Photos courtesy of Laura O’Connor
It’s easy to find old timers at the horse shows talking about how things used to be. The ‘good old days’ of a manageable horse show circuit. The people who invested in the Team and matched riders with horses and prioritized our country over themselves. The people who put young riders on the map by intertwining their careers with mentors, horses, connections, and owners. The people who made this sport about others and not themselves and quietly saw through the larger vision of creating excellence in America from natural talent, built up from the ground with hard work. Paul O’Connor was one of those people.
O’Connor helped create those good old days by supporting a young generation of hunter and jumper riders who, decades later, still serve our sport today.
Paul Daniel O’Connor, Jr. passed away in January at his home in Reston, VA, at the age of 87. O’Connor, who was admitted to the U.S. Naval Academy, was an Air Force Veteran, a lawyer, a businessman, and a horseman.
“He taught me everything about horses,” his daughter Laura O’Connor tells The Plaid Horse. “He’s the one that taught me how to pick hooves properly, how to put a bit on a bridle, and everything you can think of. Take your time, be slow, don’t rush the horse, crucial to keep your tax box clean. Never messy, always ready for the next day. All these things that I think are so important and I wish there was more of it today. When he was a kid he had his own pony named Rusty. He would ride his pony to school and back, which was pretty cool.”
Growing up in a horse family with his mother riding, Paul O’Connor chose to raise his kids in the same manner. “My dad was one of a kind. Back then it seemed like there were lots of mother and daughter partnerships. As a junior rider my dad was my groom, truck driver, coach, and all-around support system,” says Laura. “He taught me as a young girl that I could accomplish anything I set my mind to…believe in yourself and stay strong through all the ups and downs. Words I live by daily. The show world was lucky to have the drive and support of a great equestrian like Dad, as I was, as his grateful daughter. He will be missed.”
While spending time with the horses with Laura, Paul shared the skills of being a lawyer with his son Steve, who recently retired from being a patent attorney for pharmaceutical companies, and his love of music with his daughter Sherry, with whom they sang and played many instruments together. “My dad could yodel like nobody else,” says Laura.
“So many top riders at the time—people like Peter Lombardo, Lainie Wimberly, Steve Heinecke, and Francesca Mazella all had a parent that was so close to them and so involved in the sport,” adds Laura. “I think being such a big part of grooming and driving the truck is what got him so invested in the sport. When he decided he wanted to ride, they didn’t have any smaller divisions, so he just started jumping the 3’6” Amateur Owner Hunters. He didn’t have a choice. I think it was pretty gutsy for him to go out and do that.”
From showing with his daughter and showing himself, O’Connor became very invested with the United States Equestrian Team (USET) and a huge supporter of the sport. “When Leslie [now Howard] went almost three years without an open horse, my dad asked, ‘What do we do about it?’ I asked him to buy Pressurized for her. Debbie Dolan had Pressurized and it wasn’t her ride, and my dad bought this horse for Leslie for the team,” says Laura.
“My dad got such a thrill out of watching Leslie ride. She was so fast! She won a speed class on Normandy at Spruce Meadows during the Masters by five seconds. It was pretty exciting and my dad totally enjoyed it. He loved being around, watching Leslie fly around and thought she was so gutsy. When we moved to California and started riding with Will Simpson and Kristin [Hardin], it was a thrill for him.”
A horseman through his life, Paul O’Connor rode as an amateur in the hunter and jumper rings on both the East and the West Coasts. As a dedicated supporter of the United States Equestrian Team, he sponsored many Grand Prix riders, including Leslie Burr Howard, Will Simpson, Kristin Hardin, Jennifer Newell, and his daughter Laura O’Connor, who won the AHSA Medal Final in 1983 and was Leading Lady Rider at Spruce Meadows for three years in a row.
O’Connor’s legacy of supporting our team, humble contribution, and investing in the next generation of talent and excitement lives on in the equestrian world with his daughter Laura, who resides in Aiken.
——
Second Chance by Paul O’Connor
Please Forgive this humble boast,
About a horse I love the most
A mighty bay of 17 hands,
We call this big guy Second Chance
He takes big fences in his stride,
With arching back & knees tucked high
An honest & forgiving steed,
He carries his rider safe indeed
Thinking of him my heart grows mellow,
How lucky I am to have this fellow
Greater horses there may be,
But there’s no better horse for me.
“ I would recite this poem to my dad and even two weeks before his death, he was able to recite parts of this poem with me. That I will have forever! My Dad got hooked with horses because of Chance. I rode Chance in the Maclay Finals at Madison Square Garden. He was a star!” —Laura O’Connor
