Remembering Frank Chapot

Mary Mairs-Chapot and Frank Chapot ©Nancy Jaffer

The wonderful photograph below taken by Nancy Jaffer was taken at the memorial of Frank Chapot, thank you Nancy for this great memoriam of an equally great man of our sport.

Francis Davis "Frank" Chapot was born on February 24, 1932 in Camden, New Jersey. He is an American Show Jumper who represented and competed at six Olympic Games from 1956 to 1976, where he won two silver medals in Team Show Jumping.

His wife is fellow Olympic equestrian Mary Mairs-Chapot, they married in 1965. When they retired to raise horses at Chado Farm, they brought along such incredible champions including show jumper, Gem Twist, who won two Olympic silver medals and was named World’s Best Horse at the 1990 World Equestrian Games in Stockholm. Gem Twist ridden by Greg Best had an incredible career at the Grand Prix level. The gelding is the only horse to have won the "American Grand Prix Association Horse of the Year" title three times, and is regarded as one of the best show jumping horses in history.

Frank and Mary's two daughters Laura Chapot and Wendy Chapot Nunn are also expert equestrians. Frank was inducted into the United States Show Jumping Hall of Fame in 1994, two years after his wife Mary.

Frank was always involved in governance of the sport and received the U.S. Equestrian Federation's Lifetime Achievement Award for his contributions, which also earned him a place in the Show Jumping Hall of Fame at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Ky.

Looking back on his life, Frank Chapot once recounted, "I've had a lot of fun and had some successes - and some failures, too. To come close to winning some gold medals, which I did a couple of times, how can a person who's not very wealthy dream of being able to do that?"

To buy the book the Golden Age of Show Jumping, please go to amazon.com While there please check out my children's book Toby Rogue, both have many five star reviews, thank you!