Laura Chapot had a pretty simple plan as the final starter in the seven-horse jump-off for the $65,000 Budweiser Grandprix de Penn National CSI-W.

“I really didn’t get to see anyone else go, so when I got to the gate, my dad [former U.S. chef d’equipe Frank Chapot] said, ‘Just go in and do your thing, and you’ll be fast enough.’ And he was right, once again,” she said.

Chapot and Little Big Man blazed around the course to shave almost 3 seconds off leader David Raposa’s time and claim the winner’s prize in the final event of the Pennsylvania National Horse Show, Oct. 17-22, in Harrisburg, Pa.

Raposa and Audi’s Fanny de la Tour-he 2004 winners—had held the lead after going second and turning in a clean jump-off in 41.32 seconds. But the next few contenders fell victim to the toughest turn in the jump-off—a tight rollback to the 5’3″ Budweiser vertical.

Chris Kappler and his new mount, VDL Oranta, had looked to be on their way to a fast trip, but Kappler shaved the turn to the Budweiser fence and Oranta declined to attempt the jump from the angle. Kent Farrington set a furious pace on Madison, but he ran into steering problems on the turn to the Budweiser fence, and Madison pulled the top rail. Jill Henselwood, on Special Ed, and Anne Kursinski, on Lorenzo, each navigated the turn successfully but weren’t quite fast enough to best Raposa.

Then Chapot came in the ring, and the fiery Little Big Man dug in around the turns and galloped with all his might. Chapot really sliced the turn to the Budweiser vertical, forcing Little Big Man to twist and contort to clear it.

“I thought that was going to be the hardest turn on the course for me. I actually meant to go a little bit wider than I did. He ended up kind of right on top of it. But he tried his heart out,” she said.

They stopped the timers at 38.92 seconds for their second big win of the week. They’d also topped the $25,000 Pennsylvania Big Jump two nights before with a similarly impressive jump-off trip.

Chapot knows that Little Big Man’s big gallop suits him more for courses on big fields, so she was pleased that he was able to perform so well indoors. “He’s grown up a lot the last two years, and he now can take something off a shorter stride. He’s a lot stronger that way,” she said. In fact, despite the fact that the Grandprix de Penn National is a World Cup-qualifier, Chapot doesn’treally have next year’s World Cup Finals inher plans.

But she’s thrilled with how Little Big Man, an 11-year-old Dutch Warmblood (Topas—Hillkenny), has developed. “He’s an unbelievable horse. He has more pop than any other horse I’ve ridden. I really wish everyone could have that feeling once in a lifetime,” said Chapot said of the chestnut, who stands just 15.2 hands.

She bought Little Big Man seven years ago from Jimmy Torano as a promising 4-year-old.

“I knew when I first saw him that his hind end was over the standards on a small jump, so obviously he could jump. He’s such a small horse, and we tend to take it very slowly with our horses, so he’s been coming along,” she said. “Now he knows his job and he just loves to do it. He wants to win. You just have to stay out of his way.”

Four-Foot Stars
Tim Goguen had a little bit different challenge at the Pennsylvania National—fitting the lopey, elegant Word For Word’s rounds into the tight confines of the indoor ring. But it all came together for the duo as they combined to earn the second year green and grand hunter championships with three blue and two red ribbons.

Goguen bought the 8-year-old Dutch Warmblood for owner Janet Read in July 2004. Word For Word had been a consistent contender in the first year green division with Shachine Belle and Jimmy Toon. “It took all last year to get him organized. He’s a great jumper, and he was so consistent here. He came here last year, but he was a little nervous here. He went well at Capital Challenge [Md., the week before], so I was hoping he’d be good here too,” Goguen said.

Word for Word earned the second year green reserve championship at the Devon Horse Show (Pa.) in May, and then took championships at Horse Shows By The Bay II (Mich.), Lake Placid (N.Y.), and the Kentucky Spring Classic.

“He’s so scopey, and his shape over a jump is so nice. I just needed to get him organized. He’s a huge-strided horse, so I just had to get him adjustable. And then, once I got him organized, the shape of his jump got so beautiful. I’m actually really looking forward to doing the four-foot with him,” said Goguen.

The four-foot fences are just a show-case for Popeye K’s physical gifts, as the flashy bay stallion proved on his way to the regular conformation hunter championship with Tommy Serio. They won the model, theunder saddle and three over-fences classes for the title.

“It’s been a remarkable year for him.He was great in Florida, and then all the way through here. He just keeps getting better. He was great as a first year horse, then again as a second year horse, and now he’s even better.

“With each year, he’s gotten more focused on his job. The first year, he would lose track of what he was doing. This year, he’s concentrating hard. To me, it’s really gratifying. I don’t think we’ve even tapped his talent yet. He probably could do the jumpers-he four-foot is very easy for him,” Serio said.

Tight turns off the indoor show’s corners aren’t the easiest for Popeye. “To compact that kind of stride definitely adds a different degree of difficulty. It’s not hard with him, since he’s such a well-broke horse, but I do have to think about it,” said Serio.

Popeye, a Dutch Warmblood by Voltaire, also does double duty as a breeding stallion. “He stays on a diet—he’s a little bit like a pony in that he gets fat easily,” said Serio, adding that it’s important to keep him fit to both show and have semen collected regularly.

Another prolific winner over four feet scored another tricolor—Louise Serio rode Bridget Hallman’s Gray Slipper to the regular working hunter championship. The win came hot on the heels of their tricolor at the Capital Challenge.

And Molly Ohrstrom’s Truly earned his second consecutive green conformation hunter tricolor at the Pennsylvania National. Last year, because of a broken ankle, Scott Stewart had to turn the reins over to Ken Berkley, but this year Stewart was back in the irons. Next year, however, Truly is goingto make a transition into the junior hunter division with new owner Alexandra Stathis.

Harrisburg Veterans
The grand amateur-owner and amateur-owner, 18-35 champion—Avery Dimmig—has been showing at the Pennsylvania National since she rode small ponies. This year, she guided Due North to the tri-color in a close race with last year’s champion, La Cara.

It all came down to the last class, but when Dimmig and Due North won the stake class over La Cara and Leah Schwendeman, the tricolor was theirs. “As always, Leah was super-competitive. I watched her go, and knew I had to do my best to be better,” Dimmig said. “He was very relaxed, and I think it was his best trip of the week.”

Last year was Due North’s first time showing at the Pennsylvania National. “He was a green horse, so he was looking in the stands. But now we’ve grown up together, and when he gets a little worried, I just pat him and let him take an extra breath. He’s learned his job. He knows when it’s time to perform,” she said.

In four years, Dimmig, of Rougemont, N.C., has brought Due North, 8, along from a pre-green horse to the amateur-owner ranks mostly by herself, under the guidance oftrainer Rodney Bross. “He lives at my house, and he’s truly my pet and my best friend. He’s a very kind, sweet horse,” she said of the Hanoverian, by Rio Grande.

Dimmig graduated from Vanderbilt University (Tenn.) in May 2004 and hopes to pursue a career in interior design, but for now she’s concentrating on riding. “When you have a nice horse and a trainer, and it all comes together, you have to take advantage of it,” she said.

Georgina Bloomberg has done her share of winning in the junior hunters at the Pennsylvania National—concluding her junior years with the grand junior hunter tricolor in 2001. But this year, she earned the amateur-owner jumper tricolor by winning the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Amateur-Owner Jumper Classic aboard Action.

Bloomberg, 22, has made a big mark on the international grand prix scene, debuting on the U.S. Samsung Super League team this summer and earning the leading rider title at La Baule (France).

But Action is more suited for the amateur ring. “It’s my sixth year with him—I’ve had him longer than any other horse. He’s my favorite horse in terms of personality. I just enjoy riding him a lot because he always tries his best. I decided that when he doesn’t want to show anymore, I won’t do the amateurs, but it doesn’t look like he’s even close to being ready to be finished!” she said.

Action dug in and galloped to top the three-horse jump-off in the classic. “Usually, indoors I have an advantage with my small, quick horses. They can turn on a dime, and I can do inside turns and go fast. But the courses this week have been a little different in that there weren’t really inside options and you had to cover a lot of ground. But in this jump-off, there were more turning options, and I knew I had to go for it,” said Bloomberg, of New York City.

Longtime Dreams Come True
When Erin Duffy was a junior rider from California, she showed at the Pennsylvania National in the equitation division. “I thought I’d never be able to ride a hunter here. I did all the equitation, but to do the hunters, you had to go to all the horse shows, and I couldn’t afford to go to that many horse shows,” she said.

Fast forward two decades, and Duffy returned to Pennsylvania from California to ride Cathy Hayes’ mare Enchanted to the first year green hunter championship. “Winning here was a big dream, and here it’s come true. You never know! It’s really exciting because this place means a lot to me. This show has a lot of tradition and history behind it,” she said.

Duffy, now a professional rider riding for CeCe Durante Bloum’s Newmarket, got the ride on Enchanted, a 6-year-old black mare, a year ago.

“She’s a nice horse, but she’s young. She was a little bit weedy and thin when we got her. Mark Groff imported her and showed her in the pre-greens and got some weight on her. Then we bought her, and she kept looking better and better,” Duffy said.

Hayes also shows “Ella” in the adult amateur division, and they topped the WCHR national adult amateur year-end standings. “At first, she was a little not-so-worldly, and she’d look around at things, but now she’s all business,” Duffy said. “She’s just a horse you can always count on. She will not stop, and she doesn’t like to touch the jumps. I always say, ‘If you’re having a bad day, get on Ella and it’ll all be better.'”

Ella stands third in the USEF national first year green standings. But Duffy wasn’t positive she’d take the East Coast by storm. “She’s so brave and jumps so well that I thought she’d do well. But she was also an unknown a little bit, so I wasn’t sure,” she said.

Amateur rider Jamie Planck Martin also returned to the Pennsylvania National with a vengeance. As a junior, she was trainer Otis “Brownie” Brown’s first student.

“After I finished my junior years, I went to law school and got married. I practiced law for 18 years and had three children, so I just started riding again three years ago, and it’s been a ton of fun,” said Martin.

With just two years in the amateur-owner division under her belt, Martin rode Cayman to the Pennsylvania National amateur-owner hunter, 36 and over, tricolor in her first appearance there in decades. She also won the stake class on Monte Christo.

“I feel like I have really good horses, and so it’s usually up to me to get them to go well. They were both very consistent here, and I was very blessed and thankful to have them go so well,” she said.

Martin started her indoor season at the Capital Challenge, but was disappointed with her performances there. “So I went home and rode my jumper for the week in between. I rode without stirrups every day and jumped a million jumps coming out of the turns. I was determined I was going to ride better than I did, and here the jumps seemed to come up easier out of the turns,” she said.

Her re-entry into the show ring began when her daughter, Tinsley, now 10, began riding. Martin called Brown in search of a pony, and she brought one home to their farm in Jackson, Miss. “I made it through about two months of sitting there watching her ride before I said, ‘If I’ve got to spend all this time at the barn, I might as well do it too!’ ” Martin said.

She bought Cayman, a 10-year-old warmblood, in August 2004. The bay gelding had been winning in the second year division with Heidi Austin Fish.” Cayman is big—he’s 17.2—but he’s very light on his feet. He’s good for me because he has so much scope and a very long stride. He takes care of me a lot,” Martin said.

They earned the HITS Ocala (Fla.) circuit championship, and then the Devon reserve cham-pionship. Martin reveled in the Penn National tricolor, since it was the conclusion of her season. With two teenage sons, she needs to be at home for football season.

Family Ties And Blue Ribbons In NAL Adult Amateur Finals
When Paige Tredennick’s adult amateur hunter was injured last year, she did what most horse-show moms would do. She appropriated the ride on her daughter’s junior hunter.

“It was kind of squatter’s rights. I said, ‘I’m writing the checks, he’s going to do the three-foot too,’ ” she said with a smile.

And the move paid off, as they topped the NAL Adult Amateur Hunter Finals at the Pennsylvania National. Tredennick rode to scores of 87 and 78 for the blue. “Mine may not be the best mover, or the best jumper, but he’s the best guy out there. His brain is a 10,” said Tredennick.

They bought First Date, 9, two years ago, importing him from France. “He was my daughter Sarah’s first small junior hunter, hence the name First Date. She moved right up to the juniors out of the ponies, and he was a great one for her to do that on,” said Tredennick.

“He’s like riding a large pony; he has that kind of personality. He always goes in and gives his best, and he’s in the ribbons 99 percent of the time,” she continued.

Tredennick doesn’t get to ride him much. “I’ll just do him occasionally—Sarah likes to ‘train him up’ for me.” First Date topped the 2004 Zone 8 standings in both the small junior hunter, 15 and under, and the adult amateurs.

Tredennick, of Littleton, Colo., rode with Louise Serio for the week, but she usually meets Mindy Darst at shows. “We do a lot of our own thing. We have lots of different trainers, according to the part of the country I’m in,” she said.

Murray Kessler also took over the ride on a family member’s horse too—and on his wife’s former amateur-owner hunter, All That, won the NAL Adult Amateur Jumper Finals. Murray’s daughter, Reed, also won in the small and large pony hunter classes, and wife Teri topped a class in the amateur-owner hunters, 36 and over, division. “It was a great Harrisburg for the Kesslers!” he said.

Murray and All That topped a six-horse jump-off. There was just one clean round on the scoreboard when he entered as the final starter.

“I knew that the only one who’d gone clean was slow. I went really fast in the beginning, but then I wanted to slow up and make sure I jumped clean. I thought I was a couple of seconds ahead of her, so I took it a bit easy at the end,” he said.

All That’s speedy turns and gallop defy his start in the hunter ring. “We bought him as a young horse, and as he started to move up, he’d get bored at each level. When he first moved into the amateurs, he was great and Teri won quite a bit on him.

“But then he started getting bored again, and he started getting too fresh for the hunter ring. [Trainer Andre Dignelli] said, ‘He’s bred to jump, and I think he’d be a good jumper.’ I’d ridden in the jumpers for years before, but I took a long time off because Reed andTeri were showing a lot. But they gave me All That, andI’ve been having a blast with him. He definitely doesn’tget bored now—he loves it!” Murray took over the ride on All That, a 9-year-old Oldenburg gelding, 2 1/2 years ago.

But Murray, of Bedford Corners, N.Y., doesn’t get to ride much, thanks to his job as president of U.S. Smoke-less Tobacco. But Teri keeps All That in work for him. Murray and All That were third in last year’s NAL adult jumper finals.