Chapot, Hough, Minikus and Raether Medal Despite the Odds
The story from our Show Jumping Team USA may not have appeared as glamorous because the Medals that laced their necks weren’t Gold or Silver. Yet their Bronze Medal had a whole lot more meaning. By the time the Individual Final round took place, Laura Chapot joined Todd Minikus and Lauren Hough on the sidelines. Casadora downed too many rails in the first of two rounds on the final day and as a result Lauren opted not to continue into the second round. Laura decided that Little Big Man had been through enough. So that left just one!
Cara Raether and Ublesco ended up being the highest placed of the Americans. Cara was pleased with her 8th place finish, especially since she started out in the 28th spot after the very first round, but her never give up attitude saw her through.
While we had a strong team we didn’t man this one with all of our veterans. Instead Lauren was the most seasoned of the group on her Casadora. While Todd has done a lot, his horse Pavarotti is still what you would consider green. “And that greenness showed up here,” commented Chef d’Equipe George Morris. (Todd had a refusal in the first round and a fall in the second round.) Cara Raether and Ublesco have added some good credentials to their record this year but their international exposure is limited. Their future looks bright though.
“We have a lot of new couples here,” explained Morris, adding that the goal now is to give our country more depth and in order to do that our up-and-coming riders need some more experience.
Laura Chapot has quite a bit of mileage but has never competed in a “Games” (Olympic, Pan American or World Equestrian) and her horse Little Big Man has never competed in a Nations Cup. The real story there though was what you didn’t see. It was the nights that Laura slept outside her horse’s stall and the 72 hours vet Tim Ober spent getting an impaction the horse was suffering from to straighten itself out. It took three days to do that and quite a few scary moments, but in the end the “little guy” proved what a great horse he is by jumping his heart out in the team competition in spite of being quite tired.
On the final day Laura was walking the course in jeans (a telltale sign that she wasn’t going to compete). So I asked her how Little Big Man was doing. “We decided not to go today because he is traveling tomorrow,” she explained. “It’s a shame because we were in the running.” Yet, as Laura indicated so many times over the previous days, her horse’s health was paramount.
On the sidelines were both Laura’s parents. Both Frank and Mary were there to support her. While her dad walked and talked through the courses with her, her mom watched and shared her daughter’s concerns that the horse they’ve had since he was four (who is now 13) would pull through it all and give Laura a terrific first Pan American Games experience. Even though they didn’t make it all the way to the end, the Bronze Medal they did earn meant more than most people realized.
Show Jumping In Brazil
From the increase in audience attendance you could tell that show jumping is certainly the better known sport in Brazil. The Brazilian fans were everywhere waving their flags and going into an enviable uproar as their riders did the incredible in producing clear rounds and in the end earning a Gold Medal. It seemed appropriate that Brazil should finally do well in some phase of the equestrian events and it actually felt right that they should win.
It was also nice to see veteran Canadian rider Ian Millar and InStyle help his team to a Silver Medal. Ian is much loved around the world for his record setting days with his beloved Big Ben. His soft but focused style has bode him well over the years and he was hoping to claim another Pan American Games Gold Medal, which he earned at the 1999 Pan Am Games in Winnipeg and at the 1987 Pan Am Games in Indianapolis. This time is was not to be when a downed rail left him out of the running. Instead the Gold went to teammate Jill Henselwood, the Silver to Rodrigo Pessoa and the Bronze back to Canada around the neck of Eric Lamaze.
It was nice to see the crowd applaud Rodrigo who although he is Brazilian has lived most of his life in Belgium. Yet, Brazil was the country he was riding for and his strong performances sent the crowd into an uproar. There were waving flags and waving people and applause for anyone who negotiated a clear round.
“It was a much more educated audience than the Eventing crowd,” commented George Morris and all the riders agreed.
“They were a very knowledgeable crowd and showed true sportsmanship,” added Lauren.
“I had an opportunity to watch a couple of the other sports and I must say the show jumping fans have to be the best sports fans at these Pan Am Games. When somebody jumped well they were very generous with their applause,” shared Todd.
While Morris was focused on depth, the USEF staff was focused on getting the job done. It had been a tough journey to work through the kinks of getting the horses and riders to Brazil but they managed to do it. “And hopefully the riders were shielded from any of that,” explained USEF Chief Executive Officer John Long. “The riders are here to focus on winning medals,” he continued noting that it appeared the results in all three disciplines had proven that our system works.
“We have a great crew behind us,” agreed Lauren. “Everyone behind the scenes is just as important as what you do in the ring. Our management program is probably one of our strongest points as a country and our care of our horses.”
“It’s been an adventure. We had a really strong team, but some fluky things happened,” said Laura Chapot. “We all got along well and from the very beginning we gave it our best shot.”
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