I THINK many people would have been surprised last week that Cian O’Connor’s emergence into the top 10 of the Longines World rankings was for the first time in his career. I certainly was. Cian has long been Ireland’s most recognisable show jumper, most capped team rider and Ireland’s only equestrian Olympic medallist.

“This time last year I would have made a conscious effort to try to tackle the world rankings a bit more and have a go at it,” he told The Irish Field. “If I go back a little bit to when I started riding, it was all about Nations Cups and getting on teams. I always had one good horse but now, the way the sport has gone, it’s so competitive and there are so many shows, I decided I wanted to try and have a go.”

And that is where Karlswood Partners has come in; a new partnership between Cian and some of his loyal owners to build up a string of horses for himself. “We’ve put together a very nice team of horses with a syndicate and through those horses I’m very lucky and very grateful that these results are now coming in.”

Karlswood is a busy place with students, clients and coaches. It’s a hub of activity when The Irish Field visits on a stunning summer’s day. Cian’s form – both in and out of the saddle – has rarely been better. A string of top results in five-star Grands Prix has propelled him individually up to the top of the sport and he has put it on the record that a big five-star CSIO Grand Prix win is the goal for the year, as well as rising in the rankings, which has been ticked off.

“I kind of came to a stage where I felt if I want to do it for a few more years, I feel I need to have a group of horses that is separate to the coaching which is obviously a big part of Karlswood and I am very lucky to have excellent coaches here. That’s why I came up with the idea of Karlswood Partners,” said Cian who explained the main people involved are himself and owner Pat Crean among others.

A lot of the recent success has come on Iron Man, the gelding who came from the Dutch stable of Leopold Van Asten last summer. Initially, Cian struggled to get to grips with the grey but it has all come together and, in the last four Grands Prix, the pair have been double clear. “Pat Crean was there on the weekend in Fontainebleau to watch him and he gets a great kick out of that.”

Ben O’Connor riding Million Dollar Baby, winners of the 128cm RDS Dublin Horse Show qualifier held at The Meadows \ Tori O'Connor Photography

Support system

A walk through the barns revealed a raft of stable stars including the now gelded Fermoy, owned by the Stoute family from Keysoe who are excellent owners for Cian and supported him at the 2024 Paris Olympics with Maurice, now ridden by Kiera Stoute.

Bentley de Sury came from another of Cian’s student, Monaco athlete Anastasia Nielson, who is trained by Karlswood coach Cameron Hanley. He won the five-star World Cup in Ocala earlier in the season and could be aimed for this summer’s European championship.

Support from the Magnier and Wachman family has been invaluable too. “One of the reasons why I’m so high in the rankings now is because I had the opportunity to produce Fancy de Kergane last year and he jumped clear after clear in the Nations Cups and he shot up the ranks and that’s thanks to Susan Magnier too. Now it’s great to see Max getting on well with him. So I suppose having all that support, and now this year, with Pat Crean coming on board, US rider Rachel Penner is here; she is a great rider and she’s involved with some horses as well with us.”

WOW Trading made headlines in this paper last week when signing for the €1.2 million top lot at the recent Aloga Auction. That partnership is one between Cian and the Wachman brothers, Max and Tom, who have inherited the family business acumen.

“The goal with WOW Trading is to produce horses to Olympic level, and to produce horses so that we can have a pool of horses because, realistically, buying older horses is very difficult; they’re not for sale or they’re very expensive, so it’s prohibitive.

“Max is actually in Belgium now doing a little bit of training with Jos Lansink and he’s looking out for some horses there. Tom is finishing college here in UCD. The boys are very focused on the same line as I am in terms of buying and selling horses and bringing horses to Olympic level,” Cian adds of the brothers who have been in the Karlswood training system for many years with a huge amount of success.

Timeline

Cian has made no secret that the Olympic Games is what keeps driving him forward. I feel like I ask the question in every interview, how many more Olympics would you want; so this time, is he putting a timeline on his career?

“I suppose it can’t go forever and it also depends on the support that you have. I have worked with [Canadian rider] Nikki Walker for a long, long time and Gerry Mullins does a lot of the coaching with Nikki now. It’s great that they have been awarded the 2028 Olympic Games at Santa Anita [LA], which her mother, Belinda Stronach, runs for the 1/st Racing Group.

“With LA, given the fact that everyone around me is so focused on it, the fact that it’s at Nikki’s track, the fact that Max and Tom are working towards it… There’s a great vibe around the place working towards that…

“Will I stop after it? I don’t know. A couple of years ago, someone said ‘you said you’re going stop after Paris’, and I said, yeah but I don’t feel that old!” said the 45-year-old who is certainly not old in the sport of professional show jumping.

“Let’s see how things go. There’s a burning desire in me every single day I get up to try and win an individual gold medal. And I’m not saying I won’t stop until that happens but I feel I have unfinished business.”

Family life

The pony barn is also delivering at Karlswood as Cian and his wife Ruth’s children, Ben and Cara, having started to make their mark in the show jumping circuit. During our visit, The Million Dollar Baby and Lisboy Black Magic are both in the farrier barn getting a fresh set of shoes before the first Dublin Horse Show qualifier that weekend.

True to O’Connor form, Ben went and finished first and fourth and secured his golden RDS ticket on the first time of trying; a chip off the old block. “I’m so proud of them. It’s something that they love doing,” said their proud father. “I have to take no credit at all. It’s full marks to Ruth who does everything with the ponies and Siobhan is a fantastic help to her.

“Cara and Ben go to school up the road and they ride before and after school. It’s a hard job. I wouldn’t say we’re pushing them into it, because everyone finds their niche, but I suppose it’s nice that they understand what all this madness is about, and what Karlswood is and what my job is.

“I think for children, it’s a great hobby. They learn empathy and how to respect an animal and how to deal with the ups and downs.

“You can put all the work in you want, but there’s no guarantees and at a young age it’s good for them to learn those challenges. But if they really want to go into the business or not, Ruth and I are very relaxed about that part.”