“It’s hard to make a full competition schedule while you’re in school,” he says, “but people do; I’ll just have to study a lot.”
mare to a one-star. Daniela Moguel, who’s a four-star rider from Mexico, is bringing a horse up from Mexico for me to ride. He’s a five-year-old Thor- oughbred who’s going Training, and I hope to run him Prelim and sell him. She’s a good friend and I’m excited to work with her and her partner with this horse. He came off the track and she took him over and he’s been really talented—he’s a good mover and will jump anything you want; I’m excited to get him into work.” Will also has an older event horse
that got him started in the sport, and he’s planning to give him to a friend who can keep him going at the Novice level for a while. “He’s a great horse and the one who got me noticed by Karen. He won’t ever be an upper level horse but he’s been good to me, so I’m trying to get him geared up before I pass him along to a friend,” he says.
enrollment college classes, so he already has a jump on getting a degree. “I delayed my application to college, so I’ll at least take a year off and can decide in 2018,” he says. “I have until then to prove I can make a career out of this. I’m trying keep on this track and I think we’ll be doing all right. I’d much rather just ride, but my parents don’t want me to end up broke on the side of the road!” When asked who his equestrian
Will and Southern Commander after winning the Young Rider eventing championship at NAJYRC in July.
Future Plans While his first love is horses, Will, who is 6’3” tall, is a well-
rounded athlete who enjoys all kinds of sports—he just doesn’t have time for much more than riding. He plays church basketball, but not on a team because of the time commitment. He tried baseball too but couldn’t get to prac- tice every day, so he had to quit. He plays a little ultimate Frisbee too. “I love pretty much all sports but I don’t have time to do them and ride,” he says. “If I had to pick another sport, I so enjoy basketball—I’d say that’d be my sport.” Balancing education with riding is a common challenge
for young equestrians. Will’s focus is on the horses and riding, so he considered skipping college. His parents, however, convinced him to keep school in the mix. He says his current plan is to attend the University of Florida in Gainesville, which is not too far from the O’Connors’ winter base in Ocala, though he’ll apply to a few other schools as well. He will likely study business, since he can apply those skills to running a horse business—if it works out that he becomes a profes- sional rider—or to any other career. “It’s hard to make a full competition schedule while you’re
in school,” he says, “but people do; I’ll just have to study a lot.” In high school Will was homeschooled and took dual
Warmbloods Today 23
idol is, he answers, “Michael Jung, obviously, (Germany’s Michael Jung is a world champion many times over in the last eight years), but I think a guy like William Fox- Pitt (a top competitor from the U.K.) is somebody I’d like to be like. David has me go home and watch videos of him. He has great upper body control and I think as a taller person, that’s important for me.
There’s so much of my upper body to control and balance and William does a great job with that. He’s also a stand-up guy and I like him a lot. If I end up like William Fox-Pitt I’d be very happy, as he’s an amazing athlete and person.” Will also has an exciting trip on the calendar—one that
most young riders would kill for. “Karen [O’Connor] and I have a trip to Germany planned in October. She’s shopping for a couple clients and she’ll let me do the riding so she can video the horses and send them to the clients. We’ll spend prob- ably ten days to two weeks and watch a couple of Young Horse shows, so I’m going to get to sit on a lot of horses, from three-star horses to horses that have never jumped in their lives! She told me I’ll just have to hang on and kick and keep some of them going in a straight line, because they’ve never done this before. I’m looking forward to the challenge.” When asked whether he’d ever consider taking up bull
riding now that he’s an established eventer, he laughs and says, “Not really; I think the risk of getting hurt is too great— I’m not fond of getting laid up with broken bones.” Then he pauses for a moment. “But if the opportunity comes up, I just might give it a try!”
Taylor Pence/US Equestrian
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