IT was a good weekend for the Irish in California, when both David O’Brien and Conor Swail registered wins at the four-star show at Desert International Horse Park in California.

The first of these came on Friday morning, when O’Brien rode his recent addition Fairson TS to finish on top of the podium in the four-star $20,000 FEI 1.45m Speed class, when they were best of the 15 starters. O’Brien was among nine clear rounds in the class, but he and his mount clocked the fastest time of 64.36. His nearest challenger was Canada’s Ali Ramsay on Koblenz with a time of 64.75; they were closely followed by Mathijs Van Asten (NED) and Norberlina VD Laarseheide Z, who finished in third place in a time of 64.86.

“He’s very straightforward. With every jump, he grows. He seems to just get better all the time,” said O’Brien of the eight-year-old Warmblood gelding.

O’Brien felt the course was fair to the horses, which allowed him to accelerate a bit and teach his new partner about how to be fast and accurate. “I liked the inside turns, because that’s what I wanted to do with my horses,” O’Brien said. “We’ve jumped a good few classes where we just go clear, so I wanted to go faster and teach him about speed. Even my inside turn to five – I kind of hit that a little bit forward and then he stayed steady. From there around the course, he was really straightforward. He was probably a little quick into that last double, but he’s careful so I don’t have to worry.”

Fairson TS will be sold at some point, but O’Brien is hoping that won’t be for a while yet: “He’s the one I’m hoping that we can hold on to for a while, because with every step he takes, he seems to grow into himself all the time, and he loves us, so I would like that.”

O’Brien had some special guests in the crowd, as his parents - Tomas and Frances - flew over from Ireland. “My parents came in last night. Since I was somewhere new – I had never been to California before – they were like, ‘Oh, we’ll come and see,’” explained the Irish rider.

Beautiful

Not to be outdone, Swail and the 18-year-old gelding Count Me In (aka Crosby) rode to victory in Saturday’s two-star $45,000 1.45m Grand Prix. Just eight of the 26 starters jumped a clear first round over the Bernardo Costa Cabral-designed course to get through to the jump-off, with only four of them managing to repeat the feat second time out. Swail and Count Me In were second in for their jump-off round, but were still the fastest of these, stopping the clock in 36.52 seconds. Austria’s Peter Petschenig and his own It’s The Senator 111 were close behind in 36.76 to take the runner-up position, while Canadian Vanessa Mannix took home third with a time of 38.62 seconds aboard Valentino D’elte.

“This is [Crosby’s] first week out [for 2025],” said Swail. “He’s had a nice little break. I thought I would start him off in the two-star just to get him comfortable. He was beautiful all week.

“I had a good plan with my numbers, even though I was early to go,” said Swail afterwards. “It was mainly just about trying to keep him comfortable the whole way around… It was my day – myself and Crosby – so it was great.”

Conor Swail and Count Me In on their way to winning the $45,000 CSI2* Grand Prix at Desert International Horse Park in Thermal, California \ High Desert Sport Photo

Ribbons

Swail and Count Me In got their campaign started last Wednesday, when jumping commenced at week three of the Desert Circuit at Desert International Horse Park at Thermal, California, which hosted both two-star and four-star classes. The pair placed fifth in the two-star $5,000 FEI 1.40m Special Two-Phase, which was won by Austria’s Petschenig on board It’s The Senator 111.

In the day’s four-star $1,000 FEI 1.40m Special Two-Phase, there were two Irish in the top 10, with O’Brien on Fairson TS placing sixth, followed by Swail on Vital Chance de la Roque in eighth. Canada’s Erynn Ballard won the class with Mullentine Shalom.

Thursday saw Swail finish on the podium in the four-star $63,000 FEI 1.50m Welcome Speed class, when third on the 13-year-old gelding Theo 160. Lorcan Gallagher on Copycat placed ninth, with Swail claiming 10th place with My Lady Lavista. Remarkably, Belgium’s Gregory Wathelet took a one-two in the class riding Argentina de la Marchette and Ace of Hearts respectively.

On Friday, Mark Kinsella rode Casirado 3 into ninth place in the $1,500 1.30m Open Jumper class, while Christopher Megahey on Casian S placed ninth in the $10,000 Interactive Mortgage 10 & Under Futurity Series 1.35m class.

Sunday saw Kinsella with two in the top 10 of the $15,000 1.35m Open Classic, finishing seventh with Dinapo and 10th with Cameron Z. The rider then finished on the podium in the $40,000 1.45m Open Classic Series, when third with Bogano.

While Irish riders didn’t feature in the four-star $200,000 FEI 1.55m Grand Prix, the Irish Sport Horse FTS Killossery Konfusion, bred by Frank and Laura Glynn in Co Dublin, took an impressive win by over two seconds, when ridden by Jos Verlooy (BEL). There were 25 starters, with seven jumping clear in the first round to proceed to the jump-off. Only three of them jumped clear again to take the podium places. Verlooy’s time of 37.86 was well ahead of runner-up Kaitlin Campbell (USA) on Armentos (40.23), who was a significant margin ahead of Chandler Meadows (USA) on Calciet EB Z (44.85) in third.

Show jumping classes concluded with the four-star $32,000 FEI 1.45m Classic, with two Irish in the top five. From a start list of 19, there were only seven combinations who proceeded to the jump-off, where four jumped clear again. Swail and Theo 160 were runners-up with a jump-off time of 36.16, while O’Brien on Fairson TS placed fourth (37.48). The winner, Kaitlin Campbell (USA) on Palina De L’Escaut set an unbeatable time of 35.4.