“I was lucky to grow up in a ‘horsey’ family,” is something William ‘Will’ Coleman III is grateful for. An experienced eventer and established champion equestrian, Will Coleman’s skills earned him a place in the US London Olympics team in 2012, at 19. However, the 41-year-old’s long and successful career was a result of growing up with horses and his parents’ solidarity and encouragement.

The top-place US rider in the 2023 FEI Eventing World Athlete Rankings was born to a family who loved horses and the sport. Born May 8th, 1983, in Locust Valley, New York, Will Coleman is the eldest of three boys born to William and Wade Coleman. From the time that 41-year-old athlete could recall, he remembered his father’s desire to own a horse farm, and that’s exactly what the family did when he moved to a farm in Charlottesville, Virginia. Thus began young six-year-old Coleman’s initiation and sojourn into horse riding.

Will Coleman’s first coach

Will Coleman’s mother didn’t compete in equestrian events, but loved riding horses. She was an encouraging presence in the equestrian’s life. The eventer’s father, on the other hand, did compete and was known as a skillful rider at the amateur level. When the family moved to Virginia, his parents brought home TJ, a Shetland pony, on a flatbed truck.

“I owe a lot to that pony; he gave me my start,” said Coleman. However, it was Will Coleman’s father, who was affectionately known as ‘Big Will’, who started coaching the youngster on TJ. ‘”My father, while considered an amateur, was an accomplished rider,” the Olympian told Sidelines Magazine. Big Will enjoyed fox hunting and competed in traditional equestrian events.

Will Coleman’s father competed at Intermediaire I, in dressage and also participated in small Grand Prix. However, the equestrian’s father didn’t train his boy in the sport from the beginning. At first, he and his siblings would learn to ride around in the rolling hunting fields of Virginia. It gave them the freedom to learn and grow in a way a designed course never could.

However, his mother and father also loved learning more about the horses they cared for. While teaching their sons how to ride, Big Will and his better half would often invite and learn from trainers. They instilled their curiosity to learn in their son, encouraging him to attempt the different equestrian disciplines.

Will Coleman learned under his father for over six years until he attended an Olympic clinic at 13. Karen and David O’Connor were the instructors of that event, and it amazed young Coleman. This was the beginning of the youngster’s love for eventing, and he progressed rapidly. Coleman began regularly training with the Olympians and by 2004, had made the Olympics shortlist. The seed that his parents planted bloomed into a successful career. Even today, Coleman’s parents’ dedication to the sport remains intact.

Spreading the love of the sport as a family

After learning and finding success in eventing, Will Coleman started his institute Will Coleman Equestrian in 2007 in Virginia and Florida. In the same year, he met his now wife Katie Coleman. A fellow eventer, Kathryn Thornton shared a deep passion for horses. They eventually started dating and got married in 2014. Since then, Will Coleman found both his father and his wife helping him make WCE a success.

Katie Coleman’s passion lies in dressage, and although she hasn’t competed much, she is an expert groom. Coleman’s wife groomed Pan-American Games gold medalist Michael Pollard’s horse and earned U.S. Eventing Association’s Groom of the Year in 2012. Today she helps her husband with managing the yard, horses, teaching, and more at WCE. Meanwhile, his father continues to be an encouraging presence.

While his mother no longer rides, his father continues to do so. Big Will “serves as a Joint MFH for Keswick Hunt Club and is a long-time subscriber to the Piedmont Fox Hounds in Middleburg, VA.” according to the Will Coleman Equestrian official website. His father has won the Theodora A. Randolph North American Field Hunter Championships twice. In fact, as recently as 2016, the lifelong equestrian lover won the Virginia Hunter Field Championships.

The fifth-ranked FEI Eventing World Athlete owes a large part of his success to what his parents taught him as a kid. From running free in the fields of Virginia to proving his worth on the international stage, Will Coleman couldn’t have done it without his parents’ support. Later this month, the 41-year-old equestrian will head to the Paris Olympics alongside Caroline Pamukcu and Boyd Martin. It’s won’t be surprising if the eventing icon’s family gets spotted in the stands cheering him on atop the greatest stage.