The venue for JustWorld International Mexico's first event, the Jump for Teletón Charity Horse Show, in Monterrey, Mexico. Photo by Steve Stephens

October 15, 2007 – Monterrey, Mexico – JustWorld International Mexico held its first fundraising event, the Jump for Teletón Charity Horse Show, on Thursday, October 11, in Monterrey, MEX.

JustWorld Mexico is a branch of JustWorld International, a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of disadvantaged children in the developing world, focused specifically on aiding charities in Mexico.

The first event, Jump for Teletón, was held for the benefit of well-known Mexican children's charity, Teletón Foundation. Held at the Centro Ecuestre San Pedro A.C (CESPAC) facility, the one-night indoor event featured 33 Mexican and international show jumping riders competing for $30,000 in prize money as well as a new Pontiac G5 vehicle.

2008 Olympic co-course designers Leopoldo Palacios of Venezuela and Steve Stephens of the United States set a testing track that saw eight riders advance to the all-deciding jump-off. From there, four again jumped clear with the fastest time being posted by Sydney Olympian and 2003 Pan American Games Silver Medalist, Santiago Lambre. Placing second was Alberto Fernandez while Eduardo Salas rounded out the top three.

In a grand gesture of generosity, all three riders donated their entire prize checks to Teletón while three additional riders, Hector Caro, Enrique Gonzalez and Antonio Maurer, also donated back their prize money. Making the event truly international, Manuel Torres, a four-time Olympian for Colombia, traveled to Monterrey to compete at his own expense and had pledged any earnings to Teletón.

Following the show jumping, the sold-out crowd was treated to a live concert by well-known Tex-Mex artists, LMT, while a DJ then kept people dancing well past 3 in the morning.

"I have been at many shows in my life, and this horse show was as good as any indoor horse show in the world. From the full house to the behaviour of the riders - everything about the show was incredible," praised Palacios, who is a member of the JustWorld International Board of Directors. "All of the big riders from Mexico and all of the important people from Monterrey were there, and the general public tickets were sold out. For the charity, it was fantastic.

"JustWorld has a lot of presence in the United States through its involvement with the Winter Equestrian Festival and in Europe, especially through the Global Champions Tour. I think that this new partnership with JustWorld Mexico opens a new door and starts to give JustWorld a presence in Latin America," Palacios concluded.

In fact, it is Palacios's daughter, Maria Fernanda Palacios, who is the driving force behind the creation of JustWorld Mexico. When she, along with Manuel Sada, Oscar Soberon and Patricio Zambrano, had the idea to create a horse show to raise funds for the Teletón Foundation, dedicated to helping poor children with disabilities, she contacted JustWorld International Executive Director, Jessica Newman, knowing that JustWorld is involved with several international show jumping events. Two examples in the United States include the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Florida, and the CSI-W Hampton Classic in Bridgehampton, New York, where JustWorld raises funds and awareness for its projects in Brazil, Cambodia, Honduras, Kenya and Senegal. Palacios invited JustWorld to become its partner, as its core objective is to bring together the equestrian community with the goal of improving the lives of disadvantaged children in the developing world. And so JustWorld Mexico was formed.

"For our first show, we decided to donate all of the money to the Teletón Foundation," explained Maria Fernanda Palacios. " I am really happy with the success, and we have planned eight more shows next year. The riders put on a fantastic show, and everyone, absolutely everyone involved with the show, worked as a volunteer. The Olympic course designers, Leopoldo Palacios and Steve Stephens, and their team came at their own expense. It was wonderful, and everyone was really happy."

Stephens, who is a member of the JustWorld International Advisory Board, added, "I was very glad to be a part of the organizing committee and help make it happen. It was an honor to be included. And to have it come off as such a success is even better. The atmosphere, the ambiance and the participation of the riders made it a very special evening. It wasn't just a horse show, it was a feature event grand prix, and the riders were the entertainment for the night. They all made a very special effort to participate and make it a success."

The evening raised approximately $100,000 for charity, giving JustWorld Mexico a very strong start.

"I don’t have words to describe this spectacular event! It was so incredible to be a part of it, with so many dedicated, hard-working and enthusiastic people working for the same cause I have dedicated my life to, all on their own initiative," said Jessica Newman, Executive Director of JustWorld International, who gave up her own grand prix riding career to found JustWorld International. "The heart and soul that was put in to producing this event introduces a whole new concept to the sport of show jumping, one which has the charity at its core. With this organizing team, we have plans of exporting this concept to other JustWorld events around the world."

Founded in 2002 by former grand prix show jumping competitor Jessica Newman, JustWorld International raises awareness and funds in the equestrian community to support humanitarian projects that benefit impoverished communities and children in the developing world. Cooperating with local partners, JustWorld International implements sustainable, culturally sensitive education, health and vocational projects. For more information on JustWorld International and its upcoming fundraising events, please visit www.justworldinternational.org.