Last spring James Rice of Rice Farms, Brookville, chose to turn one of the 23 Long Island horse shows he runs into a charity event to benefit Little Shelter Animal Rescue and Adoption Center in Huntington. The first, to become annual, Winners Circle Charity Horse Show was held on July 12 in Yaphank, Long Island.

Allison Haspel, 14, of Manhasset High School, who trains with Jimmy and Sharon Rice, asked Jimmy if she could initiate and organize a jump-a-thon where the horse show competitors individually canvas their families, neighbors, and friends to secure pledges of either a fixed dollar amount for every jump they complete with their horse or a flat donation fee. Although initially skeptical of the magnitude of the jump-a-thon's potential success, Jimmy allowed Allison to "run with it".

Through their hard work and devotion, Allison and 13 of her fellow Long Island equestrians teamed up with their horses to generate a total of $5,666 that went directly to Little Shelter, one of Long Island's oldest no-kill animal shelters.

Allison's efforts were joined by Manhasset High School's Kerrin Larson, and Long Island's Sarah Ach, Lindsay Conologue, Brenna Doherty, Jennifer Dorfman, Alicia Grace, Savanna Hoge, Lauren Miller, JP Roukis, Heather Senia, Kristen Stachnik, Jackie Sassa, and Sienna Sumavielle. Champion and Reserve-Champion prizes were awarded to Sienna Sumavielle (CH) and Jackie Sassa (Res) for generating the largest donations.