The World Cup Show Jumping Finals is a dramatic stepping stone for Devin Ryan

by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 22, 2018

By Nancy Jaffer
April 22, 2018

Beezie Madden winning her second Longines FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals in Paris last weekend? Not surprising.

But Devin Ryan as the runner-up? Now there’s an unexpected result from a field that included the likes of 2017 winner McLain Ward, three-time winner Marcus Ehning of Germany and two-time Swiss winner Steve Guerdat.

Devin Ryan riding Eddie Blue in Paris (Photo FEI/Christophe Tanière)

Devin, a 36-year-old Long Valley, N.J., resident, was hardly an equestrian household name when he arrived in the City of Lights earlier this month–even if he had competed in last year’s Longines Paris Masters and been victorious in the 2017 Longines American Gold Cup.

While many of the riders knew Devin, “the general public, the news people at that end, they didn’t have a clue,” said the 2018 runner-up, who was ranked 68^th in the world at the end of March. He will, of course, see his standing rise dramatically on the list that comes out at the end of April.

“That is an unbelievable story,” declared George Morris, about Devin’s incredible finish on Eddie Blue at the world indoor show jumping championship.

It was a 1-2 U.S. finish at the Longines FEI World Cup Show Jumping Finals, where Beezie Madden held aloft her winner’s trophy, on the podium with Devin Ryan (L) , who won second place, and Henrik von Eckermann of Sweden, who took third place. (Photo FEI/Jim Hollander)

When Devin started as a working student for George, the teenager was as green as the grass at Hunterdon Inc. in Pittstown.

“He was just a local kid,” recalled George.

“It’s impossible what happened to him. It’s great for the sport and for people to see that,” George declared, noting that Devin always worked hard (to the point of polishing George’s boots as part of his responsibilities, Devin revealed.)

As George pointed out, it demonstrates that hard work can still pay off in the sport for those without an unlimited budget.

“I’d do anything to just be given the opportunity,” said Devin, who mucked a lot of stalls and groomed a lot of horses in the process.

Devin went on to a paying job at Hunterdon for two years, picking up pointers from Chris Kappler and other trainers there, before going off to work with horse dealer Alan Waldman in the Netherlands. Then he came home to start his own operation at River Run Farm.

At the World Cup, Alan told him frankly, “Fifteen years ago, when you were working for me, I never thought you’d be here. You’re like the American dream.”

During his first World Cup finals, Devin tried to keep things in perspective.

“To me, it was another horse show,” said Devin, explaining how he approached it. Of course, initially all eyes were on the likes of Beezie and McLain; certainly not on Devin.

“I didn’t feel the pressure; I put pressure on myself,” he commented, while adding he didn’t head to France just for the experience. Preparing for the competition, he wasn’t excited or nervous, but he had goals.

This is what he told himself: “I know what Eddie is capable of doing. I have a great horse; I trust him and he trusts me. I’m going to ride every round like it’s another horse show.”

At the same time, he noted, “I want to win every class I go into.”

He came close with the 9-year-old by VDL Zirocco Blue, the youngest horse in this year’s finals. Eddie has been trained by Devin for five years, since the gray Dutchbred was just started under saddle. What makes Eddie successful?

Devin Ryan and Eddie Blue on their way to winning the American Gold Cup Longines FEI World Cup qualifier in 2017. (Photo by Nancy Jaffer)

“When he goes in the ring, he’s careful; his scope and his brain, putting those three things together, that’s what makes an amazing horse,” explained Devin.

“Sometimes they have the scope and the carefulness, but they’re spooky or they can’t stay focused.” Not Eddie.

On the other hand, “outside the ring, he’s a nudge, he’s pushy, he’s cheeky, he’s in your space,” chuckled Devin, who admires his mount’s “heart and bravery.”

After being third place in the opening speed leg, where he was less than a second behind Beezie and Germany’s Daniel Deusser, Devin went on to miss the jump-off in the second round by a single time fault, missing the time allowed of 75 seconds by 0.09 seconds. Even so, he remained in third place overall.

But on the third day, in a difficult two-round test that ended without a jump-off, Devin and Eddie were clear in both rounds, tying for first place in the segment with Steve Guerdat, while Beezie toppled a rail with Breitling in the second of her two trips to wind up tied for fourth in that segment.

Overall, though, when the ribbons were awarded on the basis of three days of competition, Devin was only two penalties behind Beezie and stood just below her on the podium, with Sweden’s Henrik von Eckermann, who was third last year, in the same position once more with Toveks Mary Lou. McLain, who has been very encouraging to Devin, wound up fourth with HH Azur on 16 penalties, 12 behind Beezie.

When Henrik, who was standing second, knocked a rail down in his final round, Devin snapped to attention.

“Holy cow,” he said to himself, “I’m in second. This is crazy.”

One of Devin’s goals in going to the World Cup Finals was to be considered for the U.S. team that will contest the FEI World Equestrian Games in Tryon, N.C., this September.

Without a string of 5-star horses, said Devin, “The only way I’m going to get recognition and have a chance of maybe getting on a team is through the World Cup finals. That’s an individual championship. I have two horses (Cooper is his other one), but not as many as a lot of people do. World Cup finals, the nice thing about it, is that it gives riders like me a chance to really prove they’re capable of representing the United States at some level.”

Post-World Cup, Devin is eighth on the U.S. ranking list. As the highest-placing American in the World Cup finals who wasn’t already named to the short list for September’s FEI World Equestrian Games (Beezie had secured her spot previously), he’ll make that roster of 10 athletes too.

While the World Cup is an individual championship, the WEG is a team competition, and doubly important because it’s a qualifier for the 2020 Olympics. The next step is going to Europe with the U.S. team to ride in two of four observation events, which include Dublin, Aachen, Rotterdam and Sopot, Poland. Obviously, Devin has come a long way and persevered.

He has made it through the down times, including the fatal injury of his first good horse in a pasture accident. Another was a ruling by a U.S Equestrian Federation hearing committee that he had presented five horses at the 2015 Hampton Classic “in a condition that was not in the best interest of the welfare of the horses.” He was fined $6,000 and suspended for six months during 2016.

Devin doesn’t give details, noting “I’m not allowed to talk about it.” But he did his time and came back. He had been taught from the beginning to persist.

“I came from a middle-class family, it’s not a horse family at all,” said Devin, whose first horse cost $50.

“I knew I didn’t have the big money, the big backing. I said years ago the only way I’m going to get a good horse is buying a young one and developing it. And the young horses are what has developed me as a rider.”

His parents were strict about his equestrian involvement, and made sure he worked at it on the family farm.

“If you don’t take care of your horse and ride it every day and get up early and sacrifice going out with friends, if you’re not going to do it, then the horse is gone and you don’t do horses, you do something else,” they told him.

Eddie is owned by Lori Larrabee, who “loves the sport,” said Devin, noting she came to France to support him with her husband, Steve, and three of their children.

Despite his success, Devin knows better than to get overconfident.

“I still have to prove myself,” he explained.

“This was definitely a big step in my career, to be able to do something like this,” he said, but realistic as always, added, “It’s round one.”

Consistency is a charm for titleist Laura Chapot at Winter Equestrian Festival

by Nancy Jaffer | Apr 12, 2018

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.”