Athletes

EEP represents the marketing and promotional interests of a list of recognizable international athletes and their commercial enterprises.  As EEP clients, these personalities benefit from EEP’s expertise in strategic brand development, comprehensive promotional strategies and the development of sponsorship opportunities.  Leveraging their presence throughout a range of television and new media pursuits, EEP creates progressive new promotional platforms for equestrian sport’s top stars.

KAREN O’CONNOR (USA)

DAVID O’CONNOR (USA)

SARA DAVIS (USA)

SINEAD HALPIN (USA) - read bio

REBECCA HOWARD (CAN) - read bio

CLARK MONTGOMERY (USA) - read bio

DONNA SMITH (NZL) - read bio

JAN THOMPSON (USA)

Sinead Halpin

            She may be only 23, but Sinead Halpin has years of experience under her belt. “I’ve done my time as a working student, when I was just starting out and I was working for someone else all the time,” she relates. “And then I started to freelance on my own, juggling a thousand different balls to keep going. And now I’ve got a great situation where I can spend 12 hours a day on my own horses and sales horses and make a go of a business. I’m really enjoying it.”
            Halpin runs a thriving business with Rebecca Howard; the two travel to Argentina and Ireland to find promising young horses to import, train and sell. It’s the perfect way for Halpin to support her love for eventing while bringing along two talented horses, Glitterati and Tommy. Halpin plans to compete both at the Radnor Hunt CCI***(Pa.) this October.
            With Killian, now retired, Halpin won the Young Rider CCI* division at the 2000 Bromont Three-Day Even (Canada). The pair concluded their competitive years together with a 26th place showing at the Foxhall CCI*** (Ga.) — Halpin’s first three-star. Halpin later proved that her successes with Killian were no fluke when she brought Cruizin’ On Up through the levels and ended up placing 14th with him at the 2002 Radnor CCI**.

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Rebecca Howard

            Growing up British Columbia, Canada, Rebecca Howard, 26, evented with her sisters and mother and did a working student stint with Nick Holmes Smith. It was a long way from there to The Plains, Virginia, where Howard moved in 2001, but one horse made it all worthwhile:  Big Wave Dave took Howard all the way from the lower levels to jumping clean around the 2005 Kentucky CCC****.
            “I do feel extremely lucky to have had him. I will always remember that cross-country ride at Rolex. To have your first run at that level go so well is pretty unique, and it’s something special,” Howard said.
            Dave and Howard began their career together with a win in the CCI* at Chase Creek (Canada) in 2000. They placed 15th at the Rador CCI** (Pa.) in 2002, then were the highest-placed Canadians at the 2004 Foxhall Cup (Ga.), finishing 7th. Dave is now retired to the lower levels with one of Howard’s students.
            Today, Howard rides with the O’Connors and is partners with Sinead Halpin. Howard and Halpin work together to find, import, and market young Argentinean and Irish prospects. They also share a barn, out of which each runs her own riding and training business.

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Clark Montgomery

            Growing up in Bryan, Texas, Clark Montgomery, 24, might have been surrounded by cowboys, but it didn’t take long for him to decide to make horses and eventing his life. The decision paid off with phenomenal success. The young rising star won the team gold medal at the 1999 North American Young Riders Championship, then moved up to the advanced level with Mint Edition.
            Montgomery and Mint Edition crowned their partnership with a USET Markham Trophy at the Fair Hill CCI***, where the pair finished 11th and Montgomery was the highest-placed young rider.
            In 2001, Montgomery won his second NAYRC team gold, with Cape Town taking over the headline duties. The two went on to win the Radnor CCI** that fall. Still another major placing followed when Montgomery rode Silent Fait to third place at the 2004 Jersey Fresh CCI***.
            This spring, with Falcon Flight, Montgomery added one more accomplishment to his resume when he completed his first four-start at the Rolex Kentucky CCI****. After spending five years on the East Coat, soaking up all the knowledge and experience he could, Montgomery has come full circle, returning to Texas to carry on training and teaching

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Donna Smith

            “It’s something I certainly wished for, but never expected,” said Smith, 25, of her burgeoning eventing career. She grew up in New Zealand, and competed locally, but everything changed when, at age 16, she met Karen and David O’Connor.
            Smith made a few short trips to the States, then settled here permanently in 2001, working for the O’Connors. She helps Karen bring along the younger stock, and competes some of David’s horses when he’s not available.
            “I really like working with the young horses,” she says. “They’re untouched, and whatever you teach them is what you know. When you’re breaking them in, you’re thinking, ‘What’s this one going to be like two years down the road?’”
            Smith also competes at the advanced level with Frances Stead’s Call Me Clifton, a horse she brought with her from New Zealand. Call Me Clifton completed the 2003 Foxhall Cup CCI*** and the 2004 Rolex Kentucky CCI****. An injury just after Rolex forced him to take a break, but he’s on the road to recovery. The horse is only nine, so Smith has high hopes for his future. Meanwhile, she has two talented up-and-comers, Clifton Retro and Rocket. They’re both at the intermediate level, and Smith hopes they’ll run two-stars next year.

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