US Equestrian announced yesterday that the current U.S. Eventing Technical Advisor and Chef d’Equipe Bobby Costello has made the decision to step away from his role after the conclusion of his contract, which ends on November 30.
“It has been an incredible journey with this program and this role has brought me so much purpose over the past two years. For both personal and professional reasons, I have decided it’s time to step away and allow a fresh face to continue moving this program forward towards the success I know we’re capable of producing as a country and program,” Bobby said in a press release. “It’s been an honor to work alongside our athletes, team staff, owners, and supporters to bring some incredible moments of success back to the U.S. over the past two years. It’s bittersweet, but I am looking forward to continuing to support our U.S. Eventing Team in the years to come.”
It’s no secret that the U.S. eventing program has seen its share of ups and downs since the early 2000s, when the last Olympic team medals and most recent World Championship medal had been won (prior to the silver earned at Pratoni in 2022). It was Capt. Mark Phillips who helmed the team during that hey-day, acting as Chef d’Equipe until 2012 when he was succeeded by David O’Connor.
Aside from an individual bronze won by Phillip Dutton and Mighty Nice at the 2016 Olympics, it wouldn’t be until Pratoni in 2022, under the early leadership of then-interim Chef Bobby Costello, that the U.S. would see medal success on a global championship level. In between, Erik Duvander (NZL) also led the team, building on the framework left by his predecessors toward the success in Pratoni.
Of course, no program’s success or lack thereof can be attributed to one single person or one turn of events; particularly in a country as large and logistically challenging at the U.S., complications abound for anyone in a Chef’s shoes. One could pull together several threads to paint the picture of that silver medal in Pratoni (or, equally, that of a disappointing finish for the U.S. in Paris this summer, when they finished seventh as a nation), including the allowance of the program for riders to retain the integrity of their own programs with their own coaches, and the addition of the likes of Ian Stark as a cross country advisor.
So, where does the program go from here? Who should be named as the next Chef d’Equipe for the Americans?
Those questions remain to be answered.
Truthfully, it’s not uncommon to see something of a “coaching carousel” akin to what you see in the off-season in many major sporting leagues. Change is one thing that is constant, and change is not always a bad thing.
What we do know is that there has been, on paper at least, a more concerted effort in recent years from the federation to develop a more complete system for horses and riders to emerge as senior championship contenders. This includes changes made to the Eventing Pathway Program, which offers pipeline opportunities from the Young Rider ranks up for assistance with coaching and competitive development. There has been an increased effort made to send riders overseas for experience in Nations Cup competitions, though some stakeholders would argue that the decisions on who receives funding lacks transparency, and still we see riders seemingly slipping through the cracks.
Bobby, after the conclusion of the Olympics, expressed a concern that there were not enough riders coming up the ranks, even so. There also remains the evergreen challenge of finding those needle in a haystack medal-winning horses, not to mention the time it takes to develop them from young horses. Riders are globally affected by the lack of funding in the sport that secures (and keeps) them said good horses, and there is a large gap in prize monies in comparison to eventing’s Olympic counterparts, show jumping and dressage. The formation of the US Equestrian Open, which concludes with a $200,000+ prize fund in the Championship CCI4*-L at Morven Park in 2025, will inject some much-needed prize money into the U.S. pool.
So, the new successor will be tasked with finding a way to pull all of these threads together in a cohesive way — and truly, it’s a higher-pressure than usual scenario to step into with a home Olympics looming large in 2028. All eyes will be on the U.S. to demonstrate success at the World Championships at Aachen in 2026 to springboard into a medal performance in Los Angeles, and really there is no reason to think this is outside of the realm of possibility, given the program’s recent improvements.
US Equestrian could take the route of hiring an individual into more of a management advisory role, allowing riders to retain their own coaches or hiring Technical Advisors across the three disciplines. They could also hire someone with prior team leadership experience and/or a proven track record for championship performances; riders such as Andrew Nicholson, Mark Todd, Bettina Hoy, and William Fox-Pitt have all gone on to advise other nations. It also wouldn’t be a surprising move if the likes of Leslie Law, who has acted as the U.S. Eventing Emerging and Development Coach for several years, stepped up to this position considering his existing tenure in the pathway program.
Suffice it to say, we’ll be eager to see what unfolds in this next step for the U.S. eventing program, which US Equestrian says will be coming in the near future.
“I know I speak for everyone when I say Bobby’s commitment and leadership in this role helped the program find its feet and has set us on the upward trajectory towards future success,” said Amber Braun, Managing Director of Eventing at US Equestrian, in a press release. “We’re incredibly sad to see Bobby depart this role but have nothing but gratitude and respect for the achievements and contributions he has made to U.S. Eventing during his term. We wish him all the best in his next chapter, and we will continue to focus on the LA 2028 Olympic Games.”
For additional questions, please contact Amber Braun, Managing Director of Eventing, at [email protected].