High-speed crash kills two horse trainers

The deaths of two young horse trainers, killed in a high-speed car crash over the weekend, shook the equestrian community in Wellington on Monday, triggering grief and reflection.

“The entire community is one big family,” said student Jennifer Pennebaker, a horse owner and rider. “This hits home. They are family to us.”

Killed in the crash Saturday on South Shore Boulevard were Christian Kennedy, 21, and Dana McWilliams,19, who both moved to Wellington in order to pursue their passion for working with horses, according to family and friends.

A third person in the car, Elaine O’Halloran, 24, remained Monday in the ICU at St. Mary’s Medical Center in West Palm Beach with critical injuries. She is a native of Ireland living in Wellington while working as a groom, according to friends.

Kennedy, who was raised in Iowa, was called “a rising talent in the saddle” by his former employer, trainer Ilse Schwarz.

“He was truly a good soul, filled with life, hope and love,” Schwarz wrote in a blog post.

Schwarz said that Kennedy had hopes of competing as a rider in the Olympics. “He had that kind of talent, and he was the kind of person others wanted to help,” she said.

The crash and its toll has “impacted everybody in the close-knit dressage community,”