One Northeastern eventing competition got what it wanted as a committee redid the sport’s calendar and cut back on the number of events in certain categories. (See this link for an explanation.)
The Horse Park of New Jersey’s Jersey Fresh International, for instance, lost its CCI 4-star Long, 4-star Short and 3-star long at the Horse Park of New Jersey, which got just an Advanced horse trials in June. But for Plantation Field Eventing, being awarded the featured CCI 4-star Short at its September international fixture from 2023-2027 had been only half the battle.
Plantation Field Eventing, which also presents 3-star and 2-star Shorts and an Advanced Horse Trials in September, last year faced the threat of losing its venue. But it is good to go forward following a decision from the owner of the property.
Plantation Field is a remarkable piece of land with eye-catching jumps and terrain. (Photo © by Lawrence J. Nagy)
Cuyler Walker Jr. had cancelled the show’s lease on his Pennsylvania acreage in 2020 after a website made an issue of its “troubling associations inherent” in its name, claiming Plantation Field conjured up images of slavery and asking for a name change. Although “plantation” in this case meant a place where trees were planted (by Boy Scouts in the 1930s), the issue upset the property owner, who felt he was being accused of racism.
When the U.S. Eventing Association announced before the 2020 event started that it would not use the Plantation name in its press releases (and did not wind up covering the event that year), the issue got even hotter.
As a result, the owner was to allow the competition only to run for two more years through the end of its contract.
But the impasse changed when U.S. Eventing noted having the competition shut down wasn’t right for the sport, adding the property had no connection to slavery. At the same time, the U.S. Equestrian Federation decided decisions regarding regarding venue and competition names “are ultimately at the discretion and the responsibility of individual organizers.”
The lease is renewed and this year, at a very successful running of the international event, Cuyler helped give out the awards. Rider after rider came up and thanked him for letting the sport continue on his property, said Denis Glaccum, president of Plantation Field Equestrian Events, which run from spring through the fall with a variety of competition levels. Cuyler even provided the wording for Plantation Field’s successful bid for the international event during the 2023-27 period. It also will continue in 2022, as originally planned.
Plantation Field attracts the big names, such at Olympians Phillip Dutton and Boyd Martin, who live nearby in Pennsylvania, as well as the 2021 third Olympic team member, Doug Payne, and Olympic alternate Liz Halliday-Sharp.
There are no other star-rated international events in the New York/Philadelphia metropolitan area. The Maryland 5-star and 3-star in October is nearby, but Maryland would be considered more Mid-Atlantic than Northeast; ironically, an area that was once the hub of the sport in this country. Migration patterns change, and equestrians keep moving south, or at least spending much of the year there..