Biography

It will be a first Badminton for American Will Coleman (34) who with his wife Katie runs Will Coleman Equestrian, near Charlottesville in Virginia.

In 2017 with Badminton entry OBOS O’Reilly Will completed the Luhmuhlen four-star

Will began riding when he was six-years-old when his family moved to a farm in Charlottesville VA. He then took to hunting and showjumping under the watchful eyes of his father an avid hunter and horseman. He started regular lessons with Karen and David O’Connor and after graduating from high school began a three-year-apprenticeship with the O’Connors.

In 2001, aged 18, Will was a gold medallist at the North American YR championships and the following year competed in his first three-star. In 2003 he came to the UK and became the only US rider to win the Under 25 championship at Bramham. Later that year with Fox in Flight – aka Cheddar – Will contested and completed his first four-star at Burghley and was long-listed for the 2004 Olympic Games. Whilst he did not get to Athens he did complete Lexington with his second horse – A Second Hope.

In 2005 he sold his top horses and enrolled at University of Virginia.

In the spring of 2012 he finished fourth at Lexington and represented the US at the London Olympic Games.

Will who won the national three-star championship at Elkton in 2017 (2^nd –Tight Lines) used his prize of one free, round trip flight to Europe, to bring OBOS O’Reilly to Badminton.

OBOS O’Reilly is a 15-year-old Irish Sport Horse gelding. He is by the Irish-based German-bred Oldeburg OBOS Quality also the sire of OBOS Cooley, Fernhill Quality Street). He is out of Omard Clover Queen by Clover Hill. He was bought out of the UK as a five-year-old and as a young horse was all but untrainable but as a nine-year-old finally started to mature to become ‘a fabulous cross country horse’. In 2015 he completed his first four-star at Lexington in 6^th place and later that year was 11^th at Blenheim. Last year he completed Luhmuhlen.