What HITS is: It’s a hunter/jumper show. I’ve included more information about what these are and how they are judged below.

What to know at a glance: Watch the jumpers; they are VERY exciting.Try to get there for a Grand Prix. Two Grand Prix events will be held each week of the rated shows, on Thursdays and Sundays.

What Post Time Farm looks like: Close your eyes and picture ancient oak trees with Spanish moss draped from their branches, miles of board fences, and everywhere, horses, horses, and more horses, trotting around the track, being bathed, led, schooled, or strutting their stuff in one of the 12 show arenas (there’s lots more schooling arenas).

What it costs: There’sno admission charge Wednesday through Saturday. Sunday admission is $5 per person, and children under 12 are free. Parking’s free, too. (Can’t beat THAT with a stick, can you?)

Here’s a little more information about hunters and jumpers. Although “hunters” and “jumpers” are both horses that leap over fences that fall down when struck, they are as different as snowflakes and butter.

Hunters are judged on form around a simple, flowing course of 8 fences. A good hunter should meet the fences on a perfect stride. He should stay as relaxed as Brad Pitt trying to get a date, but nevertheless, he needs to snap his knees up close to his eyeballs while hopefully making a perfect arc over the fence. Further, his aforementioned knees should be perfectly level with each other, so that you could lay a board across the top of his forearms. This is just dipping a toe in the mire of details that hunter riders are obsessed with.

It takes lots of skill and knowledge to ride and train a hunter, and the horses that excel in this division are truly exceptional athletes. However, spectators need a fair amount of knowledge to figure out why the judges place one horse first and merely sniff at another. Therefore, hunters can be boring to watch.

The jumper division is a donkey of a different hue. The courses are twisting, and at the top levels the fences are enormous. You can learn the bones of how it’s judged in less than minute, so it’s easy to cheer on your favorites.

How jumpers are judged: Form doesn’t count, nor does relaxation. Jumpers can have strong opinions, and often do. They can get excited, and often are. In the most common format used, the competition consists of 2 rounds. In the first, competitors aim to jump “clean” and within the time allowed. It is not a race, but if they exceed the time allowed they will be penalized. “Jumping clean” means that the horses don’t knock down any rails and that they don’t stop (refuse) any fences. The penalties resulting from rails and refusals usually take a horse out of contention for an award. Those that jump clean will progress into the jump off.

The second round (the “jump off”) IS a race. The goal is simple. Go as fast as you can go – and this next part is the trick – but make sure you leave all the rails up. This is where it gets really exciting. Taking a fence at an angle, or wheeling into it quickly makes it harder for a horse to clear (and sometimes has the effect of making the horse decide he doesn’t want to play the game at all, and he will stop) – but that’s exactly what they have to do if they are going to be the fastest and nab the prize money.

Other tips:

Bring a hat with a brim, sunglasses, and maybe a can of insect repellent. Wear the most comfortable shoes you own. Food is available on the show ground.

Don’t cheer until a horse has completed his round. Have the utmost courtesy when driving your car near horses, and give them the most room possible. Even well-trained horses can be unpredictable.

For more information on the HITS Ocala Winter Circuit visit www.HitsShows.com or call 845.246.8833. Here’s the show’s “fast facts for spectators'" page: http://www.hitsshows.com/ocala/fastfacts.html#fastfacts