Karen O'Connor
Encyclopedia
Karen Lende O'Connor is an American
equestrian
. She was born February 17, 1958. Her family includes Joanne and Phillip Lende and brothers Steven and Chip. She grew up in Bolton, Massachusetts
.
Karen got her first horse
, Midnight, for her 11th birthday, and began eventing through Pony Club
. She later owned a Connemara
named Erin's Shamrock, who took her to her first Three-Day Event
at Radnor
. The pair eventually moved up to the Advanced level. Karen began competing internationally in 1979 when she was 21 years old.
In 1993, Karen married longtime boyfriend and fellow equestrian David O'Connor
in Virginia. Together they formed the famous O'Connor event team.
At the Rolex Kentucky Event 2007, Karen rode a 14.1 American Sport Horse Pony named Theodore O'Connor
. It was the first time a pony had competed at the top-level international event, and the pair finished third overall. Karen and "Teddy" won individual and team gold medals at the Pan American Games in 2007. On May 28, 2008, Teddy was euthanized following a freak accident at the O'Connor's farm.
On July 29, 2008, the United States Equestrian Federation announced that O'Connor would join the 2008 Olympic eventing team with the 9-year-old gelding Mandiba. She also represented the United States at the 2010 World Equestrian Games with Mandiba.
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United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
equestrian
Equestrianism
Equestrianism more often known as riding, horseback riding or horse riding refers to the skill of riding, driving, or vaulting with horses...
. She was born February 17, 1958. Her family includes Joanne and Phillip Lende and brothers Steven and Chip. She grew up in Bolton, Massachusetts
Bolton, Massachusetts
As of the census of 2000, there were 4,148 people, 1,424 households, and 1,201 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 1,476 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 97.76% White, 0.19% African American, 0.05% Native American, 1.30%...
.
Karen got her first horse
Horse
The horse is one of two extant subspecies of Equus ferus, or the wild horse. It is a single-hooved mammal belonging to the taxonomic family Equidae. The horse has evolved over the past 45 to 55 million years from a small multi-toed creature into the large, single-toed animal of today...
, Midnight, for her 11th birthday, and began eventing through Pony Club
Pony Club
Pony Club is an international youth organization devoted to the educating youths about horses and riding. Pony Club organizations exist in over 30 countries worldwide...
. She later owned a Connemara
Connemara
Connemara is a district in the west of Ireland consisting of a broad peninsula between Killary Harbour and Kilkieran Bay in the west of County Galway.-Overview:...
named Erin's Shamrock, who took her to her first Three-Day Event
Eventing
Eventing is an equestrian event comprising dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test requiring mastery of several types of riding...
at Radnor
Radnor Township, Pennsylvania
Radnor Township is a township in Delaware County, Pennsylvania, United States. As of the 2000 census, the township population was 30,878. Radnor Township lies along the Main Line, a collection of highly affluent Philadelphia suburbs....
. The pair eventually moved up to the Advanced level. Karen began competing internationally in 1979 when she was 21 years old.
In 1993, Karen married longtime boyfriend and fellow equestrian David O'Connor
David O'Connor (equestrian)
David John O'Connor is a retired equestrian rider. He won many international competitions as well as the gold medal for the US in the 2000 Olympic Games. He is only the second American to have won the Badminton Horse Trials. O'Connor sits as the President of the US Equestrian Federation...
in Virginia. Together they formed the famous O'Connor event team.
At the Rolex Kentucky Event 2007, Karen rode a 14.1 American Sport Horse Pony named Theodore O'Connor
Theodore O'Connor
Theodore O'Connor , nicknamed "Teddy," was a 14.1¾ hand pony who competed internationally at the highest level of eventing. Ridden by Olympian Karen O'Connor, he performed exceedingly well at such events as the Rolex Kentucky Three Day and the Pan American Games...
. It was the first time a pony had competed at the top-level international event, and the pair finished third overall. Karen and "Teddy" won individual and team gold medals at the Pan American Games in 2007. On May 28, 2008, Teddy was euthanized following a freak accident at the O'Connor's farm.
On July 29, 2008, the United States Equestrian Federation announced that O'Connor would join the 2008 Olympic eventing team with the 9-year-old gelding Mandiba. She also represented the United States at the 2010 World Equestrian Games with Mandiba.
Accomplishments
2008 :- Rolex Kentucky Three DayRolex Kentucky Three DayThe Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event is an eventing competition held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The Rolex Kentucky is a CCI**** eventing competition, and the only four-star show in the Western Hemisphere. Four stars is the highest level of competition, the same level of...
- 6th Theodore O'Connor
- 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Hong Kong/Beijing, China
- Team USA- Mandiba
- Florida Fall International CCI**
- 2nd That’s Smart
2007 :
- Rolex Kentucky Three DayRolex Kentucky Three DayThe Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event is an eventing competition held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The Rolex Kentucky is a CCI**** eventing competition, and the only four-star show in the Western Hemisphere. Four stars is the highest level of competition, the same level of...
- 3rd Theodore O'Connor
- 15th Upstage
- 2007 Pan American GamesEquestrian at the 2007 Pan American GamesThe Equestrian events included three disciplines: dressage, eventing, and show jumping, and were held at the Deodoro Military Club.The competition is broken down into an individual and team competition for each discipline, for a total of 42 medals awarded...
- Theodore O'ConnorTheodore O'ConnorTheodore O'Connor , nicknamed "Teddy," was a 14.1¾ hand pony who competed internationally at the highest level of eventing. Ridden by Olympian Karen O'Connor, he performed exceedingly well at such events as the Rolex Kentucky Three Day and the Pan American Games...
: Team and individual gold medals
- Theodore O'Connor
2006 :
- FEI World Equestrian Games
- 42nd individually Upstage
- Rolex Kentucky Three DayRolex Kentucky Three DayThe Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event is an eventing competition held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The Rolex Kentucky is a CCI**** eventing competition, and the only four-star show in the Western Hemisphere. Four stars is the highest level of competition, the same level of...
- 12th Upstage
- Jersey Fresh CCI***
- 9th Theodore O'Connor
2005 :
- Rolex Kentucky Three DayRolex Kentucky Three DayThe Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event is an eventing competition held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The Rolex Kentucky is a CCI**** eventing competition, and the only four-star show in the Western Hemisphere. Four stars is the highest level of competition, the same level of...
- 7th Upstage
- Jersey Fresh CCI***
- 3rd Joker's Wild
2004 :
- Rolex Kentucky Three DayRolex Kentucky Three DayThe Rolex Kentucky Three Day Event is an eventing competition held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky. The Rolex Kentucky is a CCI**** eventing competition, and the only four-star show in the Western Hemisphere. Four stars is the highest level of competition, the same level of...
- 12th Upstage
- 15th Bally Mar
- 17th Grand Slam
- Fair Hill International CCI***
- 8th - Joker's Wild
2003 :
- Individual Silver, Pan American GamesPan American GamesThe Pan-American or Pan American Games are a major event in the Americas featuring summer and formerly winter sports, in which thousands of athletes participate in a variety of competitions. The Pan American Games are the second largest multi-sport event after the Summer Olympics...
, Fair HillFair Hill Training CenterFair Hill Training Center is a racehorse training center based in Fair Hill, Maryland. It was owned by William duPont, Jr. of the well-known Dupont family who bought the land in 1926. Dupont invested a substantial amount of money to make the property a leading breeding and training farm for his...
, MarylandMarylandMaryland is a U.S. state located in the Mid Atlantic region of the United States, bordering Virginia, West Virginia, and the District of Columbia to its south and west; Pennsylvania to its north; and Delaware to its east...
- Joker's Wild
- Fair Hill International CCIConcours Complet InternationalThe Concours Complet International and the Concours International Combiné are ratings for the equestrian sport of eventing, given by the international governing body for the sport, the FEI....
***- 1st Grand SlamGrand Slam (horse)Grand Slam is an American thoroughbred Stallion racehorse. Trained by D. Wayne Lukas, the dark bay son of Gone West was purchased at the September 1996 Keeneland Sales as a yearling for $300,000 by Robert & Christina Baker, William Mack and David Cornstein.Sired by Gone West and out of Bright...
- 1st Grand Slam
2001 :
- Foxhall Cup CCI***
- 1st Prince Panache
2000 :
- Team Bronze Olympic Games2000 Summer OlympicsThe Sydney 2000 Summer Olympic Games or the Millennium Games/Games of the New Millennium, officially known as the Games of the XXVII Olympiad, were an international multi-sport event which was celebrated between 15 September and 1 October 2000 in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia...
, SydneySydneySydney is the most populous city in Australia and the state capital of New South Wales. Sydney is located on Australia's south-east coast of the Tasman Sea. As of June 2010, the greater metropolitan area had an approximate population of 4.6 million people...
, Australia- Prince Panache
- Rolex Kentucky CCI****
- 3rd Prince Panache
1999 :
- Rolex Kentucky CCI****
- 1st Prince Panache
- 2nd Regal Scot
1998 :
- Team Bronze World Equestrian GamesWorld Equestrian GamesThe FEI World Equestrian Games are the major international championships for equestrianism, and administered by the Fédération Equestre Internationale . The games have been held every four years, halfway between sets of consecutive Summer Olympic Games, since 1990...
, RomeRomeRome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
, Italy- Prince Panache
- Badminton CCI****
- 5th
- Rolex CCI****
- 5th
1997 :
- Rolex CCI****
- 1st Worth the Trust
- Member USETUnited States Equestrian TeamThe United States Equestrian Team, or USET, was founded in 1950 at the Coates estate on van Beuren Road in Morristown, New Jersey, and is the international equestrian team for the United States...
, European Open Three Day Event Championship, BurghleyBurghleyBurghley may refer to:*William Cecil, 1st Baron Burghley , chief minister of queen Elizabeth I of England*Burghley House, a sixteenth century country house in Lincolnshire, built for the above...
, Great Britain
1996 :
- Team Silver Olympic Games1996 Summer OlympicsThe 1996 Summer Olympics of Atlanta, officially known as the Games of the XXVI Olympiad and unofficially known as the Centennial Olympics, was an international multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1996 in Atlanta, Georgia, United States....
, Atlanta, U.S.A.- Biko
1995 :
- Badminton CCI****
- 3rd Biko
- Checkmate CCI***
- 3rd
- European Open Three Day Event Championship, Italy
- 8th
1994 :
- World Equestrian GamesEventing World ChampionshipThe Eventing World Championship, or the eventing competition in the World Equestrian Games , began in 1966. It includes both a team and individual competition for the best horses and riders in the sport of eventing...
, The HagueThe HagueThe Hague is the capital city of the province of South Holland in the Netherlands. With a population of 500,000 inhabitants , it is the third largest city of the Netherlands, after Amsterdam and Rotterdam...
, Netherlands- 11th individual
- Burghley CCI****
- 5th Prince Panache
1993 :
- Punchestown CCI***, Ireland
- 1st Shannon
- 3rd Enniskerry
1991 :
- Rolex KentuckyKentuckyThe Commonwealth of Kentucky is a state located in the East Central United States of America. As classified by the United States Census Bureau, Kentucky is a Southern state, more specifically in the East South Central region. Kentucky is one of four U.S. states constituted as a commonwealth...
CCI***- 1st Mr. Maxwell
- Burghley CCI***
- 3rd Mr. Maxwell
1989 :
- Fair Hill CCI***
- 1st Nos Ecus
1988 :
- Member USET Three Day Squad, Olympic Games1988 Summer OlympicsThe 1988 Summer Olympics, officially known as the Games of the XXIV Olympiad, were an all international multi-sport events celebrated from September 17 to October 2, 1988 in Seoul, South Korea. They were the second summer Olympic Games to be held in Asia and the first since the 1964 Summer Olympics...
, SeoulSeoulSeoul , officially the Seoul Special City, is the capital and largest metropolis of South Korea. A megacity with a population of over 10 million, it is the largest city proper in the OECD developed world...
, Korea
1986 :
- Member USET Squad, World ChampionshipsEventing World ChampionshipThe Eventing World Championship, or the eventing competition in the World Equestrian Games , began in 1966. It includes both a team and individual competition for the best horses and riders in the sport of eventing...
, Gawler, Australia
1985 :
- Chesterland CCI***
- 1st Castlewellan
1984 :
- BoekeloBoekeloBoekelo is a Dutch village in the municipality of Enschede in the Eastern Netherlands, the population is estimated at approximately 2500. It is located just west of Usselo. The village is known for the Military Boekelo Enschede, an international equestrian event.It is also known for the salt...
CCI***, Holland- 1st The Optimist
1979 :
- BadmintonBadminton Horse TrialsThe Badminton Horse Trials is a three-day event, one of only six annual Concours Complet International Four Star **** events as classified by the Fédération Équestre Internationale , which takes place in April or May each year in the park of Badminton House, the seat of the Dukes of Beaufort in...
CCI****- 10 March Brown