Perhaps nowhere is the relocation of prized assets more a routine part of the job than at Horses in the Sun, which multiple times per year moves 1,000 or more horses into barns and stables on its 200-acre HITS show facility in Saugerties or at other locales nationally, and keeps them rested, watered and fed to compete in weeklong events.
The expertise at staging a season of top-tier horse and riding events will culminate this September, when HITS on the Hudson in Saugerties hosts the $1 million Pfizer Grand Prix, featuring qualifiers from a year of events at Saugerties and the four other HITS venues nationally.
“It is sort of an eccentric take on relocation,” chuckled said HITS vice president Tony Hitchcock, who said  keeping horses moving is what HITS does.
“It”™s our business,” said Hitchcock. “HITS operates five venues around the United States and the sole reason we operate them is for events. We don”™t own horses; our customers do.”
The company has facilities for horse shows that feature jumping and hunting events in Arizona, California, Florida, Virginia and in Saugerties where the company headquarters is located.
“It”™s clearly set up for the management of horse shows,” he said of the 200 acre facility on a rural road about fifteen minutes drive from Thruway exit 20 when pulling a horse trailer.
“The way the show works, we”™ll get 1,200 to 1,500 horses coming in to Saugerties to sleep for a week,” said Hitchcock. “Sort of a hotel, if you will.”
The facility has 1,000 permanent stalls and the capacity to erect additional stalls under tents and can provide bedding and feed, he said. “We can move from one location to another. If we need to put up tents and stalls in Virginia we can do that.”
He said like any well-run hotel there are contingency plans in place, but that most things work via well-oiled routine. “A tornado would be something to be very worried about,” said Hitchcock. “You don”™t want to mix tornadoes with tents.”
He said the company has experience moving horses during the approach of a hurricane on Long Island, “We actually had to get horses out of tent and trailer them to nearby horse farms for safe shelter and take tents down and tie them down.”
Events are held in ten rings erected around the property. Horses and their owners typically arrive on Monday and warm up on Tuesday:Â “And Wednesday through Sunday they are involved in some serious competition in some rings,” Hitchcock said.
HITS has about 35 permanent employees with about 50 more employees during events, helping to manage the horses, set up the rings and judge the competitions. He said there is always a veterinarian on site and that horse owners are welcome to bring in their own vet if they wish.
“They are coming with their own support team, HITS isn”™t feeding each horse,” he said, adding that the owners also need to be fed and housed which provides a boost to area lodgings.
There are eight events scheduled for HITS on the Hudson this season, culminating in the Pfizer Cup on Sept. 12. “It”™s going to be great for the Hudson Valley,” said Hitchcock.
