Marilyn Little

About Marilyn Little

Marilyn Little is an American rider who has competed at the top level in two separate disciplines, jumping and eventing. The two records are kept apart: no result, ranking, win count or medal is carried across between them. Born on 1 December 1981, she grew up riding at Raylyn Farms, began competing at six and rode her first jumping Grand Prix at 16. She took up eventing in 2010 and completed her first CCI4* in 2012.

Her eventing record is headed by individual and team gold at the 2015 Pan American Games in Toronto, with the equestrian competition staged at Caledon, riding RF Scandalous. Those are the only senior international championship medals on her record and they are eventing medals. With the same mare she finished third overall at the Kentucky CCI4* in 2018 and took the USEF CCI4* Eventing National Championship as the highest-placed American. Earlier site data dated the Pan American golds to 2011; the Games she won were the 2015 edition.

In jumping she won the Longines FEI World Cup Jumping North American League qualifier at Live Oak International with Corona 93 in February 2016 — a qualifying leg, not a World Cup Final — and returned her competitive focus to international jumping from 2024 with La Contessa. That partnership won the Caledon CSIO3* Nations Cup and Grand Prix in 2025 and the Wellington CSIO4* Nations Cup in 2026, and was second with the United States at the 2026 Rotterdam League of Nations. She stood 31st in the Longines Jumping Rankings with 2,239 points on the June 2026 list.

She has no verified competitive Olympic start in either discipline and is not described as an Olympian. Both of her World Championship places ended before competition: she was withdrawn and substituted with RF Scandalous before the eventing at the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, and withdrawn and replaced with La Contessa before the 2026 FEI Jumping World Championships in Aachen. Neither is a start and neither is held as a championship appearance.

Two completed FEI yellow warning card decisions stand on the public record. In April 2013, in eventing at the Kentucky CCI4*, she received a yellow warning card for incorrect behaviour: leaving the venue after a fall without submitting to examination by the Official Medical Officer. On 18 February 2017, in jumping at the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, she received a yellow warning card for incorrect behaviour after her groom passed a bag over the fence separating FEI stabling from the rest of the show grounds; it was recorded as the first yellow card within the relevant twelve-month period, a warning with no suspension imposed in the reported decision.