Harvard-educated, a brilliant horsewoman and full of great advice: why we’re watching and listening to top rider Lillie Keenan

One showjumper we always enjoy watching is rising star Lillie Keenan. The Harvard-educated US rider is brilliantly competitive, super stylish and, currently ranked 40th in the world, the 28-year-old is clearly achieving some outstanding results in the ring.

We also love her insightful post-competition interviews, so when she caught up with Rolex Grand Slam at the recent CSIO Spruce Meadows Masters Tournament, we listened. Here is what Lillie had to say.

“Our sport is unique because you have two souls, not one,” says Lillie Keenan

“You [and your horse] have to work together and you cannot yell at each other like you could with a human team-mate,” says Lillie Keenan, a regular five-star competitor and a winning Nations Cup team rider. “You have to find other ways to communicate and find your own language with each horse.

“You only achieve this by spending time with them and being very sympathetic is incredibly important.”

“A huge asset for women is the ability to communicate”

“One of the unique aspects of our sport is that men and women compete on a level playing field,” offers Lillie. “A huge asset for women is the ability to communicate in a way that may not come as naturally as for a man. You have to use your strengths.

“I have found that when I have a really strong partnership with my horse and they know that I trust them 100%, they then trust me more.”

“A lot of horses, that are considered the best, understand the sport”

Lilly’s grand prix horse is the 14-year-old grey Argan De Beliard known at home as Mr Consistency.

“He knows his job incredibly well,” she says. “He is always fighting for a clear round and he understands the role.”

While Lillie describes the Mylord Carthago HN x Ahorn gelding as “not the most exciting horse to watch”, she considers that one of his strengths.

“He is so reliable,” she explains. “Usually, for these big grands prix there are big tests and questions that have to be answered, and to have such a reliable partner makes my job a lot easier.

“He was an easy horse to trust and I am very grateful he let me be his person. At the highest level of the sport, with the risks you have to take, the strongest partnerships and relationships are the most successful.”

Lillie Keenan: “Ride like it’s the jump-off at the Olympic Games”

On dealing with pressure, Lillie says she thrives on it, but it’s all come through practice.

“The first time I went to a show on a pony, my mother told me that I needed to imagine I was going into the jump-off for the gold medal at the Olympic Games,” reveals Lillie. “I say this to people now and they think that it could not be true. But it is so very true!

“You often hear people say that you have to use pressure as an advantage and do not let it crush you. Of course, there are days that it can be very hard and the pressure can get the better of you. However, it’s something that I tried really hard to work on and I try to make the most of every opportunity that I get to jump at this level.

“There is nothing quite like practice and holding yourself accountable,” she adds. “I was always the type of kid in school that could be in tears before a test because I just couldn’t stand the idea of failure. I would say that that’s my personality type and probably why I’ve got used to a lot of pressure.”

“All athletes go through periods of self doubt”

Lillie jumped her first five-star class at the age of 17 and now receives training from Olympic medallist McLain Ward, who she credits for getting her self-belief back.

“When McLain started to help me, I had lost a lot of confidence in myself, and in my ability as a rider. I’m very open about that, because I think for young people it is important to see,” says Lillie Keenan.

“We watch all these riders that we consider superstars or just athletes in any sphere, and they all go through periods of self-doubt, but you don’t necessarily see that. Especially as a woman, I think it’s important to make clear that it is normal.

“McLain reminded me that I am good enough and that I have the ability to be the best. I repeat those words to myself every time, I feel like I could have done better. If he believes in me, then I must actually be good. I think I believe him more than I believe myself!”

But Lillie also holds dear some more words of wisdom from her mother, who reminds her that showjumping “is a choice”.

“When I’m really hard on myself, she likes to remind me of that,” says Lillie. “I think that it is incredibly valuable, because it is a choice – one that I’m very lucky to have.”

“Going to college with kids that didn’t know about showjumping was a gift”

Harvard-educated Lillie Keenan is grateful for the opportunity and the privilege of being able to pursue her education while still pursuing her showjumping career.

“It was never really a question, if I would go to college, but with riding it was always a choice,” she explains. “In a way I feel I have so much to prove, because I was given a leg-up and a lot of opportunity, and I don’t want to waste that.

“I am very aware of how lucky I am and really grateful for that. Going to college with kids that didn’t even know what I did or that sport is called showjumping was a gift, because I could fall off on Sunday in the biggest grand prix, or I could win, and on Monday morning, my classmates would have no idea, and I was just Lillie. That was such a privilege.”

“Self-worth is often defined by our most recent result and that can be incredibly debilitating,” says Lillie Keenan

“In any pursuit that someone is extremely passionate about, it’s so easy to get in your own head about it,” says Lillie. “I’d say that for most of the riders at this level, our self-worth is often defined by our most recent result and that can be incredibly debilitating.

“So I would say the number one lesson I learned is that life goes on, and we are so lucky to work with an animal, to be outside, to do something that is incredibly rewarding,” says the self-confessed “nerd”, who admits she misses her academic studies. “But I would say for my life, the biggest lesson is the perspective that it has given me and the immense gratitude that every day I am able to wake up and ride a horse.”

“Stay in school and don’t be afraid to reach out to someone you admire”

In return, Lillie has two pieces of advice for aspiring young riders.

“Number one is to stay in school as long as it is physically possible,” she says. “I get pushback on that. Obviously, not everyone has the opportunity that I did, but now post-Covid, the way that a lot of education has transformed to online means there are a lot more options.

“I still take courses online and try to expand my brain. In my opinion, it is incredibly important to just being a well-rounded person. Before I went to college, there were a number of riders that said to me: ‘Why are you bothering to do that? You have so much talent and you’re going to ride anyway, so why not just ride?’ But the sport is always going to be there and the horses are going to be there. In order for our sport to grow and keep up with the global dynamic and how the world is changing, it’s important to really push yourself and get educated.”

Secondly, she says, don’t be afraid to approach your heroes – and always watch and learn.

“You might get a ‘No’, but that’s the worst case scenario,” says Lillie. “There is so much opportunity now, between all of the livestreams – you can watch almost any grand prix in the world and if you can’t watch it live, you can watch it back.

“If you get the chance to go to a horse show, watch the warm-up arena. Often people overlook that, but that is really where you see a rider. The best riders don’t have one type of horse, they can ride multiple. So, watch and ask questions. I think you’d be surprised how willing the top riders are to help younger people.”

“The epitome of showjumping”

Lillie Keenan finishes up by talking about the elevation of showjumping to the level of sports like tennis “and the Major Grand Slam events that we all watch on TV”.

“We admire those athletes, and in this world, we have the same respect for the riders and horses that are competing at what would be the equivalent level,” she says. “To have the recognition and the support from a brand like Rolex and to put these events at the highest level is the pinnacle of our sport, as it would be in any sport.

“Everyone obviously would love to jump a championship, but really the best riders are able to perform, not in just one weekend, but over multiple events,” she adds.

“For any rider to go to any one of these Majors is a huge deal, but the fact that there are four Majors each year means that there is something that we can aim for every single year. The funny thing about dealing with horses is, obviously, it’s not just about the rider, the horse has to peak at the right time which requires some luck.

“You might miss an Olympic year or World Championship year, but every year that you have a super horse and you have that partnership, you can aim for the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping,” she says. “I think it’s the pinnacle of showjumping.

“Whenever you get to jump in any of the Rolex Grand Slam of Showjumping Majors it is an incredible feeling – they are really the epitome of show jumping.”

• To stay up to date with all the breaking news throughout Blenheim Horse Trials, Horse of the Year Show, London International and more, subscribe to the Horse & Hound website

You may also like to read…