Lillie Keenan

Lillie Carmichael Keenan (born 4 October 1996) is an American show jumping rider. As a junior rider she won the ASPCA Maclay Finals, the USEF Medal Finals, and the Washington International Horse Show Equitation championship, as well as the USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals and double gold at the North American Young Rider Championship.

As a professional, Keenan has been part of many Nations Cup teams for the United States, most notably at the Dublin Horse Show where the Aga Khan Trophy was won by an all female team for the first time.

Early life Keenan began riding at the age of six after discovering photos of her mother who rode as a junior. She first rode at a small stable in New York City called Claremont Stables, and moved to train at Heritage Farm and worked under the guidance of Andre Dignelli and Patricia Griffith where she began competing. Keenan trained with Heritage for the entirety of her junior career.

After moving her training to Heritage Farm, Keenan quickly began showing. She spent a few months competing in the children's pony hunters before moving up to the regular pony hunters. At her first attendance at the USEF Pony Finals in 2005, Keenan and the small pony, Dreamworks, were reserve champion in the regular small division, while in 2006 she was reserve champion in the Washington International Horse Show Pony Equitation Final. In 2007, Keenan won all the championships in the regular pony hunter divisions at Pony Finals, winning the small championship on Blackberry, the medium championship and overall grand championship on Enchanted Forest, and the large championship and overall reserve grand championship on Vanity Fair. The following year, Keenan won five out of the six championships at Pony Finals, taking championships home in every division except the regular small pony hunters. She claimed overall grand champion on Neverland, and overall green grand champion on Sparkle Plenty. She was also reserve champion in the USEF Pony Medal Finals on High Cotton.

She graduated from Harvard College in 2019.

Junior career After a successful year at Pony Finals, Keenan moved to competing on horses. In her second year competing in the equitation, Keenan won the Washington International Horse Show Equitation Finals at the age of 13, and she did so on Uno, a horse she'd ridden for two weeks beforehand due to her horse coming up with an injury shortly before the finals. In 2011, at Junior Hunter Finals, she won in the small junior hunters on Confidential and in the large junior hunters on Madison, also claiming the grand overall champion and reserve on the two horses, respectively. Keenan defeated the professional riders to win the USHJA International Hunter Derby Championship on C Coast Z at 14 years old. She was also champion with C Coast Z at both The National Horse Show and the Washington International Horse Show and won classes in the High Junior Jumpers at The National Horse Show on Vanhattan.

In 2012, Keenan was part of the Zone 2 team to the gold medal in the junior division at the North American Junior and Young Rider Championship. That year, she also won the North American Equitation Championship at the Capital Challenge Horse Show, and was reserve champion at both the USEF Medal Finals and the ASPCA Maclay Finals, all on Clearway.

In 2013, Keenan rode Londinium to both team and individual gold at the North American Young Riders Championship, and she followed it up with individual gold at the USEF National Junior Jumper Championship. In the equitation, Keenan topped both the USEF Medal Finals and the ASPCA Maclay Finals, once again on Clearway, giving her championship honors in three out of the four major equitation finals. She also won the USHJA Hunterdon Equitation Cup. Keenan also won the Grand Junior Hunter Championship at The Devon Horse Show aboard Walk The Line, and won championships at the Pennsylvania National on Walk The Line and Brodeur. She won style awards for her riding at both horse shows. Keenan was awarded Junior Equestrian of the Year by the USEF.

Professional career In 2014, she was given the opportunity to jump her first Nations Cup at the age of 17 at competitions in Ascona (SUI) and Bratislava (SVK). In 2018, Keenan rode for the New York Empire, a Global Champions League team. That spring she was shortlisted for the World Equestrian Games.

In 2019, Keenan had top placings at The Devon Horse Show. In 2020, she had several top finishes in Wellington, Florida before the shows were halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

Her current horses include Fasther, Cazaan, Skyhorse, Agana Van Het Gerendal Z, Be Gentle, Chaccolette, and Super Sox.

She resides in Wellington, Florida.

Major results