22 SIDELINES AUGUST 2013
FOR HORSE PEOPLE • ABOUT HORSE PEOPLE
By Dani Moritz
Colorado native and grand prix show jumper John McConnell
has returned home to the rocky mountain state after five-and-
a-half years of riding and training at Rancho Corazon in New
Mexico.
John said that a great opportunity took him to New Mexico. “It
was a single-family business that allowed me to train the family
as well as show all over the United States and internationally,”
he said.
While in New Mexico, John was successful in his endeavors. In
2010, John and Rancho Corazon’s grand prix mount Katie Riddle,
were invited to ride on the United States Nation’s Cup team in
Buenos Aires, Argentina. The Rancho Corazon team and the
McConnell family made the trip down to watch the United States
team win gold – a victory for everyone involved.
But recently, John has headed back to his home state of
Colorado. John was born and raised in Colorado and learned
to ride at his mother’s riding school, Hillcroft Acres in Golden,
Colorado. In 1979, John started his own business, Hillcroft II,
riding and teaching. During the mid 80s, his mother, Louise,
purchased a seven-year-old black Thoroughbred, named So
Dark, who John rode and trained.
To further his education, John packed up the trailer and took his
horse to Virginia to train under the great Rodney Jenkins. Over the
course of a year-and-a-half, John successfully received ribbons
in almost every grand prix he competed in. He also qualified to
e
go to the World Cup in 1987 in Paris, France where he had an
impressive seventh place finish.
In his return to Colorado, he has continued riding and training
throughout the Midwest and in California, adding even more grand
prix wins to the more than 30 he has already achieved. Included
in a long list of accomplishments is getting the best of 49 riders to
win the $25,000 HITS Grand Prix in Thermal, California back in
2009 with the only clean round aboard a mare named Carolina.
Another one of John’s most successful mounts was Spanish
Eyes, a mare purchased from Germany in 2000. The mare
remains a huge part of the family along with her four offspring
that have been foaled and started by John’s wife, Shala. Spanish
Eyes has now retired from the show ring and enjoys her days out
on the pasture.
John and Shala also have two children who enjoy traveling
to the shows as a family. Their daughter Lexie is just starting
to compete and hopes to someday ride just like her idol, Karen
Cudmore, in the big grand prix. While their son Tyler, on the other
hand, is great moral support for his dad, but would rather jump on
dirt bikes than on horses.
Now that John is back home, he looks forward to doing more
of what he does best in his training program – which is bringing
horses and riders through the ranks. “I work young horses all the
way up to grand prix horses,” he said. “And it’s kind of the same
with riders. I’ve helped riders from all levels from starting to jump
to showing at the FEI grand prix level.” He has now resumed
his training business, Hillcroft II, and is currently operating at
Castle Cliff Farm, located in Sedalia, Colorado and is accepting
new clients. This move is good news for John’s fans in Colorado
because John says this means he’s back home for good.
John McConnell – Home For Good
John and Katie Riddle, owned by Rancho Corazon, on their way
to United States team gold at the Nation’s Cup in Buenos Aires,
Argentina.
The McConnell family.
Photo courtesy of John McConnell
