Riding in the rain

By Jason simcoe

Published: April 21, 2008

A steady rain fell Sunday. One by one, riders from across the country entered the Grand Prix ring at Commonwealth Park. They rode in on powerful horses that paced in nervous anticipation.

They were gathered in Culpeper with horse enthusiasts from around the country for the Commonwealth National, the first of six events put on by HITS Inc.

At the sound of the horn, each horse broke into a slow gallop, picking up steam. 

The goal: Navigate a challenging course dotted with a series of jumps, each standing more than five feet high.

With a $40,000 prize purse on the line, the riders weren’t going to let a little wet weather stop them.

As the final group of eight riders each took a lap around the course, the times got progressively faster. 47 seconds, 46, 45.

Eliza Ferguson Shuford rode slowly into the ring on Plenty.

She’d already navigated the course once on a horse named Little John. This time, she shot around the course, Plenty’s powerful strides carrying rider and mount closer to the top prize.

Plenty cleared the second to last jump in just over 30 seconds and raced the clock toward the final barrier.

Without breaking stride, Plenty leapt over the final hurdle, and stopped the clock at 43.5 seconds, good enough to win the competition.

“It was a great success,” said Brian Morris, one of the event organizers. “We had unfortunate weather, but that doesn’t stop (the competitors).”

From Wednesday through Sunday, horse enthusiasts from across North America gathered in Culpeper, bringing along nearly 750 horses.

They competed in a variety of events throughout the weekend, shopped with vendors from around the country, and shared their love for horses.

“There are an awful lot of good people involved in this,” said Jerry Dougherty, who worked with Morris to organize the event. “It’s such an interesting and large extended family in the horse business.”

The HITS series returns to Culpeper July 9-13 for the Showday National.

Each of the six events at Commonwealth Park features a Sunday $40,000 Grand Prix competition.

The series concludes Sept. 24-28 with the $100,000 United States Grand Prix League finals.

Jason Simcoe can be reached at 825-0771 ext. 166 or

HITS Culpeper schedule
Showday National,
July 9-13
Cavalier Classic,
July 16-20
Winston National,
Aug. 20-24
Constitution Classic, Aug. 27-31
USGPL Finals, Sept. 24-28
All events held at Commonwealth Park