Marilyn Little
| Marilyn Little | |
|---|---|
| Personal information | |
| Discipline | Eventing, Show jumping |
| Born | December 1, 1981 |
Medal record | |
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Marilyn Little (born December 1, 1981) is an American show jumping and eventing rider.[1] Little won both individual and team gold medals in eventing at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, riding RF Scandalous. After returning to international show jumping, she was named in June 2026 to the United States team for the FEI Jumping World Championships in Aachen.[2] As of July 2026, she is ranked 31st in the Longines jumping world rankings, the highest position of her career.[1]
Eventing career
Little began her career as a grand prix show jumper before shifting her focus to eventing in 2011, developing a string of event horses carrying the "RF" prefix.[3] She reached a career-best fourth place in the FEI World Eventing Athlete Rankings in April 2014.[1]
In September 2018, Little was selected for the United States team for the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, but withdrew RF Scandalous days before the start of competition after the mare sustained a minor leg injury in training; Will Coleman was called up in her place.[4]
At the 2021 Kentucky Three-Day Event, Little and RF Scandalous led the CCI5*-L after dressage on a score of 21.7, the best at the event since 2009,[5] before dropping down the leaderboard with a clear but slow cross-country round.[6] She has not started in an international eventing competition since 2021.[1]
Return to show jumping
Little subsequently returned to show jumping. In February 2025, she won the $62,500 CSI2* Grand Prix at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington riding Olympic van de Noordheuvel.[7] In July 2025, riding the mare La Contessa, she was part of the winning U.S. team in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup at the Caledon CSIO3* in Canada and won the $90,000 Grand Prix of Caledon.[8][9]
In February 2026, Little and La Contessa jumped double clear rounds to help the United States win the $150,000 FEI Jumping Nations Cup at the Wellington CSIO4*, one of only seven combinations to go clear in both rounds.[10] In June 2026, the pair represented the United States in the FEI Jumping Nations Cup at Rome's Piazza di Siena CSIO5* and finished fourth in the Rolex Grand Prix of Rome, during a run of 18 consecutive placings between July 2025 and May 2026.[11] On June 26, 2026, she was named to the U.S. team for the 2026 FEI Jumping World Championships in Aachen, Germany, alongside Katie Dinan, Lillie Keenan, Laura Kraut and McLain Ward.[2]
Honours and awards
Little's honours include the Maxine Beard Show Jumping Developing Rider Award from the United States Equestrian Team (USET) Foundation (2000), the United States Eventing Association's Leading Woman Rider of the Year title (2014), a Karen E. Stives Endowment Fund grant for high-performance eventing from the USET Foundation (2014), the Maryland Horse Board's Touch of Class Award in recognition of her Pan American Games gold medals (2015), and the USET Foundation's Pinnacle Cup Trophy (2018).[1]
Results
Show jumping
| Year | Event | Horse | Placing |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2025 | CSI2* Grand Prix, Winter Equestrian Festival, Wellington | Olympic van de Noordheuvel | 1st[7] |
| 2025 | FEI Jumping Nations Cup, Caledon CSIO3* (team) | La Contessa | 1st[9] |
| 2025 | Grand Prix of Caledon CSIO3* | La Contessa | 1st[8] |
| 2026 | FEI Jumping Nations Cup, Wellington CSIO4* (team) | La Contessa | 1st[10] |
| 2026 | FEI Jumping Nations Cup, Rome CSIO5* (team) | La Contessa | 7th[11] |
| 2026 | Rolex Grand Prix of Rome CSIO5* | La Contessa | 4th[11] |
| 2026 | CSI4* Grand Prix, Valkenswaard | Heidi Von Imhoff | 9th[1] |
Eventing: CCI 4*
| Results | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Event | Kentucky | Badminton | Luhmühlen | Burghley | Pau | Adelaide | ||||||
| 2012 | 9th (RF Demeter)
WD (RF Rovano Rex) |
|||||||||||
| 2013 | EL (RF Demeter) | 7th (RF Demeter) | 18th (RF Demeter) | |||||||||
| 2014 | 5th (RF Smoke on the Water)
6th (RF Demeter) |
20th (RF Demeter) | ||||||||||
| 2015 | RET (RF Demeter) | |||||||||||
| 2016 | EL (RF Demeter) | |||||||||||
| 2017 | 4th (RF Scandalous) | |||||||||||
| 2018 |  (RF Scandalous) |
|||||||||||
| EL = Eliminated; RET = Retired; WD = Withdrew | ||||||||||||
References
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 "Marilyn Little (10002167)". FEI. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "USEF Names U.S. Jumping Team For Aachen World Championships". The Chronicle of the Horse. June 26, 2026. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Jumper Turned Eventer Marilyn Little-Meredith Has New Horses And Different Goals". The Chronicle of the Horse. August 29, 2011. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Marilyn Little Withdraws RF Scandalous from WEG, Will Coleman Called Up to U.S. Team". Eventing Nation. September 8, 2018. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Marilyn Little Posts Historic Score to Lead the Land Rover Kentucky Three-Day Event presented by MARS Equestrian". Kentucky Three-Day Event. April 22, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- ↑ "Dramatic Land Rover Kentucky Cross Country Rearranges Both Leaderboards". Eventing Nation. April 24, 2021. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "Marilyn Little and Olympic van de Noordheuevel top 1/ST CSI2* Grand Prix at Wellington International". World of Showjumping. February 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "Marilyn Little Wins Grand Prix of Caledon". Horse Sport. July 2025. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "U.S. Jumping Team Finishes Fantastic Week in Canada with Wins in FEI Jumping Nations Cup Caledon CSIO3* and Grand Prix of Caledon". US Equestrian. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- 1 2 "U.S. Jumping Team Takes to Top of Podium in Jumping Nations Cup Wellington CSIO4*". United States Equestrian Team Foundation. February 2026. Retrieved July 21, 2026.
- 1 2 3 "In Rome, Marilyn Little Strengthened Her Case For The World Championships". The Chronicle of the Horse. June 3, 2026. Retrieved July 21, 2026.