Meet Don O’Neill, world champion show horse retiring after a long career owned by SC couple

Even world champions eventually have to call it quits.

Don O’Neill, a locally-owned American Saddlebred, will retire on Aug. 26. The show horse is set to make his final victory pass at the World’s Championship Horse Show in Louisville, Kentucky.

Don, 13, is set to retire following his successful rise to fame after an 11-year career and nine years with his current owner, Cindy Chesler.

Cindy and her husband, Steve, have owned and lived on their Fripp Island residence for the last 19 years. It is now their permanent place of residence when they are not spending time at the barn where Don O’ Neill resides in Simpsonville, Kentucky.

Simpsonville is roughly a 9-hour drive from Beaufort County, which the Cheslers drive whenever they go to visit Don. It is located just outside of Louisville.

Now at the end of his career, the show horse has won every major Saddlebred horse show in the country.

The biggest win in his career was winning the World Grand Championship Three-Gaited in 2016, which is a ‘big deal’ in the showing community.

“Don has earned his retirement. He dominated the show ring for seven straight years and became a crowd favorite in the three-gaited division,” Chesler said in a press release.

A Saddlebred horse, such as Don O’ Neill, winning at the World’s Championship Horse Show is equivalent to a thoroughbred — a horse best used for racing — winning the Kentucky Derby.

Around 2018, the show horse suffered from the illness called laminitis. Fear struck Chesler more for the life of her horse than for his career that then hung in the balance.

Laminitis is a common, serious, extremely painful and frequently recurrent condition in horses, ponies and donkeys, which can lead to death.

“This condition affects the tissues (laminae) bonding the hoof wall to pedal bone in the hoof. This can result in the pedal bone sinking or rotating within the hoof under the weight of the horse. In extreme cases this can result in penetration of the sole of the foot by the pedal bone. More than 7% of equine deaths are linked to the laminitis, with many animals having to be euthanized,” according to the Royal Veterinary College at the University of London.

Despite the seriousness of the horse’s injury, Don O’ Neill was on a positive path to recovery and even continued to compete in the highest level of Saddlebred horse showing until his retirement, which debuts at the championship at 6:30 p.m. next Friday. His recovery marked an even more awe-inspiring comeback story than ever before.

The true underdog story, Don O’Neill proved his strengths from a young age and rose through the ranks quickly, despite the odds, winning several accolades throughout his career as a show horse.

Don was awarded World Titles in 2014 and 2016. He was also granted other significant achievements including:

- Winning Rock Creek Horse Show twice (2014,2017)

- Winning Lexington Junior League twice (2015, 2017)

- Winning River Ridge four times (2015, 2016, 2017, 2019)

- Reserve Grand Champion (second place) at World’s in 2014, 2015, 2017 and 2020

According to Chesler, many Saddlebred horses retire after 11 years, so comparatively, Don has had a longer stint in the show horse community and could have continued longer before his retirement if it wasn’t for his laminitis.

Don has lived at the same stables in Simpsonville for the past nine years and will continue living there throughout his retirement.

Show horses cannot immediately be turned out into the field following their retirement. This means that Don will continue with some “light work,” which will consist of trotting and light fitness work, to avoid a dramatic transition from working show horse to his newfound retirement.

“He’ll stay with all of his buddies. He’ll stay in the barn that he’s known and lived in for the past nine years, and he’ll stay with his trainer who adores him,” said Chesler of what Don’s retirement looks like.

“He’s fun and he’s sweet and he’s feisty. He’s friends with the dog at the barn named Roxy,” she continued.

Roxy and Don have reportedly been friends for many years and will soon be spending much more time together.