Two years ago Brianne Goutal stepped into the show ring at the Garden State Horse Show and competed in her first grand prix aboard Onira.

This year, the pair returned, withGoutal’s skills honed by two stellar years in the equitation ring. Those skills paid off as Goutal bested a field of 35 to take home her first grand prix win in the $50,000 Dimensional Healthcare Grand Prix, the climax of the Garden State Horse Show held May 3-7 in Augusta, N.J.

Nine riders returned for the jump-off. Laura Chapot set the pace aboard her first mount, Sprite, posting a clear round in 42.55 seconds. Chris Kappler came back second on Pele, and although the pair kept the rails up, Pele stalled slightly midway through the course on the approach to a long two-stride and finished a hair behind Chapot, stopping the clock in 42.80 seconds. Amy Millar and Costa Rica jumped a conservative round in 45.67 seconds and pulled the front rail on the final oxer to post 4 faults on the board.

Goutal followed Millar, opening with a gallop to the first two jumps. As soon as Onira’s hooves hit the ground off the second vertical, Goutal began their rollback to a wide oxer. Finding the distance off the turn, Goutal kept the pace to the Dimensional Healthcare vertical. The pair rolled back right to a long approach to the two-stride, and Goutal gave Onira a hard check. Onira listened and kept the rails up. From the sidelines someone yelled, “Go! Go!” and Goutal galloped to the last jump, stopping the clock clean in 41.54 seconds.

Goutal had to wait for five riders to tackle the jump-off before leading the victory gallop. With Nona Garson, Leslie Howard, Anne Kursinski and Chapot’s second ride still to come, it was a long wait. The only rider to come close with a clean round, however, was Garson aboard Languster, but she rode conservatively and finished in 47.49 seconds.

Goutal’s trainers, Frank and Stacia Madden, were thrilled. Frank said, “We told her coming to the show that she had a shot to win it, and we tried to get her a little jacked up.” Stacia added, “We had been practicing striding and longer approaches where it matters, and I think it made her more aggressive in the jump-off.”

Goutal, 17, admitted that not only was she aggressive, but she was able to think clearly and alter her plan when necessary. She said, “I didn’t catch the first jump like I wanted to.” Because of that she had to add a stride up the first line, but it worked and the rest of the course rode as planned.

The young rider is still getting accustomed to the absence of equitation classes in her schedule. “I miss it so much, you can’t believe. I love the equitation. If you have a good horse and keep it light–you make great friends and it teaches you so much,” she said.

Earlier in the day Goutal picked up an-other win in the low junior/amateur-owner jumper prix riding Mon Gamin, an 11-year-old, Spanish-bred gelding. Maria Schaub took second place riding Marga, a mare owned by Beacon Hill Partners. Schaub also picked up the championship in the large junior hunter, 16-17, division riding Mr. Wendell, owned by Horizon Hill Farm. Elizabeth Lubrano is usually in the irons, but her father called the Maddens and asked if they could get him shown.

Stacia said, “Maria is always happy to jump on any horse, especially nice ones. And she did a super job.”

For the Beacon Hill riders, Garden State is the first show after the Florida winter circuit. “The horses have been on vacation, and they are fresh,” said Stacia. “Sometimes Florida has a slow start because they’re not fit yet. After Florida they’re fit but yet they’re rested.”

Back With A Vengeance
In the small junior hunters, 15-17, another Beacon Hill student picked up a win. Nicole Lakin, 18, of Reading, Pa., has been training with the Maddens for slightly more than a year.

She rode Wedgewood, a 10-year-old gelding. “He is the nicest hunter I’ve ever sat on,” she said. “He has an awesome attitude and is very talented.”

The warmblood is a little sensitive and has a quirk or two. She said, “On show days we have to stay calm around him. Oscar, who takes care of him, talks to him. Once he gets into the ring he stays pretty focused, but he likes to shake his head in the corners. He’s very sensitive about his ears so we got his bridle all specially adjusted for him. It is just his one quirk. But when a horse is that good at his job you can let him have his quirk.”

Wedgewood competed in Wellington (Fla.) this winter, but Lakin’s time at the Winter Equestrian Festival was cut short when a fall off a junior jumper during the second week of circuit sent her to the emergency room.

She said, “I was so bad because I told everyone that I was fine, and I actually had a cracked rib. I waited a week before I went to the emergency room. I got in a lot of trouble for that.”

When Lakin finally did go to get a chest X-ray the doctors found a mass, and she was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. She said, “I had no symptoms. I had to go home and get a biopsy, and they started chemo immediately.”

While Lakin was in the hospital, Schaub showed Wedgewood two or three weeks, and her friends kept her spirits up by phone. She said, “As hard as it was to be away, I was lucky that everyone was so supportive. I’m so lucky to have such a great family and such great friends. Everyone has been so unbelievably supportive. Brianne called me every day at the hospital, and Maria called me as soon as she got out of the ring.

“When I was in the hospital knowing that I had this to come back to helped. It definitely makes you appreciate everything,” she added.

Lakin returned to showing by the end of the Florida circuit, and now that she only has two more treatments, she’s very excited. She said, “My last treatment is done the day before Devon [Pa.]. I’m usually pretty sick after the second treatment, but I don’t care because it is going to be over and I can go to Devon and have fun. I might be sick as a dog, but I am going to jump around.”

Worth The Work
Jodi Czaplick, East Quogue, N.Y., rode Untold to the blue ribbon in the hunter classic.

“He was a terror when I first got him four years ago,” said Czaplick of the 10-year-old gelding. “He’s finally grown up and being the horse he should be.”
Czaplick, 20, and Untold earned two circuit championships at Ocala (Fla.). There she trained with Keith Powell, but when she does the local shows like Garden State she goes with her mother. Her mother also helps her out by shipping Untold to the show so that Czaplick can work at the shows braiding. Typically she travels to the event on Monday, hangs her braiding signs, and gets some work to support her addiction to the sport.

She said, “I have so many friends at the horse shows that work here so I get to come, hang out with them, get some work, make some money and then show on the weekends. It’s great.”

The night before the classic Czaplick braided until 2 a.m. and then woke up at 5 a.m. to school her horse. The lack of sleep doesn’t seem to affect Czaplick because she and Untold collected a first and a second in the amateur-owner, 18-35, division that day and posted scores of an 87 and 81 for her winning classic score of 168.

Maria Takacs and her 11-year-old gelding Mombo collected the grand amateur-owner championship and also earned ribbons on her 9-year-old Hanoverian Fiorello in the amateur-owner, 36 and over, classes.

“They are both two of the nicest, kindest horses,” said Takacs. “Fio has seen me through two children, so he will always have a special place in my heart. He is my rock.”

Takacs, 38, has spent her entire life in the saddle, but now that she has a 3-year-old son, Scott, and a 1-year-old daughter, Samantha, she has a new perspective.

She said, “Some of the things that you may have taken more seriously before having children you realize in the grand scheme of things that they are not as important as when you get home and your kids are so happy to see you. I think when you don’t take it as seri-ously it actually makes you perform better.”
She also doesn’t care to ride any more “high drama horses,” she said. “You really think about the safety issues after you have kids.”

Takacs didn’t ride while she was pregnant, and although she started riding again a couple of months after each child, the break in showing has kept her from qualifying for major shows. She said, “I’m going to Devon for the first time in four years. I’m really excited. This was a great preparation for Devon because they made the jumps huge here. And at Devon you have to be on your game.”

After spending six weeks in Wellington, Fla., Takacs feels like she has a jumpstart for the year: “I love going there because I think it brings your game to a new level. It makes you competitive for the rest of the year.”

Meryl Winslow, Far Hills, N.J., rode Logical Choice to the championship in the children’s, 15-17, division. She’s been riding the 10-year-old, warmblood gelding since December.

“He’s like a big teddy bear,” said Winslow.

Winslow and Logical Choice picked up a circuit championship in Ocala this winter, but the pair didn’t always connect so well. She admitted, “The first day I rode him we did not do well at all. Over the course of the week we got better. I didn’t really connect with him until the second or third time I rode him.”

Winslow trains with Amanda Steege and keeps her horse at home. She is a high school sophomore, and she plays field hockey in the fall. She is looking forward to moving up into the junior hunters later in the year.