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SIDELINESMAGAZINE | October 2026
Familiar Places, Familiar Faces
HITS Shows With Brett Waters
HORSE SHOW
Since its first horse show in 1982, HITS has grown to
include world-class competitions and six venues across
the U.S.: Culpeper, Chicago, Hudson Valley, Del Mar,
Vermont and Ocala. The last few years have seen HITS
Shows revitalized, and HITS Senior Vice President of Show
Office Administration Brett Waters has been a part of that.
Brett grew up with horses in Clearwater, Florida, and now
lives in Ocala. In the 25 years since her first job as a horse
show secretary, Brett’s role has expanded to overseeing
all six HITS show offices and roughly 75 horse shows
around the country—as well as running the office at the
Washington International Horse Show.
How did you first get involved with horses?
In utero—my mother rode horses until late in
her pregnancy with me.
How did you get to where you
are now in your life/career?
When I was in fifth grade at Sutherland
Elementary in Palm Harbor, Florida, I was
elected safety patrol captain. Soon after, I
won the American Legion School Award
which is awarded to students who exemplify
the six qualities that define character:
courage, honor, leadership, patriotism,
scholarship and service. My teachers taught
me to channel my bossy nature toward
positive outcomes and achievements. The
seed was planted.
What do you like most
about the job you do?
I love to place people in roles where they
thrive and succeed. Just because the first job
doesn’t work out doesn’t mean there isn’t a
good fit in a different position with us.
How has your role developed
since you started?
My first job after college was as a horse show
secretary in Indio. My main tasks were filing
paperwork for Donna Vale, Jan Smith and
Jean Lindgren, and lunch retrieval. I excelled
at the latter. Fortunately, I moved up quickly
once my math skills were discovered.
What are you most looking forward
to this year for the show?
More streamlining and efficiency. We recently
digitized our offices, and several major
projects are underway that will benefit both
exhibitors and staff.
What’s your favorite
horse show memory?
Years ago, I assisted Jen Glass with the
outdoor awards at Capital Challenge. It
was the second Sunday of the show, and
my job was to hand out saddle pads to all
the participants in the last class of the day.
There also were a handful of special awards
with lots of trophies, flowers and swag
to distribute after the class was pinned.
These were particularly important and I
wanted the presentations to be perfect. I
desperately needed a table for the awards as
well as someone to help ensure every special
award and every saddle pad was correctly
presented. As if the team had read my mind,
Jen, Maryann Distefano, Jonathan Rabon
and Tom Blankenship magically appeared at
the top of the ramp. It was like Mel Gibson
had arrived brandishing his sword in the air
ready to save the day. They all came to my
rescue. It is that kind of camaraderie and
supportive team feeling that really makes
working at horse shows special to me.
What do you consider to be your
greatest accomplishments so far?
The Bradford Horse Show costume class
was the most fun! Although I may have
peaked professionally when I won leadline at
Kings Mills in 1984. All joking aside, it was
when I was riding less often and playing team
sports that I learned how to work together
as a group toward a common goal. That
experience became the base of the foundation
of my management style. We have a great
team right now, which makes me very proud.
What’s one interesting or
unusual thing about you?
This is a tossup. Three things spring to
mind: I can bring orchids back from the
dead; I can eat an outrageous amount of
sushi; and I always have a bag of beef jerky in
my computer bag. Snacks are my life.
Brett Waters, right, with HITS
Show Manager Vinnie Card