Ms. Gisele O'Grady - Professional

How many 13 year old's start riding on event horses? Perhaps you guessed that would be that fearless lass from Cork, Ireland. She jumped right in under the guidance of one of Ireland’s greats, Robert Splain, Ireland’s Show Jumping Team’s Chef d’equipe. Her first job as a professional rider was schooling green horses for Allan and Aoife McSweeny, who specialize in developing young horses for International Competitions. Gisele O’Grady is an experienced international rider and competitor.

At the age of 19 she packed up and moved to New Zealand. It was supposed to be a gap year to see what she wanted to do with her life. “I was young and bold,” she laughs. “I wanted to broaden my experiences.” There she rode for Claire and Simon Wilson, who are FEI Jumper Competitors. In her spare time she discovered Hare Hunting there. “It was a lot like foxhunting as far as tradition goes; impeccable turnout with riders in traditional attire and horses perfectly groomed, only the hounds were a bit smaller than those I had fox hunted with in Ireland. We would hunt wide open in Hawks Bay for 4-5 hours. It was wild.”

Her gap year turned into 4 years when she received word that her grandfather had died. Her grandparents had retired to Hendersonville, NC from Upstate NY some years before. Gisele returned with the intention of helping her family. Her mother’s family knew Beth Perkins, an international eventer who lived in the area. Gisele was introduced to her and Beth hired her to help her get ready for The Rolex Kentucky 3-Day Event and live at her farm. Gisele fell in love with the area. She went to the Tryon International Equestrian Center and watched a Hunter competition. She decided that was something she could do. She became an active rider competing in the Hunter and Jumper rings at horse shows on the Local level through the A Circuit. She set up her business at Clearview Farms in Landrum, SC where, in addition to her riding duties, she also shared her experience working as a ground person and trainer helping other riders improve their skill sets.

Since she had fox hunted in Ireland, she started capping a few times with the Tryon Hounds which led them to offer her a scholarship membership for two years. The following year she joined as a professional member and Board Member. “They are so well organized,” she explained. “They valued their members and their land owners. Their staff is great especially Beth Blackwell, the Huntsman. I loved the social aspect too.” She admits that being an active member was good for her business. She recently showed long time TH riding member Lisa Spriggs' new show horse Riley, an Irish Sport Horse bred in Ireland with French and Dutch Warmblood in his lineage, in the National Derby. They came in first place! “I was super proud of Lisa’s horse. It was his first one and he could not have been better.” Gisele’s ideal hunt horse is “one agreeable to the aids, educated to have confidence to do the job, aware of their surroundings, careful on their feet and balance for the rider.”

“Hunting with the Tryon Hounds is so refreshing,” said Gisele. “The show ring is all about competing against others. The Tryon Hounds is all about the hounds not who’s the best rider. There is no animosity that runs through the hunt. Everyone gets along old and young alike. I love learning from my elders. I am also excited that we are getting more young people in the mix. We even have an expanding group of children joining our ranks.”

Indeed, the future looks bright. Please join Gisele and all the members of the Tryon Hounds in our Centennial Celebrations including our Centennial Hunt Weekend March 4 – 7, 2026.

Ms. Lydia Kolbas

Lydia is a transplanted Midwesterner and former Floridian. She grew up about 20 minutes from the Chicago Loop around the corner of Lake Michigan in Northwest Indiana. “I was born with the horse gene” Lydia says. She fell in love with horses on a pony ride at a County fair as a child. Her folks fostered her passion by making sure she got to ride at dude ranches on summer vacations. She also had an uncle who had horses and she would ride them with her cousins. On Sundays after church her family would drive out to the countryside and when they would pass farms that had horses running around she “would ask to stop and see if I could ride a horse and wouldn’t you know it —- every once in a while someone would come out of the barn and throw a saddle on and let me ride in their pasture! “

Lydia explains, “I’ve been an outlier in my career and an outlier in my passion with horses. “ As a female financial planner of her own company in the 1980’s, which was dominated by men, and then as a person who never had formal riding lessons, competed in shows, owned a farm or even driven a truck hauling horses she carved out a unique niche for herself. In the 1990’s she and her husband John moved to Florida and Lydia discovered dressage and polo and also Fox Hunting! She got involved in the Dressage community by scribing for shows. She also got involved exercising polo ponies — “I played a little arena polo but I mostly enjoy just being with the horses and helping to get them fit – – they are such incredible athletes!”

She and John decided to find a summer home in the foothills to escape the Florida heat. Lydia wanted to buy a condo and board her horse as she had always done. “John, on the other hand, saw the Derbyshire community and thought that would be a great place to be in a gated equestrian community“ Lydia said. They bought a beautiful lot overlooking the lake in 2016 and began building a home. After some years Lydia decided self-boarding was not for her and bought a condo in town. “I realized that this city girl is happier being a “townie”.”

They became social members with the Tryon Hounds. She found a barn that leased hunt horses and caps with them on occasion. “The Hunt has been extremely successful over 100 years and continues to thrive because the people here understand and appreciate the value of Riding to Hounds in the countryside – – the Foothills of Western North Carolina are absolutely spectacular! The fields, forest, and farmland are exquisite and of course fall is when everything comes alive in this community.” Lydia said.

By far, her favorite thing about the Tryon Hounds is the Opening Meet. “The meet is open to the public and it’s so fun to have people come and witness the Blessing of the Hounds and see us off on a Hunt! Also afterwards we started a tradition of a pitch-in as a Thanksgiving Day meal, which I find warm and inviting for members who hunted that morning and participated in the Blessing of the Hounds. Even though many of us enjoyed cooking a yummy Thanksgiving meal to nurture our family and friends, it’s also nice to enjoy the camaraderie of our fellow members on this special holiday. “