Nickname: Bali Owner: Liz's Nutcrackers Groom: Stephanie Simpson Gender: Gelding Breed: Irish Sport Horse Disciplines: Eventing Sire: Tolan R. Dam: Ballyshan Cleopatra Foal Date: 6/15/2014

Cooley Nutcracker, owned by Liz’s Nutcrackers, and known as “Bali,” in the barn, made his first U.S. Olympic Eventing Team appearance at the Paris 2024 Olympic Games with Elisabeth Halliday in the irons, where the pair ultimately finished in the top 20 individually, and contributed to the team’s sixth place finish. 

In 2025, Boyd Martin took over the reins, and the pair secured their first win at the Yanmar America Tryon International Spring Three-Day Event CCI4*-L. 

Later that year, the duo went on to bring home a podium finish at the Les 5 Étoiles de Pau CCI5*-L, where Martin and Cooley Nutcracker finished third in their 5* debut together. 

In 2026, the duo contested their second CCI5*-L together, this time on U.S. soil, at the Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event CCI5*-L, where they finished eleventh.