The Santa Fe Summer Series commences July 17 and runs through August 11. HIPICO Santa Fe is proud to produce its fifth signature equestrian event, featuring top-rated hunter and jumper competition, since its inception in 2015. The Santa Fe Summer Series horse show, known for its hospitality and friendly service, attracts 3,500-7,500 visitors to Santa Fe each year and offers free general admission for the public. Each week’s competition runs Wednesday through Sunday, starting at 8 AM and finishing mid-to-late afternoon (depending on competition class sizes) in beautifully-maintained grass fields and arenas, with comfortable and shaded viewing areas for the public to enjoy. Hundreds of horses will soon be trailering to HIPICO Santa Fe for the competition, along with spectators, vendors, trainers, event staff, and professional athletes.
Back by popular demand this year, don’t miss the Sale Horse Exhibition Class and Fiesta Horse Auction. We are pleased to offer our ever-popular $5,000 Sandia BMW & MINI Ride-and-Drive, All-in-One Grand Prix, $5,000 USHJA National Hunter Derbies and $10,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby. See the schedule of events, below, for specific dates for these specialty classes.
HIPICO Santa Fe is excited to offer the 2nd Annual Battle of the Flags, which sprang to life in 2018 thanks to the diligent, and highly competitive, efforts of a few of our most illustrious competitors who saw an opportunity to settle, at least for a year, the question of which state deserves to fly its flag on the tallest flagpole in our Grand Prix arena. Don’t miss this class, scheduled for Saturday, August 10 (Grand Prix de Santa Fe Week), to find out!
Photo by Mary Neiberg
This year, the Split Rock Jumping Tour joins us at HIPICO Santa Fe, August 14-18, 2019 for the inaugural Santa Fe International CSI2*. This internationally recognized show jumping tour adds a fifth week to the traditionally 4-week long summer at HIPICO Santa Fe. That week, FEI-ranked riders seen in top competitions around the world, will travel to Santa Fe for the very first FEI-rated show in New Mexico. The Split Rock Jumping Tour is the talk of the show jumping world, providing an entertaining sporting event that has revolutionized the way competitors, sponsors and spectators benefit from an international show jumping production in the United States.
Throughout these events, there will be food, shopping, fine art, a beer & wine garden, a VIP Lounge, all set in a stunning venue to enjoy, with breathtaking views of the Sangre de Cristos. For VIP inquiries, please visit the HIPICO Santa Fe website or call 505-474-0999.
WEEKLY SCHEDULE OF PARTIES, EVENTS & ACTIVITIES
TUESDAYS
Watch riders warm up in colorful tutus on Tutu Tuesdays each week!
Riders will be practicing for the week’s competition all day in frilly and fun tutus.
WEDNESDAYS
Professional Equitation Class – BMW & MINI Hunter Arena (Week 1)
This competitive class draws on style and technique of the riders, without being judged as heavily on the horse’s style. Professional riders will strut their stuff and show students that they ‘practice what they preach’ in terms of Equitation Style instruction.
Happy Hour & Sale Horse Exhibition – Jumper 2 Arena (All Weeks)
Horses that are expected to be sold in the live bidding Fiesta Auction Exhibition, August 3, are likely to be featured in this exhibition, offered each week of our horse show in the evening, after the rest of the classes are finished for the day. Stop by our VIP Lounge to watch these sale horses parade around the arena, with the elegant ambiance of our lively exhibitor environment.
Competitors and Friends Welcome Party – Locations to be announced (All Weeks)
This party is paired with the Happy Hour & Sale Horse Exhibition, where patrons of the horse show are welcome to join us for a light dinner in our VIP Lounge.
THURSDAYS
Jumper Team Costume Class – Jumper 2 Arena (Week 2)
This event is exactly as it sounds! It’s a fast pace jumper class where a team comprised of a professional and amateur rider jump head to head with their rival teams. While doing so, they wear silly costumes on horseback!
Hunter Team Classic – Derby Field (Week 3)
This a classical event on our grass fields which combines the talents of a professional rider with an amateur rider. These two riders pair up as a team and compete for the highest combined total of points in traditional attire atop their graceful Hunter horses.
FRIDAYS
National Hunter Derby – Derby Arena (Weeks 1, 2 & 4)
This class takes place bright and early at 8 AM on our Derby Field. Witness the pinnacle of Hunter Style competition with riders who will wear traditional Shadbelly coats with long tails. This is a beautiful event to spectate from the grassy mounds or from our shaded bleachers.
International Hunter Derby – Derby Arena (Week 3)
This $10,000 class is the most prestigious Hunter Style competition during the Santa Fe Summer Series, where the top professional and amateur hunter riders compete in two rounds rivaling for the highest combined total score. The jumps are beautifully decorated with foliage and will demonstrate handy turns and unique tracks to the jumps in the second round.
Fiesta Fashion Week and Derby Hat Contest – HIPI Hangout (Week 3)
Stop by HIPICO wearing your ‘Derby best!’ Sign up to join the Derby Hat Contest and participate in our vendor fashion show, where the public can participate in a fun catwalk across our VIP Lounge, sporting the hottest equestrian vendors’ apparel. Sign up at the Merchandise Table in our HIPI Hangout Tent to participate.
Welcome Stake – Grand Prix Arena (All Weeks)
This class kicks off the height of Jumper Style competition for the week. Each Friday afternoon, the exhilarating fast and athletic jumper horses will compete head to head in the Welcome Stake Class. The purse of money, which goes to the top winners, increases over the weeks of the Summer Series.
SATURDAYS
HIPICO’s celebrated All-in-One Grand Prix Exhibition – Grand Prix Arena (Week 1)
This is a thrilling class on the grass to spectate. It takes up the better part of the afternoon and provides continuous action for several hours as a large group of riders compete for the top cash prize. You’ll see riders in competition over the same course, but at different heights, using a time handicap to compensate for those who opt to jump at lower heights. It’s all about strategy in this one, don’t miss out!
The Sandia BMW/MINI Cooper Ride-&-Drive Challenge – Multiple Arenas (Week 3)
One of the most adrenaline-pumping and wildly executed classes of the show is this one! Imagine a class that combines on-horse and on-foot obstacles, even tying in a race in a MINI Cooper vehicle. A limbo pole, pool table, putt putt hole, and small body of water to jump over will also be included in this event, all sponsored by Sandia BMW/MINI Cooper. Here’s a link to a video from the 2016 “Ride-&-Drive.”
1.20M AOHCJI Jumper Challenge – Grand Prix Arena (Week 2)
This is a jumper style class that offers a fun competition within the name of the competition itself. Whoever can guess the acronym behind the title of this class receives a prize. Submit your best guess in our Show Office any time throughout the Summer Series!
Chorizo Weiner Dog Races – Grand Prix Arena (Weeks 1, 2 & 4)
Offered Saturday afternoons during weeks 1, 2 and 4 of the Santa Fe Summer Series, this crowd-pleasing event will keep you howling for days! Anyone is welcome to sign up their Dachshund dogs or small mixed-breed dogs to race on our grass fields for a good Saturday afternoon laugh. A minimum donation of $5 to New Mexico Center for Therapeutic Riding is required to enter a pup in the races.
2nd Annual ”Battle of the Flags” – Grand Prix Arena (Week 4)
This afternoon class has taken on a life of its own. Inaugurated last year, the Battle of the Flags has become a crowd favorite that provides a team competition representing New Mexico and its surrounding states. Let’s see which state will send their flag to the top of the flag pole this year! Watch and enjoy team spirit, friendly competition, peppy outfits and hilarious commentary from the competitors in this newly-formed Santa Fe Summer Series tradition.
Photo by Mary Neiberg
SUNDAYS
Jumper Classics – Grass Arenas (All Weeks)
Look out for riders wearing white pants, signifying the competitors in this series of jumper classes, held in various arenas throughout the Sunday competition.
Grand Prix Class – Grand Prix Arena (All Weeks)
This class, with a huge cash purse, is the pinnacle of Jumper-style competition at the Santa Fe Summer Series, offering the highest jumps to be cleared at the horse show, set at 1.40M.
Grand Prix Entertainment – Grand Prix Arena (All Weeks)
There will be entertainment on the Grand Prix Field surrounding each week’s event, with food trucks, performances, a VIP Champagne Brunch, and directly following the competition, there will also be program signings by the top 6 winners of the Grand Prix Class. The signings are free & welcome to the public each week in the HIPI Hangout (public tent). The Grand
Prix Classes will begin no earlier than 1 PM. During Week 2 and 4 of the Santa Fe Summer Series, apprentice singers from the Santa Fe Opera will perform the National Anthem.
Elegant Champagne Brunch – HIPICO VIP Lounge (All Weeks)
The HIPICO VIP Lounge delivers a distinctive luxury hospitality experience and concierge services along with ringside dining featuring farm-inspired cuisine, live music, gaming and billiards, and tranquil lounging areas. See our website or call HIPICO Santa Fe at 505-474-0999 for more details.
General Event Info
Who: General admission free & open to the public. Families are welcome to bring in their own water, food, picnic blanket, etc.
What: Four weeks of the best party in horse showing! The key events are the Grand Prix classes each Sunday with $30,000-$40,000 in prize money. Saturdays are also a great day to watch, but any day from Wednesday through Sunday is assured to be action-packed! Stay tuned for more information about the Split Rock Jumping Tour, which adds a fifth week of horse showing to the HIPICO Santa Fe Calendar—bringing internationally ranked riders to our show grounds August 14-18.
Where: HIPICO Santa Fe 100 S Polo Dr, Santa Fe, NM 87507 (Plenty of free parking)
When: Wednesdays through Sundays, July 17 – August 11
•Santa Fe Welcome Week, July 17 – 21
•Sonrisa Week, July 24 – 28
•Santa Fe Fiesta Week, July 31 – August 4
•Grand Prix de Santa Fe Week, August 7 – 11
Why: It’s a great event for families and the community to enjoy. Watching the horses clear high obstacles is a thrilling spectacle for all and supports the local economy by bringing hundreds of riders, their families and their entourages to Santa Fe each year!
View the prize list HERE.