LESLIE LAW APPLAUDS OCALA HORSE PROPERTIES
HORSE TRIALS

If you are a Horse Lover in Ocala, you really missed a great time if you were not at the Florida Horse Park from February 11 to the 13th. Peter Gray and Jon Holling’s Equiventures LLC, along with their title sponsor Ocala Horse Properties, proudly hosted the Ocala Horse Properties Winter II Horse Trials.

 A national form of Three-Day Eventing, the competition boasted over 470 entries with horses performing in dressage on the Friday and running Cross Country and Show Jumping on the weekend. The competition ran all levels from Beginner Novice up through Intermediate so as a spectator you could at any given moment see a child and their pony starting out in the sport at their very first event and then turn around to see a World Champion or Olympic Gold Medalist take their horses through the paces. The venue is undoubtedly one of Florida’s finest and with the work of course designer and builder Jay Hambly, the cross country course was beautifully built and exciting to watch and ride. Mr. Hambly is a senior status FEI course designer and has been emphasizing safe questions but up to the challenge of the specific level. He builds wonderful courses that are challenging and yet positive for the horses so they are both a delight to ride and watch.

As a competitor it was a great event as it ran very smoothly due to great organizational staff. As well, the individuals hired to create the jump courses made for great tracks to take our horses over at this early start to the year. FEI course designer Marc Donovan was present to create the show jumping tracks and as Riders we are very appreciative of Equiventure’s efforts to hire only the best in officials, judges, and designers. From a competitor’s standpoint, what also makes this series really stand out is their strong belief in prize money of which over $7,000 was awarded this weekend.

As a spectator it is exciting to be able to watch so many horses everywhere you look without having to do much moving about as the dressage, show jumping and cross country are all very centrally located. The event as well featured some small gift tents and wine tasting as well as a newly built bathroom complex and cafeteria which make for a very civilized outing for families who came out to have a fun weekend.

The next Equiventure Ocala Horse Park Trial will be held April 14-17th. This is one you will not want to miss as it hosts the FEI one and two star levels, as well as the lower national levels, so the excitement and competition will be ramped up to an even greater degree.
These events would never be possible without the sponsorship involvement of the title sponsor Ocala Horse Properties whose owners Rob and Chris Desino are not only the top farm realtors in the area but also avid horsemen themselves, as well as Bit of Britain which is one of the Event Rider’s favorite tack stores.
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OCALA HORSE PROPERTIES
FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL
THREE-DAY EVENT
A HUGE SUCCESS

Equiventures, LLC Thanks Its Many Generous Donors and Sponsors

Ocala, FL, April 20, 2010 -- “The Ocala Horse Properties Florida International 3-Day Event was a tremendous success,” says organizer Peter Gray of Equiventures, LLC, the producer of the event held at the Florida Horse Park the weekend of April 15 through 18. “We’d like to extend a grateful thanks to our wonderful volunteers, and our many sponsors and donors who supported the show, either by donating cross country jump sponsorships, prize money for various competition divisions, or contributing to the Saturday evening Cajun Fais Do Do Party to benefit the USEA’s Pulmonary and Cardiovascular Research Fund for At Risk Equines. Without the extreme generosity of Rob and Chris Desino and their Ocala Horse Properties, who were the title sponsors for the event, we would not have been able to produce such a high-caliber international competition. Additional thanks go to Carl and Cassie Segal, who donated $3,000 in CCI* prize money, and Kristina Watkins and Firefly Farm, who donated $3,500 for the Amateur Division Awards, as well as the anonymous donor who provided the $20,000 in CCI** prize money at the eleventh hour. Equiventures is extremely humbled by the outpouring of support from the Eventing community for our efforts to keep the sport of Eventing alive and well in Florida. This vote of confidence has allowed us to make plans for the upcoming 2010-2011 competition season, and guarantee our competitors that we will continue to produce high-quality events at the Florida Horse Park with a variety of new and challenging cross country jumps and wonderful prize money.”

Additional kudos go to Douce France Bakery of Winter Park, Florida, who supplied pastries and cakes for the Friday afternoon Dressage Day Tea Party put together by Hospitality Coordinator Pam Leese and Volunteer Coordinator Lesli Cohen; and to Greg and Susan Miller, John Marinovich, and Sharon Will, who worked tirelessly to create an authentic Cajun “low country boil” Saturday night. This party, which raised donations to benefit the USEA’s Pulmonary and Cardiovascular Research Fund for At-Risk Equines, featured music by Gris Gris, an authentic Zydeco band from Kissimmee, and Cajun-style shrimp, crab, and crawfish for all party guests. Guest speaker, Dr. Carol Clarke from Peterson & Smith Equine Hospital, spoke about the advances in equine cardio-pulmonary research and demonstrated the latest technology being used to assist their studies. The evening was completed by raffles and prizes from SuppleKrunch, The RV Zone, and EnVe Salon. The party was a huge success and raised over $4,500 for the USEA.

Congratulations to all competitors and to the winner of the CCI2* division, Tiffani Loudon-Meetze aboard Kim Lampert's Lo Fino and to the CCI1* division winner, Hannah Burnett, on Jacqueline Mars' Harbour Pilot.

Complete results of the weekend are listed here.

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