 |
The
United States Wins Two Individual Show Jumping Medals
at 2003 Pan American Games
Chris
Kappler Wins Silver and Margie Engle Takes the Bronze
|
Santo
Domingo, DR—August 16, 2003—The United States won two
individual Show Jumping Medals at the Pan American Games in Santo
Domingo, Dominican Republic on Saturday. Chris Kappler of Pittstown,
NJ, riding Royal Kaliber, owned by Kappler and Kathy Kamine captured
the Silver with a cumulative score of 10.40 penalties and Margie
Engle of Wellington, FL, took the Bronze on Hidden Creek’s
Perin, owned by Hidden Creek Farm with a final score of 12.22.
The Gold Medal went to Mark Watring of Puerto Rico who led from
start to finish with a score of 5.83, riding Sapphire.
The
United States Equestrian Team (USET) entered the Individual Final
with all four riders in contention for a medal. Kappler was the
best hope for the U.S. standing in second place with a score of
2.40. Beezie Madden of Cazenovia, NY was third with 5.16 faults,
riding Conquest II, owned by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Patton. Engle
held the fifth spot with 8.22 faults and Lauren Hough of Wellington,
FL aboard Windy City, owned by Peppercorn Ltd, was in eighth place,
but elected not to go. A combination of factors affected her decision
not to ride. Hough, with 12.28 faults, felt she was a little too
far out of contention for a medal. Additionally, Windy City lost
a shoe in the Nations’ Cup team competition and Hough was
worried about causing further damage to the hoof. Mark Watring
of Puerto Rico was still at the top of the leader board, with
a combined score of .83 faults, riding Sapphire.
At
the conclusion of the first round, there were two surprises. The
first was that Madden and Conquest II were eliminated after having
two refusals at the third part of the combination (fence 11C).
The other surprise was that Kappler’s horse, Royal Kaliber,
tried to jump the middle standard of fence six, which had a left/right
option, taking it all down with his hind legs.
“I
couldn’t believe it,” said Kappler. “I was going
over the fence and thinking to myself, I think I just jumped the
standard, and then I heard everything fall.”
That
unfortunate mishap gave Kappler four faults and a combined score
of 6.40, widening the gap between himself and Watring, who completed
another clear round and keeping his tally at 0.83. Engle and Perin
also went clear and moved up two places for the third spot for
the final round. The eleventh fence with a three-part combination
seemed to cause the most trouble, allowing only three clears out
of thirty- four competitors.
The
final round of competition was extremely exciting as only two
rails separated the top three. The rules called for the riders
to come back in reverse order of merit, with the best competing
last. None of first twenty-six riders were able to manage faultless
performance until Gerrardo Tazzer of Mexico, riding fifth from
last and managed a clear round. His cumulative score of 15.32
put the pressure on the remaining riders four riders, including
the two from the U.S. Federico Fernandez, also of Mexico, followed
Tazzer but fared less well than his teammate. Fernandez had a
rail down as well as time faults for a final score of 18.75. Engle
entered the ring with only one rail in hand. Fortunately, that
was all Hidden Creek’s Perin knocked down and the pair ended
up with 12.22, which assured the U.S. of at least one medal.
“I
think the angled it too much to the planks,” said Engle.
“My horse jumped super all week though. I was really pleased
with how well he finished up.”
Kappler
had it down too, but he also had a rail in hand and clinched the
silver with a cumulative score of 10.40 faults. Owners Kathy and
Hal Kamine were thrilled.
“Chris
was great,” said Kathy. “We can’t thank him enough
for his wonderful work with Kaliber.”
This
was the first time Kappler ever rode for the team at a major games
and he was pleased with the results in both the team and individual
competitions.
“From
the moment I was pre-selected I felt pressure”, said Kappler.
“It was an incredible relief to win the team gold medal and
now the individual silver. I hope this event is just the beginning
of bigger things yet to come.”
The United States Equestrian Team is a non-profit organization
that selects, trains, equips and finances equestrians of the highest
possible standard to represent our country in major international
competition, including the Olympic Games and the World Championships.
To accomplish this, the USET seeks out and nurtures the development
of talented athletes - riders, drivers and horses - and provides
the support and guidance they need to help them attain their fullest
potential. For more information on the USET, please call (908)
234-1251, or visit USET ONLINE at www.uset.org
.
