History was made today at the Kentucky Rolex!! A PONY took third place!! He kept climbing up the ranks with great performances. He had a solid 15th place after dressage, climbed to 10th with a nearly perfect cross-country ride. The Rolex reporting said of his eventing that Teddy "clearly ready, met every fence dead-on." Of her cross-country ride, Karen O'Connor said, "It was a great learning experience. I'm still drunk on 'pony power.'" And THEN at stadium jumping, he jumped a clear round under time. He earned third!!! And, in fact, the first and second horse jumped clear rounds, but they had time faults, so Teddy's stadium round was better than theirs!!! I love pony power!!! The winning Rolex team was Clayton Fredericks on Ben Along Time and second place went to Phillip Dutton and Connaught. But our little Theodore O'Connor made a little teeny place in history with his enormous courageous heart. I hope Hailee gets to meet him some day!
This weekend is Rolex at the Kentucky Horse Park! I am sorry to be missing it, but have to focus on work for now! This year is a special Rolex because for the first time in history a PONY is competing in this major Four Star event!! Theodore O'Connor is being ridden by Karen O'Connor, a U.S. Olympian and spouse to David O'Connor, Olympic Gold Medalist and President of the United States Equestrian Federation. Theodore O'Connor's pet name by Karen is Theadorable. He is only 14' 1 3/4", so he is officially shorter than my sweet Hailee! He was 7th after the dressage test and he is 9th now, after the cross country. I hope he kicks butt tomorrow at the stadium jumping competition. I can hardly believe that he managed the huge, maximum-sized jumps of the cross country. And they say that this year's cross-country is much longer than any previously! Karen says of Teddy, "He doesn't know he's small. He thinks anything is possible!" What a good pony! I believe that Hailee could produce such fabulous kinds of ponies too! Anyway, he is 3/4ths thoroughred and a dash of Arabian and Shetland. And guess what? No surprise. He is heavily related to Violet and Hailee. He has Count Fleet, Reigh Count, Fair Play, Teddy, Discovery, La Troienne, Plucky Liege, Nasrullah, Sir Gallahad, Bend Or, and Questionnaire in his blood lines, to name a few of their relations. He even has Honest Pleasure in his background, an indirect relation to my girls! You can read more about this macho, history-making pony at the following links: