Born: August 2, 1970
Residence: Glendale, California
Horse: Cristallo (Nine-year-old Holsteiner gelding; owned by Show Jumping Syndications International)

Making his seventh consecutive FEI World Cup appearance, California native Richard Spooner earned the nickname "The Master of Faster" when he first hit the grand prix scene 11 years ago. It seemed as though the moment he started competing in the grand prix, he would be the fastest if he made it into a jump-off. He is nearing the century mark in number of grand prix wins.

Spooner has been the Pacific Coast Horse Show Association Grand Prix Rider of the Year for the last 11 years, and he is no stranger to competing in Las Vegas where he won the 2003 Grand Prix of Las Vegas. On his grey, crowd-pleasing partner, Robinson, with whom he has over 30 grand prix wins, Spooner finished first in two of the 2004 Olympic Selection Trials, won the 2002 $200,000 Queen Elizabeth II Cup, and earned a spot on the U.S team that won the Silver medal at the 2004 Spruce Meadows Masters.

With a strong group of horses in 2007, Spooner got off to a good start by finishing one-two respectively in the Jack Daniels Grand Prix at the Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado, on Ace and Robinson. He was a solid performer on the Desert Circuit in Thermal, California, this season with Ariat Grand Prix wins aboard Robinson, Ace and Airtime, with a second on Apache. He was second with Airtime in the Desert Circuit V $75,000 Grand Prix CSI-W and then dominated the Desert Circuit IV FEI $75,000 Grand Prix CSI-W finishing first with Cristallo and second with Apache. In 2006, Spooner won the $100,000 HBO Grand Prix of Del Mar on Live Fire.

Dedicated to his sport, he is a founder of the West Coast Active Riders and has served on several industry committees. Both his wife, Kaylen, and daughter, Taylor, are riders, and the family loves to travel.

Bio courtesy of USEF