Kent Farrington’s glad to have his little horse with a big heart back in action.

When Up Chiqui’s on a hot streak, he’s almost impossible to beat.

And at the $75,000 Fidelity Investments Jumper Classic, Up Chiqui was on fire. The feisty chestnut gelding and Kent Farrington notched yet another win in their belt on Sept. 6 in Hampton Falls, N.H.

It was Farrington’s third win in four years at the show—he rode Madison to the grand prix title in 2006 and Up Chiqui to the top in 2007. McLain Ward and Goldika 559, who won in 2008, picked up third this year.

The win was the second in a row for Chiqui, who had conquered the $30,000 KHJA Grand Prix (Ky.) on Aug. 22. Known for blazing a trail of victories—he was the U.S. Equestrian Federation’s 2008 grand prix horse of the year with almost $250,000 in earnings—Chiqui hit a bit of a rough road this spring.

Farrington and the 12-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Quidam De Revel—Quendelien Vogelzang, Chin-Chin) were the top U.S. East Coast League qualifiers for the Rolex FEI World Cup Final in April. But when Farrington got Chiqui to Las Vegas, Nev., for the final, he knew something was wrong.

“He basically went to Vegas and didn’t want to play the game,” Farrington said. “He was tired; he’s gone hard for me for a long time. He needed a rest.”

Farrington gave Chiqui two months off from the show ring, turning him out for a month at his home farm in Greenwich, Conn., then putting him back into light work for a month. Chiqui returned to the ring fresh and full of sass in August.

“The decision was easy, because in order to be competitive and stay competitive, you have to think about what you need to do to make the horse his best. The right thing to do was to give him a break,” Farrington said. “He’s coming back, and he feels like he’s on form and I’m happy with him. When he’s going well, he’s super-competitive. But if he’s not, then we take a step back.”

Farrington said Chiqui can step up and jump a big class almost anywhere. “But to ask him to do a championship was a bit over his head,” he said. “He jumps from his heart, not from his body, and I never want to take advantage of that or lose it.”

Farrington and Up Chiqui placed 13th in the 2008 Rolex FEI World Cup Final (Sweden), but Farrington has learned to listen to Chiqui about his limitations.

“I don’t regret trying [the 2009 World Cup Final]. You never know—you have to try,” he said. “And now I know where the limits are and what to do and what not to do. I don’t have regrets, but I also don’t have anything else to ride. Sometimes you have to go with what you have. Hindsight is 20/20—looking back on Vegas, should I have taken him? Maybe not, but looking back is always clearer.”

Farrington has some up-and-coming young horses, including two 8-year-olds, but he doesn’t have another big-time grand prix horse right now.

“I went to Calgary [Alta., Canada, this summer] with a bunch of young horses and left him home. It was hard not having him there, because I don’t really have another horse ready to jump the big classes, but that was the right thing to do,” he said.

They Tried To Catch Him

Another little horse with a big heart is Ward’s Goldika, whose tail-wringing, rapid style is similar to Chiqui’s. Ward had the unenviable task of going first in a 14-horse jump-off. He knew he had to lay down the trip to beat on Goldika.

“She doesn’t have quite the stride that she once had, so in those big fields, it’s a little bit harder to be really fast on her. She’s quicker in a small ring. But she was great, and Kent had one of those great jump-off rounds that’s tough to beat,” Ward said.

Farrington and Chiqui shaved almost a whole second off Ward’s time for the win.

“It was a very fast class. With that kind of field, and those riders, you knew it was going to be a competitive jump-off,” Farrington said. “Chiqui’s like a professional at that kind of class, at that height and that kind of speed. He’s a specialist. He spends less time in the air, he’s fast across the ground, and he can turn really tight to the fences.”

Canadian Mario Deslauriers snuck into second between Farrington and Ward on Vicomte D. Deslauriers knew that the big, long-strided Vicomte D was going to be at a disadvantage.

“You can’t compare a long-strided horse to Goldika and Up Chiqui—they’re little rabbits, easier to turn and easier to get going again,” Deslauriers said. “I knew my horse and that I could leave out a stride where they both did one more. It was just about keeping the turns a little tight and taking a shot. I think I was on Up Chiqui’s pace all the way to the last turn, but I just couldn’t get wheeled around to the last fence quite fast enough.”

Deslauriers, of Bromont, Que., took over the ride on Jane Clark’s Vicomte D in the spring of 2008. “He’s a good horse. He’s very scopey. Our partnership has had its ups and downs, but the horse is coming around and getting very comfortable. I think the horse is starting to be really consistent,” he said.

The 11-year-old Belgian Warmblood (Flamenco de Semilly—Roxanne D) won the $102,595 CN Grand Prix on Aug. 2 and placed third in the $53,349 Bromont CSI-W on July 26 at the Bromont, Que., venue this summer. The gray gelding also topped the $55,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix in Kentucky on May 16.

One partnership that came together seamlessly for Deslauriers was his marriage to fellow grand prix rider Lisa Silverman, which happened on April 25.