Team Canada showed up to work the first day of team show jumping competition at the Pan American Games in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and gave the competition a riding lesson.

Canada’s Jill Henselwood and Special Ed won the 1.45 meter speed class today, July 26, followed closely by Ian Millar on In Style.  Simon Nizri from Mexico rounded out the top three.  Canada has bounded into the lead, followed by Brazil and Mexico.  The United States sits fourth, led by Lauren Hough and Casadora who finished fifth in the class.

But for U.S. rider Laura Chapot, just having a horse at all trumped her sixth place finish at her first ever championship event. Just 12 hours before the class, Chapot’s long-time mount Little Big Man was fighting for his life.

Things got off to a rough start for Chapot and Little Big Man.  The horse arrived in Rio de Janeiro along with the other U.S. show jumpers on Thursday July 19.  He didn’t seem quite like himself over the weekend, and on Monday “Pony” was diagnosed with an impaction.  Chapot stayed by the horse’s side the entire time, spending the night at the stable  on a cot outside his stall.  But the gutsy horse bounced back, and by Wednesday Chapot was able to take him into the training session where he jumped around the ring looking sprite and ready to go. 

“He’s a lot better than he was 24 hours ago,” said Chapot, who was optimistic after the training session.  “And we still have 24 hours to go.”

But that afternoon, the 15.2 hand gelding took a turn for the worse and was once again in distress.  Team veterinarian Dr. Tim Ober diagnosed Pony with a displaced colon and recommended jogging the horse up and down the hill outside the stable in an effort to get his intestines back into place.  Luckily by 8 p.m. yesterday evening the doctor determined that all was back on track. 

“When he did the exam and determined that everything was where it was supposed to be, we all almost cried,” said Chapot.  But still she wasn’t positive she was going to compete until the morning of the class, after she’d spent another night sleeping outside his stall along with Pony’s groom, Tiffany Matthews, and Dr. Ober.  

“I made it very, very clear that I would not take my horse to the ring if there were any possible repercussions,” said Chapot.  “The horse means too much to me emotionally.”  But the doctor assured Chapot that Pony had completely recovered and would suffer from no aftereffects from the illness, aside from being tired.

But even after his long ordeal, Pony and Chapot sped around the course, slicing the turns and leaving all the rails up to finish in fifth place. “I was a little worried that he might not have his normal stride, but he felt fantastic,” said Chapot.  “We got down the lines early.  This horse has a lot of heart, and he wants to do it so much himself.”  The pair tripped the timers at 82.41 seconds.

Jill Henselwood and Special Ed entered the National Equestrian Center stadium at a big gallop and quickly set to work showing the competition exactly how to ride the course.  She zoomed around Guilherme Jorge’s 14-jump course, slicing every turn and tripping the timers at 79.66 seconds without touching a fence to capture the lead.

Even her teammate, eight-time Olympic veteran Ian Millar, couldn’t catch her. In Style lived up to his name, easily clearing all the fences on the shortest of tracks, just .67 seconds slower than Henselwood.  Millar’s precise riding delivered Canada to the top of the leaderboard, with almost a three-point lead over Brazil.

Canada is under tremendous pressure to finish in the top three at the Pan Ams in order to qualify for the 2008 Olympics.  The United States is the only team in Rio already qualified, so if they finish in the medals, then the fourth placed finisher will also earn a slot in Hong Kong.

Hough and Casadora were the first U.S. pair to challenge the course, putting in a beautifully controlled trip.  They kept up a brisk pace throughout the 1.45 meter course, leaving all the rails in the cups and tripping the timers at 82.24 seconds.

Cara Raether and Ublesco ran into a bit of trouble partway through their course, coming in too tight to an in-and-out and taking down the top two rails of the first obstacle. The pair added four more faults to their score at the last fence when the front rail of the airy oxer hit the dirt, to finish with a score of 94.71.

Riding anchor for the first time in his long career was Todd Minikus, who entered the ring at a blazing gallop aboard Pavarotti.  But things went awry right off the bat when Pavarotti refused the first fence.

“I was pretty confident in the schooling area, perhaps a little too confident,” said Minikus. “Approaching the first jump with that much stride surprised my horse a little bit, and he ducked to the right.”

Minikus quickly got him back on track and kicked up the pace even more try to make up some lost time.  But his zeal got him into trouble when two fences came down. 

“Though it was unfortunate for him, you have to look at it from all perspectives,” said John Madden, in Rio to coach Raether and lend a hand to the team and Chef d’Equipe George Morris.  “Cara was the greenest of all the people, and she didn’t have a bad score.  So it made good sense for him to go in to that first fence and try to get a hell of a score laid down, just a mediocre round wasn’t going to change the position a lot.  There were three scores that weren’t so bad in the bank.  He took some personal risks for the team, and I think that’s all right.”

The U.S. riders are looking forward to tomorrow’s Nation’s Cup class which gets underway at 9 a.m. local time.  Despite trailing Canada by two rails, the riders said they were confident about their chances in tomorrow’s team medal final.  “As a team, we’re going to rally tomorrow,” promised Hough.  “Two rails sounds like a lot, but it’s not.  We’re not far from the lead, and we’re going to fight for it.”

Standings after Team Round 1

1.    Canada, 2.72
Mac Cone, Melinda  4.31
Jill Henselwood, Special Ed 0
Eric LaMaze, Hickstead 2.43
Ian Millar, In Style .29

2.    Brazil, 5.67
Bernardo Alves, Chupa Chup 1.09
Pedro Veniss, Un Blancs de Blanc 2.84
Cesar Almeida, Singular Joter II 11.66
Rodrigo Pessoa, Rufus 1.74

3.    Mexico, 5.98
Eduardo Salas, RMW Estina 4.92
Simon Nizri, Cataro Ask .47
Jose Anotonio Chedraui, Don Porfirio 1.85
Santiago Lambre, Curant 3.57

4.    United States, 10.2
Lauren Hough, Casadora 1.29
Cara Raether, Ublesco 7.53
Laura Chapot, Little Big Man 1.38
Todd Minikus, Pavarotti 8.36

5.    Chile, 13.47
Samuel Parot, Signature 4.93
Carlos Milthaler, A.S. Lusitania 5.00
Bernardo Naveillan, Aquino 3.54

6.    Venezuela, 13.56
Gustavo Arroyo, Cachon 34.49
Leopolda Paoli, Remonta Escapil 7.93
Loisse Garcia, Philipp 3.60
Pablo Barrios, Sun God 2.03

7. Argentina, 15.25
Martin Dopazo, El Capricho Coral 11.79
Maxmiliano Amaya, Church Road 6.61
Matias Albarracin, Gamma Cocu 4.34
Ricardo Kierkegaard, Rey Z 4.3

7.    Colombia, 16.59
Ricardo Villa, Calico Z 6.10
Mauricio Ruiz, Ratoucha 5.17
Carlos Hernando Ramirez, Amazonas 5.32

8.    Guatemala 18.98
Wylder Rodriguez, Pompidu 3.80
Augusto Diaz Duran, Rubina 11.21
Eduardo Castillo, Paesen 6.78
Juan Andres Rodriguez, Orestus VDL 8.40

9.    Ecuador 34.08
Ronald Zabala Goetschel, Wonderboy 34.39
Rodrigo Bermeo Andrade, Kilombo 7.69
Diego Viveiro Viteri, Cantabrica 12.11
Pablo Andrade Torres, Hanz 14.28

Individual Results
Speed Class

1.    CAN Jill Henselwood, Special Ed (79.66) 0
2.    CAN Ian Millar, In Style (80.23) .29
3.    MEX Simon Nizri, Gataro Ask (80.59) .47
4.    BRA Bernardo Alves, Chupa Chup 2 (81.84) 1.09
5.    USA Lauren Hough, Casadora (82.24) 1.29
6.    USA Laura Chapot, Little Big Man (82.41) 1.38
7.    BRA Rodrigo Pessoa, Rufus (83.13) 1.74
8.    MEX Jose Antonio Chedraui, Don Porfirio (83.35) 1.85
9.    VEN Pablo Barrios, Sun God (83.71) 2.03
10.   CAN Eric LaMaze, Hickstead (84.51) 2.43
11.    BRA Pedro  Veniss, Un Blancs de Blanc (85.34) 2.84
12.    CHI Bernardo Naveillan, Aquino (86.73) 3.54
13.    MEX Santiago Lambre, Curant (86.79) 3.57
14.    VEN Loisse Garcia, Phillipp (86.86) 3.60
15.    GUA    Wylder Rodriguez, Pompidu (86.26) 3.80
16.    ARG Ricardo Kierkegaard, Rey Z (88.27) 4.31
17.    CAN Marc Cone, Melinda (88.27) 4.31
18.    ARG Matias Albarracin, Gama Cocu (88.34) 4.34
19.    MEX Eduardo Salas, RMW Estina (89.50) 4.92
20.    CHI Samuel Parot, Signature (89.52) 4.93
21.    CHI Carlos Milthaler, A.S. Lusitania (89.66) 5.00
22.    COL Mauricio Ruiz, Ratoucha (90.00) 5.17
23.    COL Carlos Hernando Ramirez, Amazonas (90.30) 5.32
24.    COL Ricardo Villa, Calico Z (91.86) 6.10
25.    PUR Mark Watring, Sapphire (92.71) 6.53
26.    ARG Maximiliano Amaya, Church Road (92.88) 6.61
27.    GUA Eduardo Castillo, Paesen (93.21) 6.78
28.    USA Cara Raether, Ublesco (94.71) 7.53
29.    ECU Rodrigo Bermeo Andrade, Kilombo (95.03) 7.69
30.    VEN Leopoldo Paoili, Remonta Escaupil (95.52) 7.93
31.    USA Todd Minikus, Pavarotti (96.37) 8.36
32.    GUA Juan Andres Rodriguez, Orestus VDL (96.46) 8.40
33.    BOL Hernan Aguirre del Castillo, Trivitano Miraflores (96.56) 8.45
34.    DOM Georgia Ieromazzo, Chassot (98.24) 9.29
35.    PUR Francis Tress Roig, Acertijo (100.20) 10.27
36.    BER Patrick Nisbett, Antille 8 (101.63) 10.99
37.    PER Grau Navarro, Osho (101.93) 11.14
38.    GUA Augusto Diaz Duran, Rubina (102.08) 11.21
39.    ESA Alfredo Hernandez Takashi Van Bernenbra (102.56) 11.45
40.    BRA Cesar Almeida, Singular Joter II (102.97) 11.66
41.    ARG Martin Dopazo, El Capricho Coral (103.23) 11.79
42.   ECU Diego Vivero Viteri, Cantabrica (103.87) 12.11
43.   ECU Pablo Andrade Torres, Hanz (108.21) 14.28
44.   BAR Natya Soodeen, Tadonia (108.63) 14.49
45.   BER Jillian Terceira, Navantus (EL) 34.49
45.   ECU Ronald Zabalda Goetschel, Wonderboy (EL) 34.49
45.  VEN Gustavo Arroyo, Cachon (EL) 34.49