O'Connor Upstages the Competition at Rocking Horse II
By Amber Heintzberger
For HorsesDaily.com

Altoona, FL - February 26, 2004 - Karen O’Connor and Upstage were victorious at the Rocking Horse 2 one-day Advanced Horse Trials in Altoona, FL with 43.9 penalties, adding only 5.2 time penalties to their 38.7 dressage score. Close behind with 46.3, O’Connor also claimed third place with Bally Mar in the same division and took third place just behind husband David, riding Outlawed, with Joker’s Wild. Grand Slam, ridden by Karen, placed third in Division C. It was a stellar event for Team O’Connor.

Karen said that David was pleased with Outlawed but disappointed that he had to scratch his other rides due to travel plans. The event had been planned for Tuesday, but fierce lightning forced the organizers to postpone things until Thursday. David O’Connor had to fly to Italy for an FEI meeting and thus could not ride all of his horses in the event.

Karen said, “All of my horses had a run at Intermediate here at Rocking Horse 1, which gave them the flexibility of a smaller course. They all went really well for the one-day Advanced.” She said that she also had a good training session with Capt. Mark Phillips and George Morris recently, which has got her ready for the season.

O’Connor rode three of her four horses on Thursday before the event was rescheduled; only Bally Mar remained for Thursday morning. “Upstage continues to get better every season,” she said of her winner. “His mentality gets quieter and quieter. He’s a great friend and a great horse to ride.”

Warming up for the season two weeks ago, O’Connor and two of her four entries walked away with blue ribbons at the Rocking Horse 1 Horse Trials on February 6-8, 2004. Bally Mar started out tied for fourth place with 33.50 penalties and moved in to first adding only 4.40 time penalties on cross-country to finish with 37.90.

The 17-year-old mare was given to Karen to ride two years ago when long time rider Jim Stamets died of a heart condition. Already seasoned at the three-star level, the mare has competed at Blenheim (GBR) and Fair Hill (MD).

O’Connor and Bally Mar have a special connection: she has known the mare’s owners, John and Diane Pingree, who hosted the first North American Young Riders Championships, for many years. Also, Bally Mar is out of Bally Cor, the famous horse belonging to Tad Coffin, for whom O’Connor was once a working student.

“She’s a chestnut mare and is strong in her personality,” she said. “It took a lot of time and consistency to come on the same page. But as they say about mares, when you get a good one you have a great one.”

Things started to click last year and they were fifth out of 107 entries at Blenheim last fall. This spring they are headed for the four-star at Rolex Kentucky, from which they scratched two years ago due to the rain. That year they also retired at Burghley, so O’Connor hopes that the four-star experience will become a more positive one for them this year.

“Two years later I feel completely comfortable trying this quest again,” she said. “Jim’s two dreams for this horse were that she win Mare of the Year, which she did with him and placed second with me last year by one point, and that she go around Kentucky.”

This weekend was a promising start. “From the moment I got her she was all business,” she said. “I was delighted that that’s something she’s starting to do. I had a lot of horses to ride and I got on her and she was ready to go.”

O’Connor’s old campaigner, Grand Slam, also claimed victory at Rocking Horse 1, finishing on 40.00 penalties, having added two cross-country time penalties to his dressage score. “He continues to be competitive,” she said. “He was a little nervous in the dressage, but it’s early in the season. I’m aiming him at Kentucky for the CCI.”

Two weeks ago Karen also rode Upstage to eighth place (47.30) and Joker’s Wild to ninth place (62.0) in their respective divisions of Intermediate. “Upstage was very impulsive on cross-country,” she said. “He thought it was the biggest party in ten years.” Keeping him in check cost her 10.80 time penalties.

“On Joker I had a real blonde moment. He was the fourth of my four horses. I don’t like to go fast but I take tight lines to make the time. On the final combination I took it too tight and it didn’t work out. Darren Chiacchia did the same thing and we were laughing later that two members of the WEG team made the same mistake. Mark Phillips has said many times that if you get greedy you get in trouble.”

Karen was happy with the Advanced course on Thursday. “It was similar to every year but they had some new things in it,” she said. “The end rode more difficult with the football jump up on the bank. The lines to the jumps made it possible to get close to the time without going mach speed. Morgan’s great at placing jumps off a turn in a field.”

Organizer Shelley Lambert said that a few minor schedule changes helped the event run smoothly. Cross-country had to run before show jumping in order to leave time for the course builders to move portable fences around before the weekend event, which started the next day.

Lambert explained that the event is offered to give riders a chance to compete in a horse trials and qualify early in the season to ride in three-day events. She said that she and her business partner Alice Andrews are considering adding a fall Advanced horse trials as well.