Thermal, Calif.—Feb. 7  

There’s no doubt that Week 3 of the HITS Thermal Desert Circuit belonged to Chris Pratt. He and Edesa’s Basantos, put in lightning fast clear rounds to take the blue in the $350,000 HITS Thermal Grand Prix.

“He’s a special horse and he’s very sensitive,” said Pratt of the 9-year-old Dutch Warmblood gelding. “He’s got a lot of blood; he’s very careful. He’s a horse I really have to remind myself to sit still with and not move around too much. He’ll really react to the rider.”

Watch Pratt and Edesa's Basantos' jump-off round...

When Lisa Goldman had a splash through a river to get from the schooling area to the ring for the $25,000 SmartPak Grand Prix at HITS Ocala (Fla.) on Feb. 4, she knew this wasn’t going to be like any other jump-off she’d ridden in. The rain was pelting down, and there was thunder and lightning in the distance.

There were eight other horses in the jump-of. “And they didn’t hold back!” Goldman said. “Sometimes, if it’s raining, it’s like ‘Let’s see if we can all just creep around clean and get out of here,’ but everyone really went for it!”

Thermal, Calif.—Jan. 31  

Florencio Hernandez of Mexico designed a healthy challenge for riders in the $50,000 Go Rentals Grand Prix at HITS Thermal Horse Park, but there was an unexpected element of difficulty in the class—howling winds.

Just four horses of the 18 starters finished double clear to jump again, and when the dust settled (literally!) Camerone and Lindsay Archer were left with the blue ribbon.

Thermal, Calif.—Nov. 9

Lucy Davis and Barron have won all over the world together, and today they returned to the place where it all began to take home another big check. They topped the $350,000 Sunshine Grand Prix at the HITS Desert Horse Park, the site of their first show together nearly three years ago.

“We always like to come back here for the big events,” said Davis, who’s from nearby Los Angeles. “Barron seems to always perform really well here. We usually come from school after having a break, and he always does well.”  

Thermal, Calif.—Nov. 8

On the way to the last fence in the handy round of the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Kelley Farmer had one phrase going through her head: Use your better judgment.

Course designer Rian Beals had hiked that oxer up to 4'9" for the handy round and she’d watched Burnistar (Hugh Mutch) lay down a slick trip only to fall from contention when he clicked that pole out of the cups there.