By Steve Yanda
Washington Post Staff Writer
Thursday, September 6, 2007

Even in his stall, secluded from the other horses, Teddy O'Connor stands as tall as he can. It's a habit the pony picked up while competing with his full-size brethren. His light brown coat shimmers in the sunlight that peers through the stable's opening as a groomer applies moisturizer to the pony's hooves. It is almost time for Teddy's close-up, and already the ham in him is preparing to show off for his visitors.

"He's on vacation," the groomer says as she finishes. He has been ever since he won the individual gold medal in eventing at the Pan American Games earlier this summer in Brazil. Since then, Teddy has been the marvel of the equestrian community. How could a pony win a competition against some of the biggest and strongest horses in the world?

In the adjacent stall in The Plains, a horse named Hugh Knows is being washed by another groomer. "Hubert is like Shaquille O'Neal, and Teddy is like Muggsy Bogues," the groomer says, noting the size difference between the two.

The comparison seems apt. Hugh Knows is about 17 hands 2 inches tall, while Teddy stands a mere 14 hands 1 inch. After explaining that a hand equals four inches, the groomer goes on to point out that even though Bogues was tiny by professional basketball standards, the 5-foot-3 guard still could dunk. In an entirely different sense, so can Teddy.

"He is unbelievable," said Jo Whitehouse, chief executive of the U.S. Eventing Association. "That pony thinks he is 17 hands tall. He has no clue that he's a pony."

Indeed, Teddy's trainer and rider, Karen O'Connor, said the pony has "the little-man syndrome." Put full-size horses -- which typically are 16 hands 2 inches tall -- on both sides of Teddy and the pony pulls his ears back, shakes his neck and makes the big boys clear out of his space.

It is that attitude that endeared O'Connor to Teddy 2 1/2 years ago when they first met. Kristen Trainer, a prospective rider, called O'Connor and asked for some lessons in Florida with her new pony. When O'Connor arrived, she noticed the pony was very uneducated for the type of competitions in which Trainer wanted to compete. He had little coordination and even less range of motion.

The first time she saw Teddy jump, though, she knew the pony had potential. "I couldn't believe how much scope he had," O'Connor said, describing the pony's explosiveness on each jump.

Teddy needed more instruction and discipline than O'Connor could provide in a few lessons, so she was not surprised to hear that after a few more competitions, Trainer decided to go to law school and had given the pony back to its breeder, Wynn Norman. In August 2005, Norman called to see if O'Connor thought Teddy could compete in the Rolex Kentucky Three-Day Event, held the weekend before the Kentucky Derby. "I didn't say he could do it," O'Connor said. "But I wouldn't say he couldn't do it, either."

After spending the rest of 2005 and all of 2006 training the pony, O'Connor entered Teddy into the Rolex this past May. As O'Connor was preparing Teddy for competition, rider Ian Stark, an old friend, sauntered up and said, "The Prince William pony games are over in the other arena."

Not missing a beat, O'Connor pointed to her behind and replied, "You can say that now, but this is what you'll be looking at going into the prize winnings, so I hope you like the view."

Teddy finished third and qualified for a spot in July's Pan American Games. "He's a horse that you just never know how far he's going to go," O'Connor said. "That was the first time people started taking Teddy seriously."

If they didn't then, they were forced to in Brazil. O'Connor's husband, David, was at the Pan Am Games coaching the Canadian national eventing team and saw the surprised look on everyone's face as Teddy performed. "There just aren't really that many ponies that compete at this level," he said.

In fact, the last pony to perform as well on an international stage was Stroller, who earned England a silver medal in show jumping at the 1968 Mexico City Olympics.

Eventing is a three-day competition that includes dressage testing, cross-country and show jumping. Dressage testing consists of performing prescribed movements in a 40-by-60-meter area.

Despite his size, show jumping is the event in which Teddy excels. "He's got an amazing jump for a pony," said David O'Connor, who earned an individual gold medal in eventing at the 2000 Sydney Olympics but now is retired from competition. "He's got a horse's gallop, a horse's jump, but a pony's attitude, which means he's clever and quick on his feet."

According to Karen O'Connor, riding a pony differs from riding a horse in a few key areas. She has to make the stirrups shorter, so as not to disrupt Teddy's jump. She also has to be very still with her upper body to not throw him off balance. At 5 feet 6, O'Connor said she could not be much taller to ride Teddy effectively.

Teddy's gold medal at the Pan American Games earned him a spot on the U.S. Olympic team that will compete in Beijing next year. David O'Connor just returned from Hong Kong and said the Olympic course plays to Teddy's strengths. "The cross-country terrain has short, sharp hills, so his nimbleness will play to his favor," David O'Connor said.

In the meantime, Teddy will take another week of vacation to soak in the glory of his laurels -- Breyer Animal Creations is coming out with a collectible doll in Teddy's likeness -- before resuming his training. He will compete in the Morven Park Trials in Leesburg during the first weekend of October.

Karen O'Connor said she has competed in three Olympics during her 30 years as a professional rider but never would have imagined her first individual gold medal would come on the saddle of a pony.

Whitehouse will go so far as to say she thinks Teddy will claim the gold medal in eventing next summer in Beijing. But with size so obviously a factor, is there any advantage to riding a pony in competition?

"Well," Whitehouse said, "there's an advantage to riding Theodore O'Connor."