Horse Shows in the Sun Celebrates Their 40th Year
W
hen Meegan Galloway looks back on her years as a competitor and trainer at HITS Florida Winter Circuit horse show, her memories take her to the very beginning, to HITS’s very first show in Ocala. “Oh my gosh, it was a very small show,” said Galloway, owner/trainer of Eden Farm Hunter-Jumper Show Barn in Ocala. “And now, it’s just huge, with people coming from all over nationally, and now internationally, too. Now, it’s one of the biggest shows in the country.”
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| FEB 2021 | OCALAMAGAZINE.COM
Yes, times have changed for HITS — a lot. This marks the 40th year that HITS, or Horse Shows in the Sun, has called Ocala its winter home. The prestigious equine event is again holding 12 weeks of shows through March. As usual, it will be a spectacular event that attracts tens of thousands of horse competitors and enthusiasts to the community, and that makes it a major economic driver for Ocala/Marion County. (Due to the coronavirus pandemic, no spectators are allowed to attend this year’s HITS.)
HITS founder and CEO Tom Struzzieri’s story is one of vision and doggedness. Struzzieri was born and raised in New York. In his youth, he was a competitive rider of hunters and jumpers. But, as he tells it, he realized he would never attain the level of success he sought as a rider. So, at 18, he bought a small farm, Rose View Stables, in Poughkeepsie, New York, where he trained hunter/jumpers. He also produced small, local horse shows, even some multi-day shows. Struzzieri was ready for a bigger chal-
Photos courtesy of HITS
BY BRAD ROGERS
