Area II co-coordinators Gwen Dean was kind enough to send us a profile of Area II’s coaches as a follow-up to last week’s profile of their riders. Gwen will be keeping Eventing Nation posted on everything Area II throughout Young Riders. For much more from Area II please visit their website. Thanks for writing this Gwen and Audrey and thank you for reading.
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From Gwen:
Introducing the Area II NAJYRC Coaches–
While this week you will hear mainly about our athletes at the NAJYRC, I wanted to take some time to recognize the two people who have worked tirelessly with each and every one of them. David and Lauren O’Brien have been the coaches of the Area II YR program for the past six years and will be stepping down after this year. It truly has been a pleasure watching them work together year after year and passing on their vast knowledge to the next generation of great riders. Let’s learn a bit more about each of them, shall we?
I have known David for quite some time now. I was a working student for Denny Emerson in the 80’s when David was the farm manager. David was also an instructor there and he frequently got stuck with me for dressage lessons. I probably really tested his patience back then but little did he know I was secretly training him for what was to come 20 years later. David has worked with some of the greatest names in Eventing and Dressage such as Mike Plumb, Wash Bishop, Captain Mark Phillips and Sandy Phillips. He was able to expand his dressage training with Walter Christensen in Germany. In 1988, he was chosen to work with Jack LeGoff in the USET developing rider program. He has successfully competed up through the advanced level and is a level IV ICP certified instructor. David has also served on the USEA Board of Governors as well as the Adult Rider Committee, the USEA ICP Committee , vice president of competitions, and chairman for the competitions committee.
Lauren began her Eventing career working for the likes of Torrance Watkins, Mike Plumb and Karen Stives. She traveled to the 1986 World Championships in Australia where she was the groom for Torrance and Finvarra. In 1990, she accompanied Mike and Chagal to the Worlds in Sweden, expanding her international resume. Being a working student and groom at the early stages of her career has given Lauren an unbelievable work ethic. In the Late 80’s, Lauren purchased Wexford. In 1991, she won the Radnor Three Day on him and followed that up with a win at the Essex Three Day in the spring of 1992. Lauren and Wexford represented the USET at the European Championships in Italy in 1995. Together they had two top 5 finishes at Kentucky CCI*** and Fair Hill CCI*** and a top 15 finish at Kentucky CCI****. Their partnership culminated in an individual 5th place and team gold performance at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Canada. After retiring Wexford, she began competing Dunrath Alto and had successful finishes at Fair Hill CCI***, Punchestown CCI*** in Ireland twice and strong finishes at Rolex CCI*** several times. She is a graduate “A” pony clubber and is a level III ICP certified instructor.
As you can see, they are some pretty talented individuals and watching them work their magic together for six years has been pretty cool. Aside from being great coaches, instructors and friends, they are raising two beautiful daughters, Ailish and Mara (who are pretty darn talented in their own right). They also own the lovely Kincora Farm in Vass, NC which they have graciously donated for our final training camp every year. Audrey and I want to say a huge ‘Thank You’ for their continued support of us and all the kids who have come through this program in the last 6 years. We absolutely couldn’t have survived these last six years without them!
Go Area II Young Riders and Go Eventing!
