Jennifer Brannigan admits that she had a blast doing DerbyCross at Morven Park (VA) with Cooper, her double gold medal partner at the '08 NAJYRC in Colorado. Photo by Lauren R. Giannini

      Jennifer Brannigan grew up with horses and enjoyed hunting with the Cornwall Hounds (IL). She got hooked on eventing when she was a working student with Alison Springer, who left a few years later to work for Karen and David O'Connor in Virginia. Jennifer made a pivotal move to ride in California, where she did a bit of everything - hunter/jumper, foxhunting, and eventing. She spent a couple of years in Georgia, too.
      Now 21, she's familiar with the thrills of victory and the agonies of defeat - not necessarily in that order.
      At the 2007 NAYRC (VA Horse Center), she was in second place on Cozmo on her dressage score after cross-country, but the horse was eliminated at the third vet check. That September at the American Eventing Championships, officials discovered that Jennifer was "over-qualified" for the two Junior/Young Rider gold medals earned with Plain Jane (Training) and Cooper (Preliminary). Officials agreed that she had made an honest mistake. They praised her sportsmanship when the young rider asked that her scores go on record hors concours.
      This summer, Jennifer and Cooper harvested double gold in the NAYRC CCI** eventing championship at the Colorado Horse Park. They finished on their dressage score of 36.3 for individual gold, contributing to the Area VI team rout with Tiana Coudray, Max McNamamy, and David Koss.
      On the US Eventing leaderboard (as of August 22), Jennifer led the Young Riders by a wide margin, held 11th place overall and sixth place among the ladies. For Horse of the Year honors, Cooper stood second. (For current leaderboards, visit: www.useventing.com)

Sidelines: What's the most important thing you learned foxhunting?
JB: To learn how to ride the country and to be comfortable riding fast in groups. I was quite young-about 12 when I started-and it's made me become a naturally brave rider. I was one of the kids who always loved to go fast. I always got to ride a lot of different horses. I think that really helps you to develop natural instincts and that "feel" with your horse, which can't be taught, and also learning to react instinctively. You can't replace the natural instincts, and I feel so comfortable riding cross-country.

Sidelines: How did you find Cooper?
JB: Hawley Bennett was eventing in California, and I trained with her. We made a trip to Middleburg [VA] to look for horses. We were sitting at a pub [Magpie's, now Red Horse Tavern], and Katie Strickland came up and was talking to Hawley. She told us that Kelli Temple had a horse for sale. Cooper ended up being the only horse I sat on. He was a little spooky jumping, but I just loved him. I took him to California and worked with him while I was riding for Susie Hutchison. I got to take him to hunter/jumper shows and he got over a lot of that spookiness. He's been great.

Sidelines: If you could change one thing in eventing with a wave of a magic wand, what would it be? What can riders do to help safeguard their horses?
JB: People rushing horses. The best thing we can do for our horses is to be educated and have good horsemanship to know when the horse is right and when to pull up. To keep learning is important - you have to ride a lot of horses to develop 'feel and natural instinct' - they can't be taught. You can be taught to ride, but you have to know your horses. If my horses don't have the tools in their basket, we don't go to a competition. I try to set up my horses for success. I don't try to 'test' them at a competition.
Where would I be without Susie, without Mike Winter, without the foxhunting? Now I think, wow, what can I do to better myself?
If you show people you're really willing to learn, you'll get a lot more out of it. Have people around you who support you and show them you don't have an ego. What happens is that kids get to be my age and they think they're professionals and they stop listening and they stop learning. All the great riders, everyone's always learning. Work for someone really good, show them you're willing to make an effort, and listen to everyone.

Sidelines: What about your last Young Riders?
JB: I had a lovely season going into YR. I had made a commitment to my team in California to do Young Riders with them. I did pancake breakfasts, got sponsors and helped to fund it. I was thrilled to be representing California and I went out there to focus on Cooper and he performed fantastic - the best he's ever done. I was just thrilled.
This country needs to continue to make Young Riders a big deal and encourage the trainers to push kids to do it. You want to go and know you're competing against the best riders in the country. It was really special, being my last year. I went all out for it and I want kids to know that it really is a big deal and it doesn't matter whether you're in California or Virginia - you get out of a program what you put into it.

Sidelines: What's next for you?
JB: I just started working for Phillip Dutton. I hope to get to Jersey fresh next spring. I want to learn everything I can. I think that true horsemanship is dying. Lately I've been getting more help with my riding; I'm honored to have a horse like Cooper. I can't tell you what it means to me every day that I get on him that I know I made him with the help of the great people who have taught me. To work for someone like Susie Hutchison who worked with Jimmy Williams for years - to see the videos and hear the stories you can't replace that. I don't mind that I spent a lot of years not on the leaderboard, because I'm so lucky to have experienced riding so many horses. I don't want to win just because I have a nice horse. I want to win because I ride well. I want to know that the people who trained me are proud of me. I think it's important to know what it's like to produce a horse, to go from Beginner Novice to Advanced. If I hadn't produced Cooper, it wouldn't be the same level of joy. I don't mind that it's taking me longer than some other kids to get to the four-star level, because it's paying off.