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resented once again by BBVA Compass, Houston’s historic Pin Oak Charity Horse Show will be held March 23-April 3 at Great Southwest Equestrian Center in Katy, TX. The show benefts Texas Children’s Hospital and Houston’s Ronald McDonald House, Family Rooms.

This year, Pin Oak’s two-week show forms the frst two legs of a powerhouse triumvirate of high-level hunter and jumper competition; the Texas High Performance Series, which with the Spring Gathering Charity Horse Show, also at Great Southwest, runs through April 11. Together, the two shows will offer more than a half million dollars in prize money. This is the kind of innovative thinking that Pin Oak has implemented to update its hunter/jumper offerings, in lockstep with the USHJA’s recommendations on how to better serve the needs of its members. Pin Oak added a $15,000 3’6” to 4’ USHJA International Hunter Derby, presented by Valobra Jewelry and Antiques three years ago, which has been a hugely successful event for both riders and show sponsors. For 2011, a $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby joins the roster, with fences from 3’ 0” to 3’ 3”. These competitions are structured in the format that the USHJA commission said would be ideal—i.e., higher fences equal higher prize money with the addition of the 4’ High Performance Hunters and the 3’6” to 3’9” and 3’3” Performance Hunters. With $120,000 in hunter prize money from Pin Oak, and $190,000 from Spring Gathering, the Texas High Performance Series should have no problem pulling nationally ranked riders from Florida and California.

This iconic sporting event doesn’t disappoint on the social side either. Pin Oak holds a Gala Dinner during the Carole and Jim Looke $30,000 Grand Prix jumping event week one, and the Houston Area Land Rover Centres $30,000 Grand Prix during week two. The $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby on April 1 has become Houston’s own ladies “Hat Event” in the Sponsor’s Club, presented by Valobra Jewelry & Antiques. For details about the Prize List, class schedules for each breed, or how to become a sponsor, visit www.pinoak.org.