Lexington, KY -This year the hunter divisions will be one of the main features during the Kentucky Spring Horse Show Series at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington. The highlight events will include the $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby held the Kentucky Spring Horse Show, May 11-15, 2011, and the World Champion Hunter Rider week of competition during the Kentucky Spring Classic, scheduled for May 18-22, 2011. The Kentucky Spring Horse Shows are hosted by Kentucky Horse Shows, LLC, and will be held at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY, which was also the site of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

The $15,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby will be held Saturday, May 14, in the Main Stadium, which is the same site for the $100,000 USHJA International Hunter Derby Finals in August during the Bluegrass Festival Horse Show. The derby event will include jumps reminiscent of the hunt field, such as a natural post and rail, a stone wall, a coop, an aiken, hedges, logs, banks and ditches.

During the following week of competition, the Kentucky Spring Classic, riders will have the opportunity to compete for valuable points during the WCHR week of competition. The WCHR is an awards program started by the American Hunter-Jumper Foundation and now carried forward by USHJA. The awards are presented, on both a national and regional level, to Pony, Junior, Amateur, Professional, Adult and Children's hunter riders who accumulate the most points at WCHR designated horse shows throughout the year.

During the two shows $73,500 in prize money will be offered across the Professional, Junior, Amateur-Owner, Children's and Adult Amateur hunter competitions. Special events will include the $1000 Adult Amateur Hunter Classic and the $1,000 Children's Hunter Classic, which are each NAL/WIHS classes.

The main rings for the hunter competition are the Stonelea Arena and the Murphy Ring, which each feature the OTTO Sport footing, as do each ring's respective warm-up areas. The Otto Riding Arena Mat System is a state-of-the-art surface that has been proven all over the world including the 1996 Olympics, the 1998 World Cup, and the 2006 and 2010 World Equestrian Games.

The Kentucky Spring Horse Show and the Kentucky Spring Classic will be held at the beautiful Kentucky Horse Park. Each year, these events attract the nation's best competitors because it offers wonderful venues for some of the nation's best athletes, excellent stabling, plenty of exercise rings and spacious places to ride, miles of trails, and lush cross country fields.

For more information about the Kentucky Spring Horse Shows or to download the prize list, please go to www.kentuckyhorseshows.com.

ENDS