TAMPA, Fla. — A pair of legends in the show jumping universe from Southern California were honored at the American Invitational in Tampa, Fla., April 7 when rider Hap Hansen of Rancho Santa Fe and show manager Larry Langer of Los Angeles were inducted into the Show Jumping Hall of Fame. Jane Clark and Gabor Foltenyi also were part of the 2012 inductee class.

Each year since 1987, the Show Jumping Hall of Fame has selected individuals whose contributions to the sport have set them apart and whose influence has had a significant impact on show jumping.

Hansen, who ranks in the top five grand prix winners of all-time, is also a veteran of 12 FEI World Cup Finals and two dozen Nations’ Cups. He also won the FEI World Cup USA West Coast League seven times and earned a dozen leading rider titles at top shows from Spruce Meadows to Harrisburg. He placed in the top 10 at the FEI World Cup Final twice, and was the top-placing U.S. rider at the 1988 Final in Gothenburg, Sweden, when he finished sixth, the same position in which he had finished in the 1985 Final in Berlin.

He was honored as the American Grandprix Association (AGA) Rider of the Year in 1990 and he won the 1982 Rolex Crown of Excellence. His victories span three decades and nearly every continent, making him one of America’s most accomplished show jumping riders.

In addition to being a dominant force on the West Coast Grand Prix circuit, Hansen has represented the U.S. internationally many times including at shows such as Hickstead, Arnhem, Aachen and Spruce Meadows. He has been the North American Champion at Spruce Meadows three times, and is a member of the Million Dollar Club, an honor limited to the few riders who have won over $1 Million in prize money at Spruce Meadows.

He also was named the National Grand Prix League Western Conference Rider of the Year in both 1991 and 1992. The AHSA honored him with its Equestrian of the Year Award in 1994. He was awarded the California Professional Horsemen’s Association (CPHA) Lifetime Achievement Award in 1997, and has been named the Pacific Coast Rider of the Year seven times. Twice, in 1991 and 1998, Hansen placed second in the USET National Show Jumping Championship.

Langer is best known as the President and CEO of Langer Equestrian Group, one of the country’s top horse show management companies. Among the many shows produced by LEG is the Los Angeles National, a show created by Langer that culminates the West Coast’s “A” circuit with championships, medal finals, and the LA National Grand Prix (CSI-W). Langer’s success in horse show management is predicated on a lifetime spent riding, training, and teaching.

Milestones and achievements include being voted as the most influential person on the West Coast horse show industry in the past 25 years by a Horses Magazine readers poll (1988), and receiving the California Professional Horsemen’s Association’s Lifetime Achievement Award (2008). Langer served as the Show Jumping Competition Manager of the 1996 Olympics (Atlanta) and of the 1992 FEI World Cup Finals in Del Mar.

For more than 25 years he has served on the USEF Jumper Committee, most recently as Co-Chairman. He was influential in a complete evaluation and re-write of the jumper rules, and he was part of a small group who redesigned the jumper judges’ clinics. Larry has held jumper judge and steward licenses with both the USEF and the FEI.

Larry has developed a number of significant horse shows and horse show venues, including the Colorado Summer Circuit at the Colorado Horse Park. Additionally, he and his management team have served as the Competition Management for the North American Junior and Young Rider Championships three times, most recently in 2008, at Colorado.

In the early part of his career as a trainer, Langer owned and operated the Pacific Horse Center in Elk Grove and in addition to a stable full of top show horses, he operated the Horsemastership program, three college accredited courses where a number of today’s successful professionals got their start. He has two college degrees, one in Mechanical Engineering and one in Business Administration.