GumBits Celebrates 20 Years with European Expansion
Hagen, Germany (May 28, 2025) – Twenty years ago, Shereen Fuqua began a company selling a totally new product: chewing gum for horses. These chewy sugar pieces are now a training treat used by top riders around the world, and to celebrate their second decade of existence, Fuqua has generously sponsored multiple European events and added their first European distributor the prestigious Effol/Effax, as well as continuing to grow stateside in multiple disciplines including dressage, hunter/jumpers, eventing, driving, vaulting, western riding, breed competitions, and more!
Looking back on twenty years of learning and growth as a start-up equestrian business, Fuqua reflects on the series of ideas and opportunities that allowed her to create and expand GumBits to where it is today.
Written by Shereen Fuqua, Equestrian Editor and Founder of GumBits.International
“A Horse Gallops with his Lungs, Perseveres with his Heart, and Wins with his Character” – Federico Tesio
“I like to think I help horse sports. it’s been 20 years! I grew up in Houston, Texas and thought, I’m going to be a city girl, not a cow girl.” Some how life has a way of turning the tables, and the Houstonian has her company GamBit Atlanta Inc., developing, manufacturing, marketing & selling GumBits, chewing gum for horses, years later. Shereen Fuqua graduated from Denver University 1984, and chased her dreams becoming successful in commercial real estate involved in asset management and disposition of a billion dollar portfolio for the RTC of the FDIC in the 90s. Next she moved on to portfolio retail leasing for The Rouse Company, top public mall developer, and she worked with national stores of branded jewelry, apparel, athletic shoes, restaurants, and opened major stores throughout the country for another decade based in Atlanta. Married to her husband, also a Denver graduate, now a Mixed-Use Commercial Real Estate Developer, best known for developing Atlanta Braves Stadium’s The Battery, Shereen decided to learn how to ride and have a hobby together with Jeff Fuqua, who came from generations of cattle ranchers in Salida, Colorado. Jeff grew up a real live cowboy.
“We were in Rome staying at the US Embassy, as Jeff’s partner was Ambassador of Italy then. I got a call that The Rouse Company was sold and I was out of a job but my stocks & stock options were cashed out. I hit my goals to succeed years of hard work with corporate CEOs and entrepreneurs either selling them commercial buildings or opening stores with them. It was a different time. Hard work and loyalty pays off in unexpected ways.”
“I think God has a funny way of putting opportunities in front of you and you have to be smart enough to seize them.”
She started her business shortly after Jeff built their Collecting Gaits Farm 2001, housing beautiful European warmbloods personally handpicked in Germany, Holland, & Denmark. Both trained and competed Grand Prix dressage and became title sponsor of USEF National Championships. Their daughter Kat came after and Shereen focused all her attention raising young Kat and running GamBit Atlanta with Gumbits part time. “The chewing gum for horses works, so orders consistently came in. My main customers started with the best riders at the championships in dressage who then trained the three day eventers, who followed. With FaceBook posts, next thing you know orders were coming in from Europe, Australia, South Africa, Japan, everywhere. it was crazy, I became an international company overnight!”
Multi-Hunter Pony & Junior Champion Kat, at 13-years-old, switched to international Dressage & Jumpers competing on the US Young Rider team in Europe now for two years and ranked 3rd in the world of Youth Dressage FEI this year, she commutes to Germany and trains with famous Champion & Young Horse Trainer Andreas Kreuzer of Paul Schockemoehle for Grand Prix Jumpers & Olympian Frederic Wandres of Hof Kasselmann for Grand Prix Dressage. “It made sense in 2023 to redirect my energy and expertise to GumBits full time.” Already the official USEF training treat and Supplier of the US Teams sponsoring multiple disciplines and horse events in the US, Fuqua partnered with a german horse tack store to distribute GumBits in Europe, Reitsport Ottenhues (RO). Fuqua’s ambition demanded more attention so RO introduced her to Effol/Effax. To partner with Schweizer – Effol, a 110-year-old company with world ‘household’ name equine products, became one of those ‘seize the moment’ events.
Coming to Germany with Kat was easy, because the Fuquas had purchased multiple dressage horses from Bianca & Ulli Kasselmann 20 years earlier. The real test was partnering with them last year at PSI Events Horses & Dreams, Nations Cup Future Champions, and another show which was a Dressage Qualifier for the Olympics last summer. Europe combines FEI competitions of Dressage & Jumpers at the highest level with the best world renowned competitors. People love the GumBits, that create salivation, soft chewing for focus and relaxation of the sport horses.
This 20th year, Fuqua expanded her European partnerships to include Peelbergen Equestrian Centre of Kronenberg, Netherlands, the 2025 Host of Longines EEF Series Semi – Final and Nations Cup. Their marketing director is very accommodating and creative to come up with exciting ideas to draw attention to the product and convinced Fuqua to design a jump for their course and to name their indoor as GumBits Arena.
Coming mid June, GumBits will partner with Longines Balve – Optimum, the largest sporting event in South Westphalia with the German Championships in Dressage and Jumping.
Fuqua enjoys marketing and promoting her product with horses blowing bubbles, deemed chewing gum for horses. “When Kat competed at Wellington’s Pony Island for years, the trainers would come looking for me for GumBits. The ponies that coughed with dry mouth, would typically pull the little ones out of the saddle coughing. The spooky ponies would begin to chew the GumBits and stop spooking thinking about chewing instead. At competitions I focused solely on Kat and not work. One year in Wellington at the Junior Equitation ring, the class was thought over but then the judge decided to run a second round with the top riders. There was frenzy getting everyone back, and then a top champion Augusta Iwasaki was looking for me as she always fed GumBits to her horses, and needed.. then of course she won!”
“I truly am passionate about GumBits and sharing with anyone part of our success with our champion ponies and horses. The world is so small as last month I saw Martin Richenhagen at PSI Horses and Dreams, now leading the German Equestrian Federation as President. Martin, retired CEO of Atlanta based AGCO Corp, a Fortune 500, lives in Atlanta minutes from our farm and his professional trainer wife Brigitte kept her successful dressage horse with us years ago. Back then Martin judged dressage in his spare time and sponsored some of the same shows, that’s how we knew each other. And here we were sharing time watching the evening highlights at PSI’s Horses & Dreams in the small town of Hagen, Germany.
I love the horses and by default the horse world has become my life. I think I do a great job branding my product so much so, people are always calling for sponsorships. I am happy to try because you never know where it all leads you. I hope that in the end I can win with my character.”
About GumBits: Chewy Sugar
Dubbed “chewing gum for horses,” GumBits are currently used by a selection of the world’s top Olympic & International Equestrian Competitors. Celebrating their 20 year anniversary in 2025, GumBits’ bite sized pieces of chewy sugar are the perfect blend of treat and training tool for use with or without a bridle. The taste and texture encourage soft chewing and salivation, giving a better connection with the bit. Tense, grinding, or dry mouthed horses in particular benefit from their use.
▪FEI Legal Ingredients, all natural 89% sugar, 10% beeswax, 1% gum arabic & flour▪Promote chewing activity increasing salivation▪Encourage relaxation & stops teeth grinding
All disciplines benefit from a softer, more focused horse, from high performance Dressage, Jumpers, and Eventing to Driving, Vaulting, Arabian sport horses, Barrel Racing, and more.
Shereen Fuqua of Collecting Gaits Farm, former title sponsor of the USEF National Dressage Championships & Olympic Trials and presenting sponsor of USEF Pony Finals from 2003-2020, founded GumBits in 2005, and expanded internationally since 2012 into many countries in Europe and throughout Australia and New Zealand. In 2024, Fuqua partnered with PSI Events, company led by Germans Kasselman & Schockmohle, in addition to Peelbergen Equestrian Centre of The Netherlands and the Longines Balve Optimum German Champtionships in 2025 for FEI CSI & CDI Show Jumping & International Dressage Competitions and The Ridge at Wellington Groves USEF Level 2 Jumpers for the Florida season. GumBits is the US Equestrian Official Training Treat & Supplier of the US Teams.
To learn more, and to find a retailer, visit www.GumBits.internationalor follow them on Instagram (@gumbits_horse_chewing_gum)
