Lili Wants to Wear the Watch!

During her years at Plain Dealing Farm, Elizabeth Bennett was one of the world's premiere Eventing grooms. Under Lili's care, Over the Limit and Winsome Adante gave Kim Severson a total of 4 victories (and watches) at the Rolex Kentucky CCI Event, Jake winning the 3-star and Dan winning an unprecented three 4-star Rolex events. Now that Lili is herself riding at the upper levels of eventing, she wants to earn and wear her own Rolex watch!

Lili has been riding since she was 11. She got her first horse for her 13th birthday, immediately becoming hooked on eventing. After college, Lili participated in clinics with Kim Severson, who offered Lili a job as her show groom at Linda Wachtmeister's Plain Dealing Farm in Scottsville, VA. For 8 years, Lili worked for Kim and Linda, and a considerable amount of magic touched all their lives.

In the video featured here with Full o' Fancy, Lili shows the kind of bond she forms with her horses!

Lili's Riding Biography

During her time at Plain Dealing, Lili cared for the horses, groomed at shows, and trained and sold young horses. She traveled with Kim and her top horses, Over The Limit and Winsome Adante to many shows across the country (including Rolex many times!). Internationally they evented at Blenheim, Burghley, and the 2002 World Equestrian Games in Spain, where the US won the gold medal; Kim's horse, Dan, was the anchor of the US team. Lili received the first annual USEA Groom of the Year award in 2004.

Lili also trained and competed her own horses while she worked at Plain Dealing. Brilliant Ridge, a thoroughbred that Lili picked up at the Charlestown Racetrack, took Lili to her first three day event and through the Intermediate level. Mattie was a polo pony when Lili bought her, and also became an Intermediate event horse. Appealing Reality came off the racetrack and became a successful Preliminary horse. All three of these horses are now owned and ridden at the lower levels by adult amateurs.

After leaving Plain Dealing Farm in November of 2006, Lili spent the winter traveling around and working with various people before settling back in Charlottesville. In the spring of 2007, she began riding with Anne Riley at Warren Hill Farm in Scottsville. There she met Bill and Ros Johnson who own Southgate Farm in Grantville, GA. Lili's partnership with the Johnsons led to her training Cornichon and Full O' Fancy when they arrived in Virginia that spring, and they have been with Lili ever since.

Cornichon(“Beau”) is a 12yo thoroughbred gelding who started his eventing career with Lili at age 10. Together they've risen through the ranks and acquired many ribbons along the way. Winning events together at the Novice, Training and Preliminary levels, Beau moved up to the Intermediate level in 2009 with Lili and she plans to do the CCI** at Jersey Fresh with him in 2010.

Full O' Fancy(“Flo”) is a 6yo Irish Sport Horse mare bred by Southhgate Farm. She has been competing with Lili for the past two years and ended 2009 by moving successfully up to Preliminary. Lili believes so strongly in Flo's talent and scopey jumping that she became her co-owner at the beginning of 2009. Lili plans to compete Flo at the CCI* at Virginia Horse Trials in the spring of 2010, and they will continue moving up the levels as Flo matures and learns the new questions being asked in each of the three phases.

Here's How to Help Lili

Negotiating the upper levels of three-day eventing is costly in time, effort and expense. Please support Lili in her upper-level pursuits with Beau and Flo by making a tax-deductible donation to the AHTF.

Please visit the American Horse Trials Foundation website and click on the "Donate" button to make a tax-deductible contribution to be used for Elizabeth Bennett. The AHTF Donation page is located at JustGive.org .