Longwood, FL - Leading Grand Prix competitor Sergio Campos, of Florida’s Longwood Equestrian Center, is pleased to announce a new partnership with owner Ron Krise of the Delray Beach-based Split Creek Farm LLC. The affiliation includes the acquisition of 10 horses from Split Creek, including the 12-year-old German bred Sun God and the 8-year-old Argentine bred Curioso Z, both of which have been showing at the international level (see complete list below).

Krise, a principal in the horse-show industry for the last 10 years, has been in discussions with Campos over the last few weeks about transferring the Grand Prix contenders and several young jumpers to Longwood. Most recently the horses had been training and competing with Venezuelan rider Pablo Barrios. “ I’ve been watching Sergio for the last four years, and I really like him,” said Krise during a telephone interview. “He’s very honest, he’s so articulate, and he’s very disciplined.”

 Krise stressed that he was attracted to Longwood’s  “tremendous training program and the “different practices” used to train horses. “Sergio is just a really, really nice kid, “ he added, “and he’s a great rider. I just felt like the time was right to make a change.”

“Ron called me and was very direct,” commented Campos. “He told me he wanted me to ride his Grand Prix horses and also his youngsters, and train his granddaughter [14-year-old Blake Cooper] as she transitions from the Hunters to Jumper classes.”     

Campos added that he and Krise met at his farm outside of Orlando and made some clear decisions about all of the horses’ training. “Our plan is for me to ride Sun God and Curios Z in international Grand Prixs and I will train the young jumpers Sante and Baloume Z up to the Grand Prix level.”

“My plan is to let Sergio decide where they will show and when they are ready to show,” added Krise. “He knows best the conditions of the shows, the footing, what level each horse is at, and my plan is to let him make those decisions.”

Campos is a third generation horseman who hails from Campo Grande, a small city in the southwest of Brazil. After a brilliant career as a junior—including training with the legendary Nelson Pessoa—and a stint as a rodeo star, Campos began a professional show-jumping career and, not long after, opened the doors of his Florida-based Longwood Equestrian Center. Since January, he has captured five Grand Prixs with this 10-year-old homebred mare Shakira do Jacare, including the $50,000 Iron Springs Farm Grand Prix in Ocala and the $25,000 Outback Steakhouse/Horses Helping Horses GP at the Atlanta Summer Classic where he was the only clean round of 33 contenders. He’s garnered numerous other blue ribbons in 2007 aboard other Longwood mounts, including the 7-year-old Oldenburg stallion Mill Creek Sancho, owned by Mill Creek Stables. In addition to competing, he is dedicated to producing and selling quality horses and maintaining a group of talented students capable of Grand Prix competition in the U.S.

“This partnership means so much to me,” said Campos. “It will not only give me a different caliber of horse with which to compete but it will also provide a great support system. Ron and his wife Cheryl are very knowledgeable about good horses. They have been at all the best shows all over the world, and that kind of experience, I believe, will be very important in allowing me to reach the international level.”

“My goal with Sergio,” said Krise, “is to try help him earn his dual citizenship in the United States, and to help him earn a place on the U.S. equestrian team.  That’s an objective that if we all work at it, we can get it done.”

The 10 horses now residing at Longwood are: Sun God, Curioso Z, Baloume Z, Sante, Wild Cat, Legato, Cooper, Cappuccino, Cathargo, and Stockbridge.

Photo: Sergio Campos ©Flashpoint Photography