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Latest News
7/26/2007
Team USA Sits in Fourth Place in Team Show Jumping at XV Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro
Rio de Janeiro—Some 47 Pan American Games show jumpers entered the arena at Deodoro Stadium outside of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, on Thursday morning to begin the first of two days of team competition. Leading the way for Team USA was rider Lauren Hough aboard Casadora. The last of the four to go was Todd Minikus and Pavarotti. Team USA ended the day in a surprising overall fourth place after the first team qualifier on a computed score of 10.2. They finished behind the teams from Canada (first place – 2.72, Brazil (second place – 5.67) and Mexico (third place – 5.89) among the 10 fielded teams in competition. Seven individual riders tackled the course. There are high hopes that there will be a repeat of the U.S. Team Gold medal that was won at the last Pan American Games in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic in 2003, but there is plenty of work for that to be realized on Friday. In short, it was a morning of show jumping filled with some surprises and unexpected twists.
Fourteen combinations totaling 17 jumping efforts comprised the test. The class held three double combinations and an open water. There were a handful of efforts that seemed to turn into curveballs. A first fence in the combination at 11 was a predominant problem, as was the oxer at 12. Another tricky question for most of the horse-and-rider pairings came at the double combination at 13, not to leave out the final obstacle, 14, where the rail seemed to drop time and again. Among the 47 entries, only 17 navigated the course without posting jumping penalties.
Leading the pack for Team USA was the first to enter the ring – Hough. Partnered with the 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood mare, Casadora (owned by Laura and Meredith Mateo), the Wellington, FL, resident turned in a performance on plan. Hough and Casadora posted a computed score of 1.29 to sit in fifth place (or final time of 82.24 seconds, zero faults).
“I thought the course was good, but perhaps a touch on the small side,” said Hough. “I hope tomorrow’s has a little bit bigger fences to separate these countries a little bit better,” referring to the tight scores between the countries in contention for a Team medal.
“I’m pleased with my round today,” she continued. “It was a ride according to plan, and I’m less than one pole, individually, and we have a lot more jumping to go. I think, as a team, we are going to rally tomorrow.”
Her conviction and determination were evident, despite sitting just outside the reach of a spot on the medal podium after the first day’s competition.
“Two poles sounds like a lot, but we are not far from the lead,” said Hough. “We are going to fight for it and try to win a Gold medal.”
Immediately behind Hough in the standings from Day One, and the third member of Team USA to tackle the course, was New Jersey’s Laura Chapot and her 13-year-old KWPN Dutch Warmblood, Little Big Man. The gelding, which has had several tough days due to a displaced colon, bounced back and turned in a clean round, though there was a split second where it seemed that fence 12 might say otherwise. Some quick thinking and control on the rider’s part helped prevent it, which is another wonder considering she has been up with her mount for the past three days.
“I’m just amazed at my horse…he had a displaced colon,” she said. “Somehow, it got back where it belonged. We were up through the night. But [before the competition], the vets said it was OK, and everything was in order. George [Morris, chef d’equipe] said, ‘Give it a shot,’ and despite my horse being tired…he put in an amazing performance.”
The clean-and-clear round, on a time of 82.41 seconds, sits Chapot and Little Big Man in sixth place overall on a computed score of 1.38.
The horse has been totally cleared by the veterinarians to compete – an issue that was of the utmost importance to the vets, the team and the rider. Chapot made it clear that under no circumstance would she compe
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