Top Hand

Top Hand

Finding His Voice

Horse trainer and entertainer Denny Chapman brings a powerful and fluid continuity to the CMSA announcer’s booth.

Let’s say you’re moseying around the horse country of Ocala, Florida some day. And you happen by a certain spread with plenty of activity. And some of it is, well, a little out of the ordinary. “You might see Mounted Shooting in the arena, you might see someone Roman riding, you might see someone trick riding. You might see some gun spinning and whip cracking. And you might see that all at the same time.”

If that’s the case, then it’s most likely that you’ve happened on the digs of Denny Chapman. No question, he’s a man of many parts—mounted shooter, trainer, clinician, Wild West performer, purveyor of rodeo specialty acts, family man (which is a story unto itself), and Lord knows what else.

Oh, and of course, he’s one of the most recognized voices in CMSA, announcing some of the top matches across the country.
Even he’s a bit amazed at where life has brought him.

A Dream of Horses

It started in a small southern Illinois town some 40 years ago. Denny didn’t have horses growing up, but he had the equine urge. And when he was around 13 or 14, he finally got his chance to be around the animals. “The first stable I worked at was a
fox hunting stable. I cleaned the stalls and I cleaned the hound kennels in exchange for riding lessons.” While he was there, an older guy introduced Denny to cutting horses and Western performance horses.

He went to junior college and was on the riding team, then transferred to Murray State in Kentucky: “I lived on the university horse farm. I was the farm manager. So I got to train horses for class credit—English and Western horses both.” In his spare time, Denny majored in journalism, radio & TV with a minor in equine sciences.

Now Mr. Chapman emphasizes one thing: he was terribly shy when he got out of college, which is not a good thing for somebody majoring in communications. And it posed a challenge with his first gig—at the Kentucky Horse Park, the only theme park in the world dedicated to horses. “The last few years I was there, I had my own Wild West show called Denny Chapman’s Best of the West,” he remembers. “And by that time I was trick roping, cracking whips, and doing some mounted shooting in my shows.”

He was also an announcer and emcee. There was no room for being shy.

Put A Gun in His Hand…

Denny found a new interest area back in 2000, when he was doing research for his show. “I read about Jim Rodgers and I read about the sport of Cowboy Mounted Shooting,” he says. “And I said, ‘I’ve got to try this.’ So I found a club and showed up for a practice in the middle of January. It was snowing and cold and miserable. But there were all these crazy people on horses, shooting. And I just had to do it.”

And he did. I mean, he was already crazy enough to ride around an arena, standing on the backs of two horses (Roman riding). Mounted Shooting is tame compared to that. He went to Worlds in 2001, but had to take a hiatus from the sport not long after; Wild West shows typically run on weekends.

But that doesn’t mean he forgot about the guns and balloons. And after a couple of years, he was back in.

Changes

About three years ago or so, Denny decided to take a different path: self-employment, which he says is “the best move I ever made.” He took all the various things he’d done, from trick riding to horse training to mounted shooting and more, and banked that he could make a living off of them.

He also moved to Florida to be with his better half, Mary Rivers. Mary’s a world-class equestrienne in her own right, and when the pair met about eight years ago, she actually mentored Denny in trick riding. The relationship evolved…and, well, moving to her place in Ocala made sense. It’s a good place for him to run his business.

And around that same time, he took on a higher profile in Mounted Shooting. He says, “I was competing at the Nationals in Tunica. I knew the CMSA board members. And I said, ‘You know, guys, I’m here. And if you’re ever looking for another announcer, I’m around.’ And they let me relieve the announcer in the secondary arena.” They obviously liked what they heard, for Denny now calls the action at most of the big matches.

A Blended Family

Mary and Denny aren’t alone on the farm. There’s Mary’s son Deke Rivers, an expert gun spinner and whip cracker. Then there’s Stephanie Cons, who came down from her Canadian home a couple of years ago to apprentice with Mary. And she never left. Denny and Mary think of her almost like a daughter. “We’re a Wild West family,” says Denny. “We are definitely unique.”

No kidding.

So if you’re moseying around Ocala some time, you might see or hear some strange things. Don’t think too much about it. It’s just Denny Chapman and his Wild West family, who have found a good place in life—professionally and personally.

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