Caramo is mentioned on page 2 in this article

Fargis Keeps It Simple To
Finish On Top At Raleigh
He pilots Lariat to top honors, earning
$30,000 to win the Duke Children’s Hospital
Benefit Grand Prix at the Jump For The
Children Horse Show.
BY TAYLOR JOYCE
PHOTOS BY ANNE GITTINS
J
oe Fargis didn’t have a complicated plan in mind when he and
Lariat returned for the jump-off
in the $30,000 Duke Children’s
Hospital Benefit Grand Prix on Nov. 9.
He clinched the win in Raleigh, N.C.,
that night at the Jump For The Children
Horse Show, Nov. 5-10, simply knowing
he and his mount had to fly.
After watching Hillary Simpson take
90 The Chronicle of the Horse
Palmyra Partners LLC’s Arkansas
around the first of six trips in the jumpoff, he said, “I just knew I had to go as
fast as I could comfortably go. So I got
in a nice half-seat and started galloping,
and it all worked out.”
Fargis considered the course to be
fair; neither dicey distance nor inside
turn helped him place less than a second
ahead of Simpson. “There was no plot-
Show jumping veteran Joe Fargis used
his classic style to guide Lariat to win the
$30,000 Duke Children’s Grand Prix at the
Jump For The Children Horse Show.
ting or planning,” Fargis said. “I did the
best I could, and the horse listened to
me and said, ‘OK, I’ll do what you want,’
and he did.”
Last year, such a performance wasn’t
feasible for the Dutch Warmblood
gelding (Limerick—Manka); he was laid
up with a deep bruise in a front hoof.
After a break at Fargis’ base in
Middleburg, Va., the 12-year-old came
back to action this year. The pair earned
ribbons at the FTI Winter Equestrian
Festival (Fla.) and won jumper classes
at the Atlanta Spring Classic in March
and the Devon Fall Classic (Pa.) in
September.
“He’s gone well all year long; he just
finally had his turn,” said Fargis of their
biggest win yet.
“He’s always very fresh,” he added.
“His weakness is his temperament;
he’s always a bit worried, so you have
to try to make him as quiet as he can
be, and that’s the challenge. He has to
HORSE SHOWS
$30,000
DUKE CHILDREN’S
HOSPITAL BENEFIT
GRAND PRIX
Raleigh, N.C.—Nov. 9
HORSE/RIDER
FAULTS TIME
PURSE
1. Lariat/Joe Fargis
0-0
43.09 $9,000
2. Arkansas/
Hillary Simpson
0-0
43.55
6,600
3. Wadisson/
Kyle Timm
0-0
44.73
3,900
4. Quincy Car/
Fernando Cardenas
0-0
44.98
2,400
5. Cliff II/
Jennifer Jones
0-0
45.14
1,800
6. Pimpernel/
Alden Moylan
0-E
—
1,500
16 horses competed.
be relaxed to jump well.”
Fargis picked up the ride on Lariat,
who he co-wns with Conrad Homfeld
under the Sandron name, in 2006. “I’ve
been spoiled with him all along,” he
said. “He’s willing to do what humans
want him to, and I’m grateful for that.”
Fargis, who won individual and team
gold medals at the 1984 Los Angeles
Olympic Games on his Thoroughbred,
Touch Of Class, said he doesn’t jump
his horses often. “I just try to do the best
flatwork I can,” he said. “I’ll maybe do
some gymnastics twice the week before
a horse show.”
The veteran show jumper prefers not
to make any big future plans, taking
each week at a time as he focuses on
riding, teaching and hosting clinics in
the winter downtime.
Simpson narrowly missed out on the
win with Arkansas, who is relatively
green.
“Denis,” an off-the-track
Thoroughbred, made his debut at
Raleigh in 2011 when event rider Susan
Beebee had sent him to Simpson for
some show ring mileage and to get sold
as a hunter.
“He just never really relaxed in the
hunter ring,” said Simpson, 35. “He
was never bad; he was just like, ‘I don’t
understand going on a loopy rein and
cantering around looking pretty.’ But
he wants to go, and he loves a challenge.
We took him in one schooling jumper
class, and his whole character changed.
He just loved it.”
In 2012, Simpson and the gelding, now
10, won the $30,000 Duke Children’s
Benefit Grand Prix, which was the first
grand prix win for both horse and rider.
Simpson trains out of her farm in
Southern Pines, N.C. She and Denis
won the $30,000 Mount Equinox Grand
Prix at the Valley Classic Horse Show
(Vt.) earlier this year.
Caramo Cuts Down
The Competition
The inaugural USHJA International
Hunter Derby at Raleigh, sponsored by
Betsee Parker and Huntland, attracted
an enthusiastic crowd.
Harold Chopping on Caroline
Russell Howe’s Caramo excelled in the
distracting setting, taking first over
Jennifer Jones on Brook Run Farm
LLC’s Salto.
“My No. 1 concern after walking
the course was how lively the setting
was,” said Chopping. “It was different
from other derbies I’d done. Even at the
[USHJA International Hunter Derby]
Finals, as spooky as that setting is, the
people aren’t on top of you, and there’s
more room in the grand prix ring in
Kentucky.”
Despite his concern about the noisy
exhibitors’ party taking place at one
end of the arena at Raleigh, Chopping
wasn’t too surprised that “Mo,” fresh
off a derby win at the HITS Culpeper
Finals (Va.) in September, didn’t take a
shy step.
“He’s very consistent and responded
beautifully,” he said. “He doesn’t come
unglued because he’s had enough miles
in the show ring. He knew a lot was
going on, and I think he jumped better
because of it.”
The judges agreed on Mo’s superior
score of 87 in the first round.
“Leading coming back, the big
dilemma was to do enough that you’re
still competing but don’t do too much
and blow up in the handy round,”
said Chopping. “So I watched how the
others who were behind me came back
with lower scores and didn’t take any
unnecessary risks.”
The course presented a few extreme
options—either really short,
inside turns or long tracks
Harold Chopping limited his risks in the
handy round to clinch the win at the inaugural USHJA International Hunter Derby at the
Jump For The Children Horse Show.
December 2 & 9, 2013 • chronofhorse.com 9 1
HORSE SHOWS
them often but not for a long time,” he
said. “So you know they have enough
stamina to jump a couple of trips and
be fit enough for it, but not so fit that
they’re as hot as our show jumpers.”
Mo has been particularly easy to bring
along, since Howe had competed him
in the adult hunters before Chopping
introduced him to the derbies.
Chopping’s wife, Jennifer Johnston
Chopping, helps manage their equestrian business. “She’s computer-savvy
where I prefer to have reins and a
saddle,” said Harold, 49. “She does all
the stuff that I would really be helplessly
lost with.”
Jennifer brought their sons, 5 and 1,
to Raleigh, where Chopping has been
competing since 1987, to watch.
Jones Finds Home
Jennifer Jones was in Europe when
hunter derbies started in the United
States six years ago, but her show
jumping experience abroad helped her
and Salto to place second at the USHJA
International Hunter Derby.
between jumps. However, the riders
seemed to agree on the longer routes.
“When everyone was coming through
the same laneways, that made up
my mind as far as what I would do,”
Chopping said.
He opted for two of the four higher
jump options in the handy round and
earned 8 of the 10 handy points. “I
think Mo is at an advantage since the
handy isn’t a stand-alone class,” he
said. “He’s not blazing fast, but he’s
handy and really brave. So when the
derby scores are combined, suddenly
this is his game.”
Chopping took the 12-yearold Danish Warmblood
(Carano—Ladylavall) into training at
his Solo Show Stables (N.C.) two years
ago. The Canadian rider used his show
jumping expertise to tailor a specific
program for his hunters.
“The handy rounds are really
tailored to the skills we use in the
jumper ring,” said Chopping, who’s
competed at three World Cup Finals
92 The Chronicle of the Horse
Jones was excited to take second place
at her first hunter derby—but she was
just as enthusiastic about another recent
acquisition. Having just moved back to
the United States in January after an
eight-year stay in Europe, she spent this
year traveling to shows and just signed
the final contract to purchase a house in
Golden Hills, Fla.
She works with Emil Spadone out
of his Redfield Farms in Ocala, which
and was an alternate for Canada for
the 1992 Barcelona Olympic Games.
He has about eight horses in training
currently and rides them each five to six
days a week on top of teaching lessons.
“With the hunters, I try to ride
$10,000
USHJA INTERNATIONAL HUNTER DERBY
Raleigh, N.C.—Nov. 8
Judges: Panel 1: Leo Conroy, Jeanne Miller; Panel 2: Rob Bielefeld, Kim Dorfman
1ST ROUND
HORSE/RIDER
PANEL 1
SCORE/
HEIGHT OPTION
2ND ROUND
TOTAL
PANEL 2
PANEL 1
PANEL 2
SCORE/
SCORE/BONUS/ SCORE/BONUS/
HEIGHT OPTION HEIGHT OPTION HEIGHT OPTION
1. Caramo/Harold Chopping
87/3
87/3
86/8/2
84/8/2
370
2. Salto/Jennifer Jones
85/4
84/4
84/6/4
80/7/4
362
3. Tenerife/Noel Fauntleroy
68/4
78/4
85/6/3
82/8/3
341
4. Lorentin/Cassey Kahle
78/4
73/4
79/7/4
76/7/4
336
5. Comex Gold/Caitlin Venezia
70/4
68/4
83/7/4
83/4/4
331
6. Cameo Appearance/Winn Alden
83/1
82/1
80.5/3/2
71.5/3/2
329
7. Comissario/Morgan Ward
76/4
74/4
78/5/4
72/7/4
328
8. Chancellor/Ann De Michele
72/0
69/0
76/8/0
71/6/0
302
9. Chosen/Karen Kelley
45/2
45/2
80/6/2
81/7/2
272
46/0
44/0
77/3/0
78/2/0
250
10. Huckleberry Finn/Sarah Tyndall
11. Ricci/Joy Janouskovec
38/4
35/4
74/8/4
73/5/4
249
12. Subway Prophet/Cassidy Sitton
42/0
43/0
45/3/0
45/8/0
186
13 horses competed.