| Chris Kappler | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Personal information | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Full name | Chris Kappler | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Nationality |  United States | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Discipline | Show jumping | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | February 9, 1967 St. Charles, Illinois, U.S. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 159 lb (72 kg; 11 st 5 lb) | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Medal record
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Chris Kappler (born February 9, 1967) is an American show jumper and horse trainer. He is an Olympic gold and silver medalist, [1] and the winner of over 100 Grand Prixs. He is a founder of the North American Riders Group. [2]
Kappler grew up in Barrington, Illinois. He started riding at age nine, and began his show career training with Alex Jayne. He was discovered by George Morris and trained at Morris' stable, Hunterdon. He placed second in the USEF Medal Finals, third in the ASPCA Maclay Finals, and second in the USET Talent Search Finals. [3]
Kappler worked for George Morris for almost 25 years. [4] Kappler was named Midwest Rider of the Year in 1987, 1988, 1989 and 1991. In 1989, he won the Lionel Guerrand-Hermes Trophy. He won the American Invitational and American Gold Cup three times each, and won the American Grand Prix Championship once. [5] At the 2003 Pan American Games, Kappler won the team gold and individual silver riding Royal Kaliber. Also in 2003, Kappler was named the Equestrian of the Year by the United States Equestrian Federation. In 2004, Kappler represented the United States at the Olympic Games. Riding Royal Kaliber, he won team gold and individual silver. [6] Kappler won the Budweiser Invitational in Tampa on his horse VDL Oranta in 2009.
Kappler was a US Team Selector for the 2015 Pan American Games and the 2016 Summer Olympics. Kappler has been a USEF committee member. [7]
By 2018, Kappler decided to stop riding competitively and focus on training horses and riders. He often travels to teach clinics. [8]
Kappler is a resident of the Pittstown section of Franklin Township, Hunterdon County, New Jersey. [9] [10]
The individual show jumping event, part of the equestrian program at the 2004 Summer Olympics, was held from 22 to 27 August 2004 in the Olympic Equestrian Centre on the outskirts of Markopoulo in the Attica region of Greece. Like all other equestrian events, the jumping competition was mixed gender, with both male and female athletes competing in the same division. There were 77 competitors from 27 nations. Each nation could send up to 4 riders. Cian O'Connor of Ireland initially received the gold medal, but that medal was stripped from him due to doping. After his disqualification, the event was won by Rodrigo Pessoa of Brazil, the nation's first medal in individual jumping. Silver went to Chris Kappler of the United States, with bronze to Marco Kutscher of Germany.
Karen Lende O'Connor is an American equestrian who competes in three-day eventing. Although she did not come from a family of equestrians, her interest in horses started at an early age, and she received her first horse for her 11th birthday. O'Connor began competing internationally in the late 1970s, and in 1986 began riding for the US national eventing team. Since then, she had ridden in five Olympic Games, three World Equestrian Games and two Pan-American Games, winning multiple medals, including a team silver at the 1996 Olympic Games and a team bronze at the 2000 Olympic Games. She has also posted numerous wins and top-10 finishes at other international events. As of 2013, O'Connor is not competing, having suffered fractures to two thoracic vertebrae during a fall at a competition in October 2012.
Anne Kindig Kursinski is an American showjumper and two-time Olympic silver medalist in team jumping, at Seoul 1988 and Atlanta 1996. Representing the United States, she was a member of five Olympic teams, forty-seven Nations Cup teams, and three World Equestrian Games teams. In 2017, she was inducted into the Showjumping Hall of Fame.
Pittstown is an unincorporated community located at the intersection of the boundaries of Alexandria, Franklin and Union townships in Hunterdon County, New Jersey. The area is named after William Pitt. The area is served as United States Postal Service ZIP Code 08867. The area was named Hofftown in the 18th century after landowner Lawrence Hoff. The Pittstown Historic District was listed on the state and national registers of historic places in 1990.
Robert Jeffrey Dover is an American equestrian who has had international success in the sport of dressage. Riding from the age of 13, he began specializing in dressage at age 19 and competed in his first Olympics in 1984. He competed in every summer Games between 1984 and 2004, winning four team bronze medals. He also took a team bronze at the 1994 World Equestrian Games. Dover is the most honored dressage rider in the United States, and has been inducted to the United States Dressage Federation Hall of Fame. Outside of competition, Dover founded the Equestrian Aid Foundation in 1996 to assist others in the equestrian world, and hosted a TV show that searched for the next dressage star. From late 2009 to early 2011, Dover served as the Technical/Coach Advisor for the Canadian national dressage team. In April 2013, Dover was named Technical Advisor/Chef d'Equipe for the US national dressage team.
George H. Morris is an American equestrian. He won team silver in show jumping at the 1960 Rome Olympics and is considered a founding father of hunt seat equitation. He was chef d'equipe for the United States show jumping team, which won Olympic gold under his leadership, from 2005 until 2013. He also served as chef d'equipe for the Brazilian show jumping team at the 2016 Rio Olympics. Throughout his career, Morris has been a "proponent of the forward seat" and wrote several books on the subject, including Hunter Seat Equitation. Morris trained students at his Hunterdon Stables and traveling clinics, producing nationally and internationally successful riders, including Olympic champions. In 2019, after a United States Center for SafeSport investigation, Morris was banned for life from the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) due to sexual misconduct with minors. Morris is likewise banned from coaching international teams for any country.
Royal Kaliber was a Dutch Warmblood stallion that competed at the Grand Prix level of show jumping, and was part of the United States Show Jumping Team at the 2004 Athens Olympic Games.
Peter Wylde is an American show jumping competitor and Olympic champion.
Elizabeth Madden is an American Olympic champion equestrian competing in show jumping. She has two Olympic golds and one silver in team jumping, and an individual bronze. She won the FEI Show Jumping World Cup twice; won two silvers and two bronzes at World Championships; and won two golds, one silver and two bronzes at the Pan American Games. She was the first American to break into the international top three show jumping ranking, and the first woman to win over one million dollars in show jumping prize money.
McLain Ward is an American show jumping competitor and five-time Olympic medalist.
William "Will" Simpson is an American show jumping competitor and Olympic champion.
Authentic, nicknamed "Bud", is a Dutch Warmblood gelding that used to compete in show jumping. He has won three Olympic medals and two World Equestrian Games medals. He is owned by Abigail Wexner, and was ridden by Olympic medalist Beezie Madden. Authentic is a bay with a star and snip and stands 16.1 hands high. He was retired from competition in 2009 and is now in Cazanovia, NY, at the Madden's farm.
Boyd Martin is an Australian-born, American equestrian competing in the discipline of eventing. He has participated in four consecutive Summer Olympic Games and is a two-time Pan American Games team gold medalist and individual gold medalist. He is a two-time CCI5*-L winner.
William Coleman III is an American equestrian. At the 2012 Summer Olympics he competed in the Individual eventing and Team eventing. At the age of six, Coleman's family moved to Charlottesville, VA where he started riding in the hunt fields of Virginia Piedmont Hunt. His father was an avid fox hunter and became his first show jumping coach. After Coleman began to focus on eventing he started training with Karen and David O’Connor, beginning an apprentice with the pair after his graduation from Woodberry Forest School.
Jessica Rae Springsteen is an American equestrian. The daughter of musicians Bruce Springsteen and Patti Scialfa, she is a show jumping champion rider who has represented the United States Equestrian Team in international competition and won a silver medal in the Team jumping at the 2020 Summer Olympics held in 2021 in Tokyo.
Dr. Cesar Parra is a Colombian-American dressage rider and coach.
Heather Blitz is an American dressage rider. Blitz won team gold and individual silver in the 2011 Pan American Games, and was an alternate for the U.S. Olympic team for the 2012 London Olympic Games. Blitz taught Annie Peavy, who competed in the 2016 Paralympic Games.
Lucy Davis is an American show jumping competitor and 2016 Olympian.
Ashlee Bond is an Israeli Olympic show jumping rider who competes for Israel. Born in the United States, she is an Israeli citizen. She represented Israel at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, coming in 11th. Bond represented Israel at the 2024 Paris Olympics in team jumping at the Palace of Versailles, and with Team Israel came in 9th.
Lillie Carmichael Keenan is an American show jumping rider. As a junior rider she won the ASPCA Maclay Finals, the USEF Medal Finals, and the Washington International Horse Show Equitation championship, as well as the USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals and double gold at the North American Young Rider Championship.
