(edited Press Release)
Lexington, Ky – May 21, 2017 – Alex Granato and Carlchen W came out on top with faultless jump off round and a time of 41.73 to win the FEI 3* $130,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix at the Kentucky Spring Classic. The highlight event of the Kentucky Spring Classic, the $130,000 Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix, is held every year in honor of Mary Rena Murphy, who was an important part of American horse show history. Murphy, a show organizer, was an integral part of giving many of today’s top hunter and jumper professionals their start.  For Granato, who calls Kentucky home during the summers, jumping in honor of Murphy made the winning the prestigious class even more important.

Carlchen W, a 9-year-old warmblood gelding has been with Granato since he was purchased as a five-year-old by Page Tredennick. Although Carlchen W showed early promise and speed, Granato was careful to bring the youngster along, knowing all the while that he was cultivating true winning potential. After spending several years in the Young Jumper divisions, the winter of 2017 saw Carlchen W move up to competing in 1.40m classes during the Winter Equestrian Festival. After winning several of those classes, the pair competed in a 1.50m National Grand Prix with positive results. The Kentucky Spring Classic marks only the second time that Carlchen W and Granato have competed under FEI and with the win in the biggest class of the horse show, Granato is confident that the summer is going to be a great one.

Winners Circle
Alex Granato
On Carlchen W:
“The owners bought him as a 5-year-old so we have had him 4-years. They have let me take my time producing him and take him through all the young jumpers. We took a lot of time as a late 7-year-old and 8-years-old to with him and just started this winter in Florida hitting it a little harder. This is his first real step up to FEI doing this 3* week.”

On Take A Year off with Carlchen W:
“He has always been aggressive and always a showman in the ring and naturally fast. And that’s why we took the 8-year-old year to back off to really make sure the rideability was there and tone it down so he didn’t get too exuberant in the ring. It was the right thing to do but it was also a very hard thing to do. But I am glad that we did because it is really paying off right now.”

On Jumping Off the Next Day:
“I’ve only done that one other time and it was on a more experienced horse. Honestly, I didn’t hate the idea of it with this one because he was so naturally fast I didn’t think it would take much to gear him up for the jump off, but with him being green there were a lot of thoughts in my mind on how he would react. He felt great in the warm up and we went ahead and took a shot and he rode really well.”
​
On Winning the Mary Rena Murphy Grand Prix:
“I love winning this class for Mary Rena because it just means that much more. Every win is exciting, especially when it is a horse that you have had for a long time but when it is a special class for the crowd ii feel like they get more involved which make the horses and riders try harder and then it is just that much more special.”

Press Release by ESP/Carly Weilminster

Mill Spring, NC – October 14, 2016 – Alex Granato of Wellington, FL, guided Criss Cross to victory in the $8,000 1.40m Open Jumper Classic presented by Nutrena®, earning the first ever victory on the Grass Complex at Tryon International Equestrian Center (TIEC). The duo took the win after completing the track in 36.433 seconds, while Emanuel Andrade of Wellington, FL, and Cortina 186 followed closely behind to finish in second with a time of 37.256 seconds. Adrienne Sternlicht of Greenwich, CT, and Raia D’ Helby collected third place honors with a time of 37.262 seconds.
Competition at the 2016 Tryon Fall Series presented by Greenville-Spartanburg Airport District commenced on Thursday, September 22, and will continue through Sunday, October 30, featuring hunter and jumper competition, alongside two weeks of FEI CSI 3* classes and the highly anticipated FEI CSI 5*.

​“I really liked the course. I thought it was a nice use of the field and asked good questions while still being welcoming to build for the Grand Prix on Sunday,” he added.

The $8,000 1.40m Open Jumper presented by Nutrena® was the first show jumping class to be hosted on the new Grass Complex at TIEC and Granato’s win marked a full circle cycle for the talented rider, who also claimed top honors in the inaugural grand prix class at the venue.

“I’m really excited about getting to win the first open class in the grass complex. We’ve really enjoyed showing at TIEC,” he said. “We’ve shown here off and on since the first set shows and I actually happened to win the inaugural grand prix here as well. We’ve been based here for the summer and it’s a great place to build our younger string of horses.”

Granato has been building a strong string of young horses throughout the year, highlighted by top performances from Criss Cross, as the pair have secured top placings in numerous classes throughout the summer and fall seasons. Granato and team will head to Florida to prepare for a competitive winter circuit after competition concludes at TIEC later this month.

“This series is our last show to wrap up our fall before we head south and rest the horses for the winter circuit. We want to continue strong and finish with confident horses ready to move forward and move up in Wellington,” he concluded.​

Tryon, NC (August 10, 2016) — While touring through prestigious jumper rings around the world, professional show jumping rider and trainer Alex Granato repeatedly cleared courses but ran into a common denominator at many top show venues. “I started noticing some of Premier Equestrian’s jumps at competitions,” said Granato. The jumps first caught his eye in 2015; a year Granato will remember for his win at the inaugural Longines Global Champions Tour of Miami Beach, for making the top 25 of the Rolex USET Ranking List, and for qualifying and competing for the U.S. in the CSIO 3* Nations Cup in Lisbon, Portugal, where he jumped the first clear round for his team.
​
“Later, I became aware that Premier Equestrian also creates top quality footing for dressage and jumping arenas, and barn equipment,” Granato recalled. In turn, Granato’s outstanding achievements and dedication to the sport of show jumping caught the eye of Premier Equestrian. The innovative manufacturer of equestrian arenas, arena footing, and jumps takes pride in sponsoring high-level competitors who exhibit superior sportsmanship and horsemanship, like Granato. The company recently proclaimed Granato as its newest “Premier Equestrian,” or sponsored rider, and provided him with a full course of jumps to train on. This season, when Granato isn’t competing at top show jumping competitions, he is training over his own Premier Equestrian outfitted course, which includes jump standards and poles, gates, walls, roll tops, liverpools, and more from Premier’s PolyPro jumps.

Manufactured using innovative polymer technology, these jumps are more durable, safe, and maintenance-free than traditional wood and aluminum. Premier Equestrian also builds a multitude of customized jumps, complete with artist renderings or simple add-on panels printed with custom logos or designs. Considering the jumps’ attractive appearance, lightweight maneuverability, and resistance to fading and decay, their popularity amongst top professionals in the field is no mystery.
In becoming an official Premier Equestrian, Granato has joined an elite group of international equestrians who love Premier products, including Todd Minikus, Steffen Peters, Laura Graves, Tamra Smith, amongst others.

Granato, who shares his home town of Salt Lake City, Utah with Premier Equestrian, currently has 18 horses in training in his business Mad Season LLC, which is based out of Bedford Hill Farm in Tryon, North Carolina for the summer, and Wellington, Florida in the winter. Granato concentrates on training and competing in the jumper ring, while Mad Season’s hunter horses are under the guidance of fellow professional Josh Dolan. “For the past six years I have focused my career towards jumpers so that I can compete in international competitions and Nations Cup teams,” said Granato, who has proven himself to be a gifted trainer, bringing a number of award-winning horses up the ranks to realize their full potential. He developed his first Grand Prix horse, Mad Season, from a green seven-year-old to compete at the NAJYRC, win National Grand Prix classes, compete in his first World Cup Qualifiers, and win his last Grand Prix of his career when he was 19 years old. Granato’s many accomplishments also include developing a number of young jumpers who can be found competing on the circuits and in many victory gallops. Granato also commanded headlines this past competition season, when he won the Winter Equestrian Festival $10,000 Equiline Open Welcome at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center (PBIEC) in Wellington, Florida in April aboard Carlchen W.
Premier Equestrian looks forward to helping career-driven Granato achieve his professional goals, which he defines as “to develop horses and students to the high end of the sport, as well as to compete again for the U.S. teams.”
Ambition and high-level achievements aside, one of the most important qualities Premier Equestrian recognizes in Granato is his genuine love of horses and the generosity he has demonstrated in giving back to the equestrian community. Granato is a co-founder of The Peeps Foundation, a non-profit miniature horse rescue, along with professional rider Josh Dolan. “We were showing in Lexington, Kentucky in 2014 when we came across a field of more than 60 miniature horses that were in desperate need of food, water, and general care,” Granato said. “We bought 38, many of them stallions so we could geld them to slow down the breeding, and we re-homed them for better lives. That made us aware of minis everywhere that are in need of help. We’ve now rescued minis from all over and are continuing to find them homes as turnout companions, kid’s pets, and barn mascots.”
Premier Equestrian is proud to support riders like Granato, who make a positive impact on the equestrian community while competing at high levels. For more information about Premier Equestrian and the company’s footing and products that leading equestrians love, visit www.PremierEquestrian.com or call 800-611-6109.

Mad Season, LLC has just wrapped up a very successful and productive Summer show series, competing in all four weeks at Tryon International Equestrian Center in North Carolina, where they are currently basing operations from May to October.
 
Alex Granato piloted Lorena O’Neill/Top Line Farm’s mount Criss Cross to several very successful showings in the Open Jumper classes. In the spring series, they placed 3rd in the 1.30m Class in Week 7 and 2nd in the 1.35m Class in Week 8. They carried that momentum into the July summer series, having an especially successful Week 3 placing 2nd in the 1.30m Open class and 1st in the 1.35m the next day, good for Reserve Champion at that height for the week.  In Week 4, they moved up to 1.40m, placing 2nd. 

On his recent success with Criss Cross, Granato commented, “I’ve been really happy with all the progress he’s made. He’s really stepped up to every marker we’ve set for him, and we are very excited to see how he does as we move him up to the National Grand Prix level.” A partnership still in its first year, Granato feels Criss Cross has really shown him a lot with his recent results as he’s moved up, adding, “He’s really getting a lot more consistent with his style. He’s always been a naturally quick and careful horse, but his consistency with his jumping technique has made it very easy for him to move up quickly.”
 
Criss Cross is also quite photogenic back in the barn, being the only chestnut currently in Granato’s string and always eager to provide a cute pose—perhaps preparing for his first Grand Prix presentation photo.

Granato also had promising results in the higher level Open Classes with Honeycomb van de Heffinck, another up-and-coming mount in his stable. After successful rounds during the final weeks of the Spring series at the 1.35m level, Heff, as he is known in the barn, jumped in his first 1.40m class during week 3 of the Summer series. “I was very pleased with the way he responded in his first 1.40m class,” Granato says. “We’ve really learned a lot about him this summer, tweaking our regimen for him and not trying to force him onto a more conventional path because he’s such a unique horse. I think we are on a great track with him and developed some good ideas this summer that will allow him to step up on a more consistent basis this fall."

During the spring and summer series, Granato also spent time developing and showing a mount new to Mad Season, LLC, Jett B, owned by Iconic Bay Equestrian. Granato and Jett B have been moving up the Open Jumper classes, winning reserve champion in the 1.15m division in Summer Week 1 and culminating in successful rides in the 1.20m classes in the final week of the summer series. Granato has been very pleased with his development, noting, “He’s really coming along. We’ve had him just a few months, but every horse show he’s stepped up and met another marker with his progression and training. He’s really growing into an interesting horse and is on track to move in to the 1.30m classes in August.

Granato also guided Danielle Amico’s Phantom Blue to several clear finishes in the 6 Year Old classes at Tryon, qualifying for Young Jumper Finals in Kentucky next month. “Our plan is to have a few horses, including Phantom Blue, compete in Young Jumper Finals next month. We’ve had success there in the past and look forward to testing a new crop of horses there this year.” 
 
In the hunter ring, Josh Dolan has been amassing the ribbons during the spring and summer series events at Tryon. More impressively, all four of the horses he has been winning with have little to no hunter experience, with some having no show experience at all. This hasn’t stopped Dolan from winning champion, reserve champion and pre-green incentive events with the mounts, in addition to having strong placings in a $10,000 USHJA National Hunter Derby. 
 
On Dolan’s success despite the horses’ lack of experience, Granato says, “Josh has a very soft touch with the horses and a natural feel, so even when the horse doesn’t have a lot of experience he can be supportive and strong for them but appear to be having a soft round. At the same time, he does a very good job of educating and developing the horse with a correct, supportive ride.” 

Dolan has seen great progress from new arrivals Hidden Lane and Annwood Lane, both owned by Page and Sarah Tredennick. Hidden Lane, a 5 year old Holsteiner gelding, has had fantastic results, winning a USHJA Pre-Green Hunter Incentive class during Week 6 of the Spring series and placing 3rd in the $10,000 USHJA Hunter Derby during Week 3 of the Summer series. On Hidden Lane’s progress, Dolan says, “He’s really come along fast. When we first got him, he was very green, but now he’s really come in to his own in the hunter ring.” On his results, Dolan adds, “It’s very impressive for a 5 year old to enter the handy round 2nd overall and finish 3rd in a $10,000 Derby. He rode a lot more mature than his age and shows a lot of promise going forward.

Dolan also piloted Annwood Lane to strong results, winning reserve champion in the 3’ Pre-Green class in the final week of the spring series and a 6th place finish in the $10,000 USHJA Hunter Derby in Week 3 of the Summer Series. A prospect from Europe that was a jumper at the 1.30m level, Dolan sees lots of promise in the Dutch Warmblood mare, noting, “she’s a great jumper and has won a class every week she has shown. She has developed a great sense of focus as the summer has progressed, something that is very important transitioning to the hunter ring.” Owner Page Tredennick has also guided both Annwood Lane and Hidden Lane to several top finishes in the Pre-Adult and Adult-Amateur Classes during the spring and summer series. 

Dolan has also had success with two other newcomers to the show ring and Mad Season, LLC, Shadyside Farm’s Esquire and Cora Pearl. Dolan and Esquire, a 6 year old Hanoverian stallion, have won three reserve champion ribbons in the Baby Green and Foothills Hunter classes during the spring and summer series. “We are very impressed by the stallion’s improvement over the past month,” Dolan says. “He had only shown in one class before he arrived with us and was fantastic in the ring by the end of the summer. He’s an amazing mover and jumper.”

Dolan and Cora Pearl, a 7 year old Hanoverian mare were class champions in the Baby Green division during the final week of the summer series in only their second show. Dolan has been impressed with her performance in the ring, saying, “She is a very good mover and beautiful to watch. She has a great presence in the ring and you can’t help but watch her. We are very excited about her and Esquire’s development and potential going forward.

In addition to their current horses, former Mad Season, LLC horses are currently garnering top results this year. Christian Currey won 1st and 2nd in the $10,000 Child/Adult Prix at Tryon Summer 3 with Vigaro and Paramount, and Phoebe Alwine and Zenith Dance are currently leading the nationwide standings in the Child/Adult Jumpers.
 
Mad Season, LLC will be competing in the August show series at Tryon International Equestrian Center in North Carolina as well as taking a brief trip to Kentucky for Young Jumper Finals. They will have a few weeks off from showing in between the Summer and August series where they plan to work with their string at the farm as well as continue to care for and rescue miniature horses through The Peeps Foundation. They also will be doing copious amount of tubing on the Green River and dining at the Hare & Hound.
 
Alex Granato is a professional show jumper from Salt Lake City, Utah who has competed in Nations Cup competition for the U.S. and won over 40 Grand Prix events. He also runs the show barn Mad Season, LLC, based out of Wellington and Tryon, with professional rider Josh Dolan. They are proudly sponsored by Cavalor, CWD, Equithrive, Farmvet, Premiere Equestrian and Samshield.​

Mad Season, LLC is pleased to announce that legendary equestrian rider and trainer George Morris has signed on to train Alex Granato and the Mad Season team. Morris will be working with Granato and Dolan's up-and-coming jumper mounts as they prepare for Grand Prix competition. 

Morris is preparing to release an autobiography, UNRELENTING - The Real Story: Horses, Bright Lights, and My Pursuit of Excellence, which chronicles his career as an unparalleled rider, trainer and judge. He is often referred to as the founding father of hunt seat equitation. This year, he is taking a break from his busy clinic schedule to focus on training a select group of riders in addition to training the Brazilian Olympic team for the 2016 Games.

Speaking about training with Morris thus far, Granato says, “It’s been really great working with him. He’s getting to know me and all of the horses, and it’s been a great opportunity for me. He offers great information and has been helping with the entire program, not just the riding. I have a lot of young, up and coming horses this season that we are building up to the next stage in their career. It’s been a lot of fun and working with him on the new horses for a long-term program for our winter schedule to get them to the main goal of grand prix horses.” ​

Alex Granato kicked off Mad Season's LLC Florida circuit with a big win aboard Wood Run Farm's Mullaghdrin Rado in 47-entry $10,000 Paul Tracey Farrier Services Welcome Stake at the SFHJA Annual Charity Horse Show today. Alex also piloted Wood Run's Carlchen W to a 5th place finish. Alex had two of the seven total clear first rounds in the competition. After watching two speedy clear jump off rounds by Shane Sweetnam and Amanda Derbyshire, Alex set a blistering pace around the course, besting the fastest time by over a second and a half and proving uncatchable for the remaining three competitors. With his victory sealed, he guided Carlchen W to a steady pace around the course as the final entry in the jump off to seal 5th place. 

"I was lucky enough to have two in the jump off and I went early on Tanner (Mullaghdrin Rado) and he felt really good, so I went for it a bit. With Carl (Carlchen W) being a young horse coming up, I didn't want to push him too hard, so Tanner made it an easy decision for me to not go as fast with him. It was a fun class, it was a nice step in for the winter to get in the international ring. It was a fairly competitive, 42 person class. When there only ended up being 7 clean I went in the ring with a bit of a plan and picked up a good canter.