THERMAL — When Hope Glynn and Campari won the $5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix on Jan. 27, it capped a great week of competition at HITS Desert Circuit I and put an exclamation point on a string of successes by Sonoma Valley Stables.

It also was one for the record books, marking the first high-stakes competition on the HITS Desert Horse Park’s new Outside Course and the first circuit qualifier for the Diamond Mills $500,000 Hunter Prix Final this September in Saugerties, N.Y.

BURBANK — It may not have been a day at the races, but Tommi Clark’s win-place-show stranglehold on the $2,500 USHJA Hunter Derby certainly brought some excitement to the LAEC Opener Horse Show, held Jan. 18-20 at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center.

THERMAL — In a thrilling contest that came down to the final seconds of the jump-off, Mandy Porter of Encinitas took Plum Creek Hollow Farm’s Con Capilot to victory in the $50,000 EMO Grand Prix, presented by Pfizer Animal Health, bringing the first week of competition at HITS Desert Horse Park to a heart-pounding conclusion.

What if you had a show and everybody came?

For Show Director Doug Huls of the Arizona Quarter Horse Association, that’s not far from his experience each winter at the show he manages alongside the AZQHA, the Sun Circuit.

Last year, Huls says this nine-day event was the largest AQHA circuit competition worldwide. This year’s event, which will feature eight AQHA shows spanning Jan. 26-Feb. 3, will require 100 additional stalls.

BURBANK — Now that the sun has set on a a remarkable year in dressage — an “Olympic year” that featured among other headline moments the retirement of an icon, Ravel — a new chapter for riders, horses and event managers is quietly opening.

“The year after the games is always a quiet year,” says Glenda McElroy, owner of Cornerstone Event Management and the chair of the L.A. Chapter of the California Dressage Society. “It’s kind of the rebuilding year — a lot of people have new horses, new goals.”

OKLAHOMA CITY, Okla. — Reiners from across California wrapped up their 2012 season with Top 10 finishes at the National Reining Horse Association, as NRHA closed the curtain Dec. 1 on another record-setting year.

Riders from both the West Coast Reining Horse Association (WCRHA) Northwest Affiliate and the California Reining Horse Association (CRHA) Southwest Affiliate shined during the 10-day competiton, which featured a new Three Million Dollar Rider when Texan Tim McQuay pierced the earnings mark after earning $145,000 on David Silva’s Gunners TInseltown.

From beginning to end this year, California horses and riders performed well.

JANUARY: It didn’t take long into 2012 for Steffen Peters to make headlines. At the United States Equestrian Federation Pegasus Awards Jan. 14, the venerable dressage rider from San Diego became the first to receive the USEF Equestrian of the Year title three times. Momentum and anticipation of the Summer Olympic Games in London began to build, and Peters and Ravel a highly interesting proposition after finishing fourth in the individual competition at the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

JANUARY: Nancy Nathanson of Santa Ynez received the coveted USEF Medal of Honor for her outstanding service to horses and equestrian sports on Jan. 14. For more than a quarter-century, Nancy has been a trainer and breeder of Andalusians and Lusitanos, and she has served as a highly respected multibreed show secretary at driving competitions, as well as Paso Fino, Andalusian, and Friesian shows.

RANCHO MURIETA — With stunning weather, an increase in entries, and even more social events than in years past, the Best in the West Year-end Show was bigger and better than ever. Following months of organizing, preparing and planning, in what seemed like five brief days, the Northwest Affiliate Finals and Best in the West Year End Show and Slide for the Cure came to an end. With each passing year, this show continues to draw not only more local people to the West Coast club, but more and more out-of-towners as well, continually increasing the stall count, entries, and participation.