By Nancy Jaffer
April 12, 2018
She did it again.
Laura Chapot took the Equiline Overall Jumper Rider title for the 2018 Winter Equestrian Festival. The Neshanic Station resident has won that championship so many times she can’t put a number on it. But rest assured it was earned with a consistent record, dozens of starts and a good number of victories.
“We show not just in the grands prix or one division,” said Laura, explaining how she keeps claiming the honor.
“I have a couple of horses in a range of divisions and they all have performed really well in their own spot. I think that comes through in that award.”
Laura Chapot and Chandon Blue at WEF. (Photo© 2018 by Nancy Jaffer)
For Chapot, 46, the WEF in Wellington, Fla., is the greatest opportunity she has all year to make her mark at the highest level of the sport. She shows on a budget, and the WEF lends itself to enabling her participation in FEI (international) classes.
She and her mother, Olympic veteran Mary Chapot, have a house in Wellington. While they don’t own a farm there, stabling at WEF is convenient and less costly than renting or buying a facility, as so many other jumper riders do.
She takes a volume approach to the cornucopia of classes in the Winter Equestrian Capital of the World, knowing that she has limited chances during the year to take part in FEI shows.
At the end of the WEF, which finished its 12-week run April 1, Chapot’s horses headed home to New Jersey for a long rest. Her next big outing is Devon, about two hours from her Chado Farm, but there is little opportunity around the region where she can get an FEI tune-up before that special show in Pennsylvania at the end of May.
Laura at Devon last year with ISHD Dual Star. (Photo© 2017 by Nancy Jaffer)
As a result of the lack of points from FEI classes, despite her record, she is number 297 in the world rankings. She noted prize money also has dropped in the area around New Jersey.
“It’s a little bit disappointing and it makes you want to look at other places to go that are maybe not quite as convenient as having something right in our area, which is such a well-populated place to have horse shows.”
Going to Canada’s Spruce Meadows series in Alberta, as so many from the U.S. do each summer is not an option.
“It’s so far and so expensive. For our customers, that’s not really even in their thoughts, it’s not possible for them,” said Laura, who doesn’t want to leave her clients for weeks after going to Florida, which means Europe, also pricey, isn’t an option.
“It would be really nice if we could keep continuing to build up our sport in this country, so we have some other places to go without having to spend a fortune in order to get there,” she observed, noting how important it is from the standpoint of self-improvement to compete against the best.
At any rate, she’s rarely rusty at Devon, where she also makes a habit of being leading rider, at least half a dozen times by last count.
It will be interesting to see how she does at that show with her newest star, Chandon Blue, a 13-year-old son of popular sire Chacco Blue.
She got the horse in December through Irish Olympic medalist Cian O’Connor. During WEF, she trains with him and his assistant, Michael Kelly. Wellington is really the only place all year where she has eyes on the ground in addition to help from her mother, and she appreciates getting a variety of viewpoints and new ideas.
Chapot likes buying horses via Cian because if they don’t work out, she has the option of returning them. Laura hasn’t gone abroad recently to look for horses, finding it easier and more effective to work with Cian.
“That way, we really get to know the real horse, and whether it’s going to suit or not. It’s hard to go over there and be a small fish in a big pond and see a horse on one or two days and think you know what you’re getting,” said Laura.
“You need a good connection over there, someone scouting and watching and being sure that the horse you see on your short trip is the same horse that appears every week, in and out. The people over there may ride differently than you ride, and the horse is used to that ride. So then all of a sudden, you ride it for two weeks, and it’s a different horse, for the good or the bad.”
Of Chandon Blue, whose previous riders included Cian and Israeli competitor Daniel Bluman, she said, “Originally, I wasn’t sure he was going to be my style. But he’s really a game horse and quite quick and careful. He’s had a little bit of experience, so he was ready to go when he came over. We just have to figure out the ride a little bit.”
His achievements at WEF included a win in the $35,000 Hollow Creek 1.50m Classic CSI 3-star.
As far as his future goes, though, Chapot isn’t making predictions–despite some “pretty fantastic rounds in Florida.”
She noted “he was not billed to us as being the next Olympic star, but I don’t think you can always predict those kinds of things. He’s a really useful horse—we just have to see where it goes.”
Among the names of her more familiar mounts, such as Thornhill Kate and ISHD Dual Star, is another new one, Cybel II, a 10-year-old Irishbred sporthorse by Varo.
“I kept her a little bit lower, at 1.40 and 1.45 meters. She’s quite careful and has a lot off ability, but she’s a much more difficult ride and a lot less experienced,” she said of the mare, formerly ridden by Cian and another Irishman, Ross Mulholland.
“I’ve got a nice string right now,” said Laura, who noted it’s good “to have a few back-ups, so there’s not so much pressure on each horse. That way, it’s a little bit easier to pick and choose the right places for the right horses.”
Since that hasn’t always been the case for Laura, it’s a big plus this season.
She also has a number of mounts waiting in the wings, including offspring of Gemini, the clone of the great Gem Twist who won double silver at the 1988 Olympics with Greg Best up.
Gemini as a youngster, before he went to stud. (Photo© by Nancy Jaffer)
Gem was the son of Good Twist, ridden to many victories by Laura’s late father, former U.S. show jumping team captain and coach Frank Chapot.
The sons and daughters of Gemini, who stands in France, are just turning six now, so it will still be a few years before it can be seen whether they have a shot at grand prix stardom.
Of her own Geminis (she says she has “a bunch”) who will be coming out more this spring locally, Laura commented about the six-year-old group, “they’re all a little bit different, and a bit different type, but they all are pretty clever and look like they’ve got some talent.”
