Another big year comes to a close but like always with plenty of ups and downs!

Firstly I feel very fortunate that Ben and Cara are getting so much pleasure from their ponies and full credit to Ruth for the enormous effort she puts in to the Karlswood Mini Team; day in and day out!

It’s been a stellar year for me in terms of competing and full credit to my background team at Karlswood, aswell as my owners, partners and incredible horses; seeing my Longines World Ranking jump from 101st to 16th in 11 months is thanks to you all!

I was delighted to be a part of the winning Irish team at CSIO5* Ocala this year for the Longines League of Nations and a part of the winning team at the incredible Soers Arena in CHIO5* Aachen. Pferde Woche (A Swiss Magazine) awarded me the title of leading Nation’s Cup rider of the year having jumped a total of fifteen Clear Rounds on the team competitions this season.

Individually the highlights include 2nd Place in the CSI5* GP in Wellington with K.I Maurice, runner up again with Fancy De Kergane in the CSIO5* GP at Falsterbo, an international win with K.I Fermoy at the CSIO5* Ocala as well as a super Double Clear in CSIO5* Grand Prix of Rotterdam. Double Clears at the Nations Cups of Rome, Roeser, Prague and Falsterbo were all fantastic moments for me and all of my background team.

I’m excited and humbled by what we have turned Karlswood into. The scale of our business has developed to have a huge reach world-wide in terms of our coaching, competitions, horse purchases and sales - it is something that I’m extremely proud of and appreciative of. The entire Karlswood Team are a joy to work with and we all get immense pleasure in seeing the incredible success of our students with the highlight this year undoubtedly being Team Gold in the European Young Rider Championships for Max and Tom Wachman.

I’ll enjoy the few days rest over Christmas but come December 26th it’s very much onto the next and how can we be better next year…

In a world where we are constantly judged by others and by ourselves, I think it’s important to reflect on the good things but most importantly something that I like to remind myself regularly; “ believe that you belong…”

Merry Christmas everyone

Lots of love,

Cian.

HIGHLIGHTS OF CSI5* THERMAL

Cian O’Connor and Belvedere placed 4th in the CSI5* MLSJ Individual Class and Quick Step placed 5th in the CSI2* Grand Prix as well as won the National 1.35m Class.

Nikki Walker and 8yo Leicester jump Double Clear in the CSI2* Grand Prix. Panther jumped Clear to place 7th in the CSI5* MLSJ Individual Class.

Anastasia Nielsen jumped her first CSI5* Grand Prix with Bravo Boy to be Clear over the fences with two unlucky faults for time.

Max Wachman and Lexington placed 7th in the CSI5* 1.50m Winning Round Class.

KARLSWOOD STUDENT ON THE SPOTLIGHT
Rachel Penner

NAME AND WHERE ARE YOU FROM
Rachel Penner, from Aspen Colorado

WHEN DID YOU JOIN TEAM KARLSWOOD?
I joined Team Karlswood earlier this year in April 2024, just after the WEF Circuit.

WHAT IS YOUR FAVOURITE PART ABOUT BEING BASED IN IRELAND?
My favorite part of basing in Ireland is getting to be at Karlswood. The facilities are unmatched, and the horses feel so happy there, especially getting to have so much space and a variety of environments with the track, field, and several arenas.

HOW WOULD YOU DESCRIBE KARLSWOOD IN ONE WORD?
Cohesive.

HOW HAS YOUR EXPERIENCE BEEN SO FAR?
I had high expectations coming in, but my experience with Cian has exceeded those expectations in all regards. He’s built such an incredible team, and everyone from grooms to riders to trainers is so focused. An environment like that so seamlessly lends itself to improvement in my riding as well as my horsemanship.