For Immediate Release

Jennifer Ward for Starting Gate Communications

MEDIA CONTACT: (613) 569-2423 or www.startinggate.ca

ARIAT to Sponsor Hunter High Score Award at Vermont Summer Festival

East Dorset, VT — May 9, 2007 – Ariat International will be the presenting sponsor of the new $10,000 Ariat Green and Working Hunter High Score Award during the six-week Vermont Summer Festival taking place July 11 to August 19, 2007, in East Dorset, VT.

The $10,000 Ariat Green and Working Hunter High Score Award will reward the top three riders in these divisions during the 2007 Vermont Summer Festival. Points will be calculated throughout the six weeks of competition with the award presentation scheduled to take place on the final day of competition, Sunday, August 19. The top three riders will receive cash bonuses of $5,000, $3,000 and $2,000 respectively.

"Ariat's interest in providing this Hunter High Score Award will recognize and reward excellence among our numerous hunter exhibitors, who typically account for more than half of our competitors each year at the Vermont Summer Festival," said Ruth Lacey, Marketing Executive for the Vermont Summer Festival.

Ariat International distributor, Oak Manor Saddlery, will be on-site throughout the six-week Vermont Summer Festival to assist exhibitors with all of their clothing and apparel needs.

"We are pleased to sponsor the Green and Working Hunter High Score Award, especially at the Vermont Summer Festival where the level of competition is especially high," noted Tracey Murray of Oak Manor Saddlery. "So often, the hunter divisions are in the shadow of the jumpers, and we feel this award will help bring hunters to the forefront."

Ariat was founded with one simple objective: to provide the most technologically advanced riding boots for the world's top equestrian athletes. Today, Ariat is the leading performance footwear and apparel brand for equestrian athletes around the world and is the official apparel supplier to the United States Equestrian Federation. For more information on Ariat International, please visit www.ariat.com.

New England’s largest “AA” rated hunter/jumper horse show, the Vermont Summer Festival offers over $700,000 in prize money, making it the richest sporting event in the state of Vermont. Each week of competition features a $10,000 Friday Open Welcome Stake, sponsored by Manchester Designer Outlets, and, for the first five weeks of competition, a $30,000 Sunday Grand Prix. The 2007 Vermont Summer Festival closes with the grand finale, the $50,000 Vermont Summer Celebration Grand Prix on Sunday, August 19. Each of the six weeks also features a $10,000 Show Jumping Hall Of Fame High Junior/Amateur-Owner Jumper class, part of the Show Jumping Hall of Fame Jumper Classic Series, and is also a member event of the Marshall & Sterling League and the North American League.

For more information on the 2007 Vermont Summer Festival including sponsorship opportunities or prize list, please call (802) 496-9667 or e-mail.

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