Kim Severson wasn’t so sure about Tipperary Liadhnan when he came to her last fall as an uneducated and opinionated 8-year-old.

But he proved he’s come a long way in a year by winning the Virginia Horse Trials CCI* in Lexington, Va., May 17-21.

Severson acquired the ride on “Paddy the Gray” because he was a bit difficult initially. Linda Wachtmeister’s niece, Elizabeth Anne Wachtmeister, owns him and sent him to Plain Dealing Farm for Lucia Strini, Linda’s daughter, to ride.

But Paddy, an 18-hand Irish Sporthorse, reared at the water jump on his first day there, so Severson started riding him instead.

“He was a tough sell at first,” said Anne. “I’m not sure Kim wanted to put the time and effort into him. But at the end of the month she signed on board.”

As his education progressed, he was able to move up the levels fairly quickly. He began competing at preliminary in February.

“He was easy and straightforward cross-country, but he used to be fairly careless in show jumping,” said Severson. “The dressage will come.”

She said that his show jumping has improved. “He would jump in the air, but he didn’t know what to do–he had no clue that his back end had to work too,” she said. “He’s only been jumping for less than a year. But the last time I show jumped him, he had one rail and shook his head. He knew he wasn’t supposed to.”

And no matter how straightforward Paddy has been on cross-country, Severson was still a bit concerned about David O’Connor’s course at Virginia.

This year he added a coffin early on in the course at fence 5AB and 6. “The course needed more ditches,” he said. “The coffin added another dimension.”

O’Connor also took away the set-up fence for the bounce logs at 12 and 13 and made 8C, a narrow jump after a double drop at 8AB, even skinnier.

“I thought the course was pretty hard, very stiff for the level,” said Severson. “The coffin was a difficult question, and the first water rode hard because of the steepness of the hill. I chose not to do the bounce with both of my horses–it would’ve been too easy to make a mistake. The second water rode very well. It was an enormous jump in, but they both jumped it very well.”

Severson also rode her mother’s horse, Wallstreet Whisper, to second place in the CCI*. An 8-year-old Hanoverian cross (by Wallstreet Kid), the mare was a bit spooky for her initial dressage career and ended up with Severson. “She’s quite capable and talented, but very green,” said Severson. “She was really spooky in show jumping–she’d almost land in a trot. She’s mentally immature, but she jumps whatever’s in front of her.”

Severson pulled one rail with each horse in show jumping, but that didn’t affect the standings since every horse in the top eight had one or two rails.

Severson intends to move Paddy up to intermediate this summer and aim for a two-star in the fall, while Wallstreet Whisper will gain some more experience at preliminary.

She’s slowly beginning to build her stable of up-and-coming eventers. “Linda’s supported me for 10 years [at Plain Dealing Farm in Scottsville, Va.] and now her kids are getting ready for college,” explained Severson. “I’m needing to find more owners.”

Severson praised organizers Brian and Penny Ross for running a long format one-star, even though she’s a supporter of the short format at the upper levels.

“I did the long format with both my horses because they’re warmbloods,” she said. “I hoped it would help with fitness. It’s great for that type of horse–it really gets them in front of your leg. It’s wonderful to have the opportunity to do a long format for the horses that need it. The horses were a lot fitter and smarter at the end. But I wouldn’t do it with every horse.”

Figuring Out The Footwork
A beaming Karen O’Connor was also quick to praise the Rosses for continuing to offer steeplechase. Karen won the young horse division with her rising star, Mandiba.

“[The long format is] priceless for the young horse and young rider,” said Karen. “They learn a lot about footwork, and it changes horses for the better. It makes them think about their feet. There’s so much benefit.”

“Dibber” appeared to skip around the difficult cross-country and added 2 time penalties in show jumping to win with 39.5 penalties.

“He’s yet to have to try hard,” said Karen. “The CCI was tons harder this year with lots of questions. He answered all the questions and was very brave.”
She professed great excitement about the 7-year-old Irish Thoroughbred (Master Imp–High Dolly), who was imported from Ireland as a 4-year-old and is owned by Joan Goswell.

Dibber has been in fabulous form this spring, winning the short format one-star in Ocala, Fla., in April. That earlier event may have been the reason that entries were down in the one-star this spring. Twenty-two horses contested the young horse division last year but six competed this spring.

O’Connor Event Team Magic
Karen’s win wasn’t the only accomplishment that the O’Connor event team celebrated after the ribbons were awarded. Lauren Kieffer, a working student for the O’Connors, won the young rider division of the CCI* with Woodrow.

Kieffer, 19, first rode with the O’Connors in June, 2005 at the O’Connor event camp. She sought help with her other horse, Snooze Alarm, and when it was over she begged to return as a working student. Now she’s leasing David’s four-star mount, Tigger Too, in addition to riding Snooze Alarm and Woodrow.

The entire O’Connor team showed up to cheer Kieffer on as “Wilson” cleared each fence with mere inches to spare in show jumping.

“He’s an economical jumper,” said Kieffer with a laugh. “He just scrapes by.” They did have the last rail down, but Kieffer blamed herself for “just wanting to finish.”

But that wasn’t enough to move her out of first place, a position she held throughout the competition.

Kieffer, Mt. Carmel, Ill., now resides in The Plains, Va., so she can work for the O’Connors. She bought Woodrow from John Williams last year and completed the one-star at Morven Park (Va.) last fall, but not without problems.

“He was out of control there,” admitted Kieffer. She said that Karen and David have helped her immensely since she started working there. “I could barely get around preliminary last year,” she said. Now she hopes to ride in the two-star North American Young Riders Championships with either Snooze Alarm or Tigger Too.

Winter And Thier Dedicated To Improving
Geniuses are known for being quirky, and that description certainly fits Kingpin, Mike Winter’s CIC** winner at the Virginia Horse Trials.

A 10-year-old Irish Thoroughbred (Furisto–Noble Girl), Kingpin’s incredible talent led Winter to move him up quickly in the three years that he’s been riding him.

The pair placed seventh at the Foxhall Cup CCI*** (Ga.) in 2005 and finished the Red Hills CIC*** (Fla.) in 2006. But their progress came to an abrupt halt when “Billy” had two stops early on in the course at the Rolex Kentucky CCI**** and Winter chose to retire him.

“He went around on talent and ability, but he’s not really broke yet,” said Winter, of Newnan, Ga. “At the four-star level it wasn’t enough to be super-talented. He didn’t have the foundation, and I didn’t show up that day.”

So Winter went to work filling in the holes in Billy’s education and has run him intermediate twice since Rolex Kentucky with good results. “I’d go advanced, but this is all that’s available at this time of year,” said Winter. “I need to figure him out and figure out the bitting.”

Winter found that a change in bits in the two-star wasn’t working when Billy was ratable but unhappy. He plans to return to the bit he used at Foxhall, which isn’t as strong.

Winter has also gained some insight from working with the Canadian eventing team coach, David O’Connor.

“David has forced me to confront weaknesses and holes in this horse’s training. We’re having growing pains. Hopefully, we’ll come out better. I want to be competitive at the next Olympics.”

John Thier is another rider who believes that he’s just now getting to know his horse. He won the young rider division of the CIC** with Everest.
Thier, 17, bought “Toby” last year from Nathalie Bouckaert-Pollard after his other mount needed time off to recover from a neurological disorder.

Toby, a 9-year-old American Thoroughbred (Just Like That–Tokyo Flight), had competed intermediate and advanced with Bouckaert-Pollard and was just what Thier needed to further his eventing career.

“It takes me about a year to click with a horse. Just this spring everything came together,” said Thier.

The pair completed the two-star at Virginia last fall and contested the one-star on the Area VIII team at the North American Young Rider’s Championships in Lexington, Va., in July.

Thier has his mother, Nancy Thier, videotape every lesson he takes. “I couldn’t do this without my Mom,” he said. “I watch [the videotape] before my next lesson. I’m serious about anything I do. I want to keep on riding through college, stay competitive and committed.”

He was pleased with his win, but he found places in all three phases that he could improve. “Dressage was a lot better, but I left a lot of points out,” he admitted. “It wasn’t as good of a test as I can ride. The rail in show jumping was a terrible mistake on my part.”

He’s also been working on riding efficiently cross-country because he’s had trouble making time. “Toby automatically brings himself back,” said Thier. “I’m working on riding forward to the base of the fence. I try to be more efficient, make tight turns and put my foot on the ropes. I try to land and go right away.”