Pennsylvania National Horse Show Underway

The Pennsylvania National Horse Show (PNHS), which runs Oct. 18-27, at the Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Penn., is a 62-year tradition of equestrian skills and celebration. Eleven national championships are decided at the show, including the crown jewel: The $65,000 Budweiser Grand Prix de Penn National. The class’s outcome determines the American Grand Prix Association Horse and Rider of the Year.

Nearly 1,200 horses and riders will be competing at the PNHS. The same top riders who compete in the $65,000 Grand Prix–many of them Olympic, World Cup and Pan Am Games medalists—are spending the upcoming week at the show campaigning a number of horses.

Through Oct. 21, classes are held for junior riders under age 18. The Adequan/USEF National Junior Jumper Championships were held Oct. 19, and on Oct. 21, more than 200 young equestrians ride for hunter equitation’s prestigious Pessoa/USEF National Hunter Seat Medal Final. Thirty percent of past winners have gone on to represent the U.S. in international competition.

For the sixth year, the Pennsylvania National Horse Show will host the National Horse Show ‘Good Hands’ Saddle Seat Equitation Championship, which was held for 70 years at the National Horse Show in New York City. In addition, the PNHS will host the American Saddlebred Horse Association Northeastern Regional Championships, with awards for the top American Saddlebred horses from the northeastern U.S. region that stretches from Virginia to Maine, and the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Saddle Seat Equitation Challenge. The PNHS is also the site of the North American League championships for adult and children’s hunters and jumpers, open jumper speed horses and pony jumpers.

Beginning Oct. 22, mid-Atlantic foxhunters gather for Hunt Night, an evening of friendly rivalry. Spectators are treated to a variety of classes Oct. 24-27, with competitions for hunters, jumpers, American Saddlebreds, draft horses, western horses and driving horses and ponies.

Since its inception in 1945, the PNHS has raised $1.5 million for youth literacy, educational, therapeutic and recreational programs through the Harrisburg Kiwanis Youth Foundation and the Pennsylvania National Horse Show Foundation.

For more information, visit www.panational.org.