Recalling being rubbed raw by 45 minutes of sitting trot and worse during training sessions with USET eventing coach Jack LeGoff, USCTA Rider of the Year David O'Connor wondered at the Hall of Fame dinner, "How do you get back at him in a two-minute speech?" But O'Connor was always more grateful than sore, even in his learning days, and noted that Jack "started us on a road of education that has never been seen before or since. That education was not always the easiest to receive." O'Connor asked with a sly smile, "What rider doesn't have in their memoirs being called an abscess on a horse's back?"

Even so, the pain was worth it, as O'Connor pointed out: his mentor brought the U.S. "more medals than any coach in the history of the sport. He was the creator of a sport that went from being the hobby of a few to the passion of thousands."

Jack gives few lessons these days, preferring to enjoy his homes in Pennsylvania, France and Arizona and serve as an international judge and member of the FEI three-day event committee.

In his modest acceptance speech, Jack thanked his Hall of Fame Friends for helping him. "They all had something to do with where I got," he noted. "I'm very proud to see the USCTA the way it is today, thanks to all those people. The sport of eventing is team work.

Shown here are David O'Connor and Jack LeGoff, still friends even after eons of sitting trot