BURBANK – The Southern California Quarter Horse Exhibitors Association calls its winter event at the Los Angeles Equestrian Center the “Show Me The Money” show, but it may be more accurate to label it “Show Me The Fun”.

With 2,243 entries and more than 300 horses, the SCQHEA show lit up the LAEC from Feb. 9-12, featuring four AQHA shows along with an NRHA show and a PCHA reining show. On top of the competition line-up, there were the attractions of “Exhibitor Appreciation Casino Night” on Friday and the Pacific Coast Quarter Horse Association awards banquet on Saturday.

THERMAL – With the opening half of the 2012 HITS Desert Circuit officially in the books, trainers, riders, owners and horses are enjoying a much deserved week off. Entries are up and the sport of show jumping on the west coast appears healthy and active this year.

The facilities at the HITS Desert Horse Park continue to mature and impress, as thousands of exhibitors have flocked to the warm, sunny climate of the Southern California to escape the cold grip of winter.

SAN ANGELO, Texas – Roy Rich spent the night with his rig in Albuquerque on his drive to the National Reined Cow Horse Association World Championships, then was caught off guard by a frozen Interstate 40 east of town the next morning.

“I thought I was going to die — I don’t know how to drive in ice,” joked the Southern California native.

THERMAL — John Bragg of Redwood City lived up to his name and earned some bragging rights in the 5,000 Devoucoux Hunter Prix when he posted a pair of scores in the 90s aboard Stephanie Ray’s Castle Hill to capture the feature class for hunters Feb. 5 at Desert Circuit II.

Bragg was impressive in the popular hunter prix that featured almost 60 horse-and-rider combinations in the first round on a course set by Rian Beals. The seasoned hunter rider brought home a 92 in the first round and set the stage for some exciting competition. In the second round, Bragg and Castle Hill didn’t disappoint the crowd as they nailed the round posting another 92 en route to the first-place ribbon.

POMONA — The Sierra Empire Arabian Horse Association annual show continued its growth phase for the third straight year during its Jan. 27-29 event at the Fairplex.

The SEAHA took over the winter January slot vacated when the Whittier Lions suspended its traditional Southern California competition after 2009.

SAN ANSELMO, Texas — The 2012 National Reined Cow Horse Association Celebration of Champions concluded Sunday, February 5, with the finals of the World’s Greatest Horseman competition. The finals – which featured ten of the most accomplished horse and rider teams in the western performance horse industry – thrilled the west Texas town.

TEMECULA – The Southern California Reined Cow Horse Association buckled up its business of the year just past on Jan. 22 with a club awards banquet at Sweet Lumpys Barbeque in Temecula.

The standing-room only event illustrated the popularity of the SRCHA, which continues to enjoy growth in participation and membership during what to this point has been a sluggish economy.

President Laura Edwards honored sponsors and year-end high-points with an awards distribution.

BURBANK — Langer Equestrian Group kicked off the 2012 show season and the company’s 40th Anniversary year with the LAEC Opener Horse Show Jan 20-22, and although Saturday morning dawned cold and rainy, the show was able to go on.

The new Olympic Mix footing in the large oval for the jumpers played a role in that, while the hunters and equitation riders enjoyed the expansive Equidome. By late morning, clouds disappeared, and the jumper arena was the place to be to show and soak up some sun.

Economic forecasts may call for slow, slight improvement this year, but show organizations in California aren’t waiting around. As they have the past three years, groups that create horse events in our state are innovating more than ever — not just to keep activity levels steady, but to grow them.

As Melissa Braunstein, Marketing Director for Blenheim EquiSports, puts it, the tougher times are the times that make you better.

“It’s definitely been a couple of years of having to get extremely creative to stay strong through a tough economy,” she says. “When you have to train for the really hard marathon — that’s when you get serious. And at the end of it, you are better than when you started. It’s in the lean times that you say ‘OK, we don’t want to cut back and lower our quality’, and then you find a way to do that.”