Addie Toensing tops the HITS Ocala Equitation Championship

Rider Adelaide Toensing won the HITS Ocala Equitation Championship in March. Photo by Frances McGivern.

March was a big victory month for the Toensing family of Charlotte. Addie Toensing won the HITS (Horse Shows in the Sun) Ocala Equitation Championship, and her younger sister, Lily, also had success in Florida by earning enough points in her division of equitation aged 14-15 to be grand circuit champion. HITS, Inc., based in Saugerties, N.Y., is the largest hunter/jumper horse show management company in the United States.

Sisters Addie and Lily ride together every day and are each other’s biggest support, their mom, Karla, said. “The most touching part of the night of Addie’s big win was the first thing she did after getting interviewed was to call her sister. Warms a mom’s heart.”

Riders must qualify by placing first through third in a major equitation class during the 10-week HITS Ocala circuit. Courses included gymnastics, trot fences, oxers, verticals and combinations. It’s open to junior riders who have placed in the USEF Medal, ASPCA Maclay, USEF Talent Search, WIHS Equitation, M&S Junior Medal, or EJ Haun Medal During HITS Ocala I-X.