Young, inexprienced U.S. team second in Spain

Details: November 5, 2026; By Staff Writers

VEJER DE LA FRONTERA, Spain--The U.S. Jumping Team had a standout second place finish out of 14 teams at the FEI Jumping Nations Cup Vejer de la Frontera CSIO3* at Circuito Hípico del Sol in Vejer de la Frontera, Spain on Oct, 30.

U.S. second in Spain Helen Cruden U.S. second in Spain (Photo by Helen Cruden)Ireland won with four faults, followed by the U.S. team in second with eight faults and Italy in third with 10 faulta.

The U.S. team consisted of Carlee McCutcheon of (Aubrey, Texas on Aralyn Blue, Charlise Casas of Wellington, Fla., on Kanny-Fee, Adam Prudent of Wellington, Fla., on Karnak du Roset, and Emily Esau Williams of San Marcos, Calif., with Cascarado.

“I am thrilled with our team," said chef d'equipe Anne Kursinski. "It was the first Nations Cup for three of our riders, and each produced scores that helped the team to a very strong second place finish. Carlee led off with a beautiful clear. Charlise jumped a brilliant clear in round two. Adam jumped two solid rounds. Emily was cool and outstanding, jumping double clear. We were so close to a jump-off with Ireland. I look forward to seeing these athletes and their horses on more U.S. teams in the future.”

FIRST TO go in round one for the U.S. was McCutcheon, who has competed on previous teams for the U.S.

Riding Aralyn Blue, she set the tone with a clear round inside the 77 second time allowed.

Casas, making her U.S. team debut, had two rails down early in the course designed by Javier Trenor of Spain, and added one time fault for nine total faults.

Also making his team debut for the U.S., Prudent added four faults to the team’s total with a rail falling at the C element of the triple combination.

Anchoring the team was Williams, also marking her first career start for the U.S. Jumping Team.

She delivered the second clear round for the team, finishing just inside the time allowed, and ensuring the U.S. would move forward to round two on just four faults.

In the second round, both McCutcheon and Prudent had a rail down at the C element of the triple combination, which proved to be a challenging question across both rounds of the competition.

Casas was clean in round two, which proved crucial to the overall finish for the U.S., and Williams closed out the competition with another clear round, securing the second-place finish for the team on a total of eight faults across both rounds.