Conor Reed and Leopoldo MVNZ on stepping up to World Cup level

At just 21 years of age, Conor was the youngest rider in the field in their first World Cup and after coming a very unlucky runner-up in the Australian Young Rider Championship back in February, he decided that it was time for him and Leopoldo MVNZ to step up to the big-time. They finished in 26th place out of the 33 starters which was a solid performance the combination can build on in the future.

When Conor was asked how he felt in the lead up to the class. “I felt very nervous” he said, which is hardly surprising, given some of the more experienced riders he was up against were riding at a high level before he was born. “It was quite daunting – the idea of doing one (a World Cup Qualifier) especially considering my last 1.50m class was almost a year ago at the 2021 Victorian State Titles”.  Conor said, “I had been stressing about it ever since we decided to enter in early February”.

However, despite the nerves leading into the competition, Conor was happy with the way things went. “The class went great. I had 3 rails down early on in the course but they were just me being a bit strong to some of the bigger fences”. As the round progressed, he said “I felt more and more relaxed and finished the second half of the track strongly”.

Conor said about his horse Leopoldo MVNZ “Leopoldo or ‘Leo’ as he is known at home, is the most amazing horse I could hope to ride. We purchased him as an 8-year-old from Brook Dobbin almost 3 years ago”. “At home he can be a bit lazy but at the shows he gets really fired up and can be a lot of horse. He has a super big stride and is a really scopey horse, and obviously he is very easy on eye.”

It looks like this will not be the last we see of Conor Reed and Leopoldo MVNZ at this level. When asked about his short-term goals, Conor responded, “to get more consistent competing at Grand Prix level and to jump a clear round in a World Cup Qualifier”. Longer-term, his goals are to “compete successfully overseas and represent Australia”.