Ocala, FL - What do you get when you mix beautiful weather, talented horsemen, first-class facilities, exciting events and fabulous prize money? The answer is simple: HITS Ocala. The Ocala Winter Festival marked the second AA rated week of show jumping in the 'Sunshine State'. The two Grand Prix and weekly Devoucoux Hunter Prix saw record-breaking entries this week. In Thursday's $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, Kent Farrington of Chicago, IL, emerged as the...

Taylor McMurtry and Just An Illusion. (ESI Photography©.) Ocala, FL - February 16, 2011 - The sun continues to shine in Ocala after a successful first AA-rated week of show jumping at HITS Post Time Farm. High-Performance and talented hunter riders once again pleased the crowd with awe-inspiring performances in the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health and $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix. Young star Taylor McMurtry won her first Grand Prix ever aboard her own Just An Illusion...

Steffen Peters and Ravel. (Photo by Susan J. Stickle.) Wellington, FL - February 14, 2011 - Eight North American riders have been invited to the 2011 World Dressage Masters Palm Beach presented by International Polo Club Palm Beach, which will take place on March 9-11. The invitations include the world's leading American and Canadian dressage riders, Steffen Peters and Ashley Holzer. Peters, riding Akiko Yamazaki's gelding Ravel, won the individual Grand Prix Special and Grand Prix Freestyle...

Great Britain dominated the second individual qualifying round at the FEI World Reining Championship presented by John Deere, held Tuesday at the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games. The top qualifying score of 217.5 went to Great Britain’s Lee Rutter riding Setting Off Sparks, while his countryman Doug Allen with Don Julio Whiz had the second highest score of 216.5. Twenty horses had been given this second chance at qualifying for Thursday’s individual finals. Sixteen horse and...

Lexington, KY - The United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) has named the following horse/rider combinations to the U.S. Dressage Team for the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games to be held September 25-October 10, 2010, at the Kentucky Horse Park. The following horse/rider combinations have been named to the team (in ranked order): Name/Age/Hometown/Horse/Age/Sex/Breed/Owner Tina Konyot/ 48/Palm City, FL/Calecto V/12/S/Danish Warmblood/Tina Konyot and John Byrialsen Todd...

Kayce Redmond and Latino (SusanJStickle.com Photo) Gladstone, NJ – The final championship of the 2010 Collecting Gaits Farm/USEF Festival of Champions showcased some of the most exciting up-and-coming Grand Prix riders in the country. The ‘Brentina Cup’ for riders between the ages of 22-28 was designed to bridge the gap between the Young Rider ranks and the Grand Prix. Named for the legendary US Team horse, Brentina and donated by her owners Peggy and Parry Thomas, this division is designed to...

The Pfizer $1 Million Grand Prix has been the talk of the town this winter as the excitement amongst the world's top riders is on the rise in anticipation of qualifying for this unprecedented event. Over the course of the HITS Winter Circuits, 159 top Grand Prix riders took advantage of 35 HITS Pfizer Million Qualifiers as they vied for $1.5 million in prize money and one of 40 coveted slots on the Pfizer Million Eligible Rider Rankings List. The Winter Circuits in Thermal and Ocala produced 45...

The USEF is pleased to announce that the Performance Horse Registry has a new book for American-bred horses only. Beginning December 1, 2009, the American Performance Horse (APH) will be open to all American-bred performance horses. The goal for the APH is to showcase performance horses bred in the United States. Q. What is considered an “American-bred?” A. For competition purposes, bred means foaled. If there is documentation that states the horse was foaled in the United States, then it can...

HITS, Inc., is excited to announce that they will offer a $1-million United States Grand Prix League (USPGL) Grand Prix at the HITS Saugerties Summer Show Series on Sunday, September 12, 2010. The grand prix will be the culmination of qualifying opportunities in grand prix events at all of the 2010 HITS horse shows, including Thermal, Ocala, Arizona, Culpeper, and Saugerties. "This is something we've been looking to do for some time now and the opportunity has finally presented itself," said...

Universal Sports will broadcast the Equestrian Global Champions Tour this Saturday, May 23, at 8:50 a.m. ET LIVE from Hamburg, Germany, on www.universalsports.com/equestrian . The coverage will also air on Universal Sports television later in the day at 5 p.m. ET. The Global Champions Tour (GTC) invites the world’s top 30 riders, according to Rolex rankings, to compete in the most prestigious championship in show jumping. This third leg of the tour will be hosted by the historic German Jumping...