Laura Wasserman Lives The Dream in WCHR Amateur-Owner 3’6” Challenge

Photo & Story by Tricia Booker for the USHJA

Laura Wasserman and Back In The Game

 

   As the time approached for the WCHR Amateur-Owner 3’6” Challenge, sponsored by Serenity Farm and Tangarae Farm, Laura Wasserman gave herself a little pep talk. After earning ribbons in the Amateur-Owner Hunter 3’6”, 36 and Over, section at the show, she knew she and Back In The Game were knocking at the door.
    “I was respectable, but I had a few little bobbles,” she said. “Today, I went in there and said, ‘I’m doing it. I made these mistakes, and I’m not making them again. I know I can win this! I know it!'”
 And she was right. Wasserman and Back In The Game jumped to victory with scores of 88, 86 an 82 for a total of 85.33, providing trainer Archie Cox with reason to whoop and cheer at the in-gate. “He knows we’ve been dreaming of things like this for a long time,” she said. “So, I think he’s really happy for me.
    “It’s really a dream come true,” continued Wasserman, 49, of Beverly Hills, CA. “[Back In The Game] is truly a special creature. When you ride him, you feel like a million bucks. I always do. I always say to Archie, even when 

I screw up I just don’t even care. I love him so much.”
     The WCHR victory is a highlight so far in Wasserman’s three-year career with Back In The Game, a 15-year-old warmblood by Robin II Z. She fell in love with the elegant bay after seeing him compete on the West Coast with trainer Dick Carvin and owner Paris Sellon.
    “I thought he was just the most beautiful horse, and I would die to ever have him,” she recalled. “And then we were back East three years ago, and he was at indoors. I was looking for a horse, and Archie said, ‘There’s the horse you’re in love with.’ I’m like, ‘Can we try him?’
     Wasserman knew after jumping one fence that Back In The Game was going back to her barn. “He was awesome. He’s been kind of a fairytale for me ever since. I just love him,” she said, adding that she wouldn't be living the dream without the support of her husband and two children.
      This is Wasserman’s second trip to the Capital Challenge, and she’ll also compete at the Washington International during this coast-to-coast journey.  “It’s fun for us to do something different and come back East with the really great riders,” said Wasserman. “And it’s fun to be indoors, and it’s really exciting. It raises the stakes. I love it.”

WCHR AMATEUR OWNER 3'6 CHALLENGE
Pl Number  Horse                Rider                      Nat  J1    J2    J3     Round  Final
______________________________________________________________________________
1   289 BACK IN THE GAME   LAURA WASSERMAN       88.00 86.00 82.00          85.33
2   480 CASTLEWALK           NANCY HOOKER             84.00 84.00 85.00          84.33
3   508 REALITY                  KRISTA WEISMAN          85.00 83.50 83.50          84.00
4   953 O.C.                       KAITLIN PORATH           83.00 85.00 83.00          83.66
5   563 COSTAR                  JOHN INGRAM           79.00 83.00 84.00          82.00
6   753 INVINCIBLE             ELLEN TOON            82.00 82.00 81.00          81.66
7   193 SIENNA                  LEXI MAOUNIS          78.50 82.50 82.50          81.16
8   511 CHAMONIX              ELIZABETH FARACI      81.00 81.00 79.00          80.33
9   822 SCOOP                   THERESE PECK          78.00 79.00 80.00          79.00
10  741 DRUMLINE              NICOLE LYVERE         80.00 78.00 78.00          78.66