Saugerties says yea to neighs Village embraces horses and economy is the winner BY LYNN WOODS

Saugerties says yea to neighs
Village embraces horses and economy is the winner
BY LYNN WOODS

The horse trailers have started rumbling through the streets of Saugerties. They are headed for a grassy complex at the edge of town where crowds of mostly teenaged girls and women in jodhpurs, and their horses, gather to prove over wooden barriers that Pegasus was no fluke and horses can fly.

From the end of May to early September, Horseshows in the Sun, or HITS, as it’s known, is in full swing, attracting thousands of horse people, including owners, riders, family members, trainers, grooms and other workers from the tri-state area for a day, weekend or week of jumper competitions and other equestrian events. Its facilities include 2,500 horse stalls (1,100 are permanent); 10 competition rings; numerous food concessions, including a Starbucks; tack and other specialty vendors; a large RV parking lot; and a VIP stand with a stunning view of the Catskills. It’s a world unto itself, girdled by woods, with its own rituals, thrills, equipment and lingo.

It’s also big business. HITS is the largest horse circuit in the country accredited by the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF). Based in Lexington, Ken., the USEF is the national governing body for equestrian sport (quarter horses and western horse breeds have their own governing organizations, which may have larger circuits). In the Saugerties area alone, according to HITS national marketing director John Eickman, HITS participants, spectators, judges, and vendors spend an estimated $50 million annually on dining, lodging, entertainment, local transport and personal effects.

“We provide the venue, the ribbons, and the prize money,” Eickman said. “They stable their horse at the show grounds, buy the feed and bedding, and pay entry fees ranging from $40 to $50 for the lower-level classes to $800 for the Grand Prix entry” an event that carries a $75,000 purse. HITS awards over $1 million in prize money at Saugerties each year, out of a total of $4 million in prize money on its national circuit.

The company is also headquartered in Saugerties. Besides New York, HITS operates circuits for horse jumping and other equestrian events in California, Florida, Virginia, and Arizona. Last year, it formed a joint venture with Leonard Green & Partners, L/P., a private equity firm based in Los Angeles, resulting in an influx of capital that enabled HITS to expand its facility in the Palm Springs area of California to 250 acres, the size of the Saugerties’ circuit.

Both have the capacity to comfortably handle 1,500 horses for any given competition (or “class,” as it is called) and still enable all contestants to finish up by dinnertime. Eickman said the next step in the company’s expansion is opening a circuit in the Midwest, which would complement the firm’s bicoastal orientation.

Eighteen full-time employees seven others travel around the country; HITS also employs hundreds of part-time people at its various circuits work out of two neo-colonial brick buildings in the village, which were the town’s former town hall and post office (renovated extensively by the company). HITS president and CEO Thomas Struzzieri also owns a house in the village. He has roots in the region, having founded the company in 1977 while working as a trainer at Rose View Stables, in Rosendale.

Originally based in Ellenville, HITS was seeking to expand and relocated to Saugerties in 2004 after discovering the 250-acre site, which was a former golf course. Its proximity to the Thruway was also key, given the arrival of all those horse trailers. Another plus was the variety of excellent restaurants in the area, Eickman said.

“We needed more space for both our headquarters and our show grounds,” Struzzieri said. “We are fortunate to have such a great space for both right here in our hometown.” The company has been growing five to seven percent a year since the move.

The circuit consists of three types of classes. Besides jumpers, there are hunters, who compete on the basis of how they and their steeds look as they high-step around the ring, the horses’ manes and tails beautifully braided. The third type is equitation, in which the horse is taken through a series of maneuvers, including cantors, turns and walks.

Participants usually hook up with HITS through the recommendations of their trainers, who also recommend the appropriate category of class and make all the arrangements, said Eickman.

Most of the HITS people are amateurs, who compete just for the fun of testing their skills with their horse and are happy to take home a blue ribbon. A few, however, are professionals competing in the U.S. Grand Prix League for the $75,000 purse. The Grand Prix events are held in the big ring, delineated by a low stone wall, on Thursday and Sunday afternoons. The public can visit HITS for free during the week. On Sunday, there’s a $5 fee to watch the Grand Prix and other events. All proceeds are donated to the local charity, Family of Woodstock.

It’s not a sport for the low-budget crowd: Eickman said the horses at HITS range in value from $50,000 to $4 million, with most probably falling in the $100,000 range. In addition, the annual cost of stabling and caring for the horse is $100,000 or more. The event attracts the occasional celebrity, usually in the role of involved parent: Last summer, Bruce Springsteen was spotted with his horse-jumping daughter at a local diner.

After a day of riding, the participants head into town to eat and shop. Peter LaScala, general manager at the Comfort Inn, located just off the Thruway exit, said the 65 rooms at his motel are packed during the HITS events. “If we had another 50 to 60 rooms, they’d be occupied,” he said. The motel serves breakfast at 5:30 a.m., an hour earlier than normal, to cater to the early-rising horse clientele.

Bob Melville, who is a Saugerties-based farrier (someone who shoes horses), said he doesn’t get any business directly from HITS (which has its own farrier). However, he has gotten work from many of the participants, some of whom own a number of horses which are kept in barns leased in the area. He’s shoeing many of the show jumpers and dressage horses, in some cases following his HITS customers to Florida in the winter. “My business is less seasonable,” he said.

Michelle Silver, who owns Miss Lucy’s Kitchen, a restaurant in the village, with her husband, Marc Propper, said booming business from HITS helps the business survive the slow winter months. “It brings tons of people into town,” she said. “They’re here to have fun, and it’s a nice clientele.” Silver and Propper are among the numerous residents and shopkeepers who also rent out apartments to the HITS people.

Across the street, the clothing boutique Dig also does well, with HITS patrons coming in to shop while they wait for their table at Miss Lucy’s. “They make our store a destination, since we have their favorite brands,” said Daisy Bolle, who owns the shop with her husband, Van. “Sometimes we’ll stay open until 11 pm.”

“A lot of them are girls from Long Island, New Jersey, Connecticut and Manhattan, and they discover this town is an unexpected treat,” added Van. “They’re enamored of Saugerties.” The couple, who relocated from Los Angeles three years ago to open the boutique, which specializes in youthful, hip apparel, said discovering the HITS crowd was “an unexpected treat.”

HITS has also lured a few people to buy real estate in the area. Eickman said the HITS property buyers include Jennifer Oz LeRoy, owner of Tavern on the Green, in New York City. Besides falling in love with the Hudson Valley countryside, they want to be close to the sport they’re passionate about, he said.

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