Kim Van Kampen is dedicated to perfecting and keeping pure the P.R.E. Spanish bloodlines in the United States, and it is easy to see why. The trot work in all the horses we saw was large, forward, and clean, and the canter work was uphill and powerful. Currently, Hampton Green has five breeding stallions with impeccable bloodlines, temperament, and movement.

Sales have been so successful that all the foals are sold, and many still in utero are spoken for! While the P.R.E is rapidly becoming a popular horse for the amateur dressage rider, their talent and perfection in the Grand Prix movements also make them serious prospects for High-Performance dressage.

It was a P.R.E. Spanish horse, Rociero XV (Rociero VIII out of Bombardina II), ridden by Kristine Harrison-Nanes, who placed third at the USEF National Dressage Grand Prix Championship, demonstrating that a P.R.E. can have a future in this country as an Olympic and World Championship Team prospect.

Pierucci rides and competes more PRE horses on the dressage circuit than any rider in the country: two Grand Prix stallions, Idilio II and Cosaco XI, and several younger horses up to the Prix St. George level. While riding and competing at their winter location in Wellington, Florida, they trained with German team rider Martin Schaudt.

With Pierucci, the stallions have enjoyed considerable success in the show ring but have had their share of disappointments. Despite the success of the Spanish Team at the 2002 World Equestrian Games, where they edged out the United States for the Silver Medal, there are still discrepancies in judging the breed. Furthermore, the Wellington competition is the country’s most challenging venue to compete with an outside breed, and the judging tends to be most conservative.

But the number of judges on their “good” list is growing, and many of the top international judges in the world have encouraged them to keep at it.