 2025 was Ward’s win aboard High Star Hero in the FEI Jumping World Cup Qualifier CSI5* at Santa Anita.  

Ward began 2026 as a selected member of the U.S. Jumping Team for the Wellington Nations Cup CSIO4*, where he and Jordan Molga M contributed to the team's victory.  

Ward resides in Brewster, New York, with his wife, Lauren, and their two young daughters, Lilly and Madison.