The Pennsylvania National Horse Show and Washington International Horse Show equitation championships and the junior jumper national championships are moving to North Carolina’s Tryon International Equestrian Center–home of the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games–after organizers abandoned efforts to hold their complete shows in Tampa during October.
The Dover Saddlery/USEF Hunter Seat Medal Finals and Neue Schule/USEF Junior Jumper National Championships will run Oct. 8-11,and the Platinum Performance/USEF Show Jumping Talent Search Finals–East, usually held at the U.S. Equestrian Team Foundation headquarters in Gladstone, N.J., will be Oct. 15-18. The Washington International Equitation Finals and WIHS Pony Equitation Finals are set for Oct. 23-25, with the WIHS Children’s and Adult Hunter and Jumper Finals are slated to run Oct. 20-25 time frame, though specifics are listed as To Be Announced.
Tryon was a big deal in 2018 when it hosted the FEI World Equestrian Games. Now it will be the scene of most of the fall equitation championships which have been looking for a home.
At this time, the National Horse Show, the last U.S. fixture on the North American Fall Indoor Circuit, is scheduled to run its full schedule, including hunters, jumpers and the ASPCA Maclay equitation finals Oct. 23-Nov. 1 at its regular venue, the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.
Tryon (which will also host a big eventing competition,(see the end of this story) worked as a venue for the equitation championships because it is approximately a five-hour drive from Lexington, and organizers of the Pennsylvania and Washington shows were looking to minimize “migration” for those doing all three shows. Travel is an issue for many people in the Covid era, and there are those who are reluctant to fly to get to a horse show. Classes at Tryon will run outdoors; the National’s classes will run indoors at the Alltech Arena.
Despite the complications of dealing with the Covid situation, organizers were determined to present their key competitions.
“If there was some way we could offer it, we should try and offer it. I think that’s what everybody’s point of view is,” said Vicki Lowell, Washington’s president.
“My takeaway is that people still do want to compete where they can and where they feel safe. Maybe everything can’t be what it has been in the past, but people who have had an opportunity to show are having a good time with it and they appreciate it. It’s a release.”
The Washington International Horse Show’s equitation championship is an important class for junior riders. (Photo © 2019 by Nancy Jaffer)
The Platinum Performance/U.S. Equestrian Federation Show Jumping Talent Search Finals East needed to be moved because it was “not viable with the quarantine in New Jersey,” said Lizzy Chesson, the USEF’s managing director of show jumping.
She was referring to the fact that New Jersey put restrictions on people coming in from dozens of states deemed Covid hotspots across the country.
“From a junior standpoint,” noted Lizzy, “they’re important finals these athletes are aiming for every single year, and we want to be able to provide that for them. We’re motivated to try to make that happen as best we can.”
It would have been ideal to have all of the competitions now seeking a home in the same location, but it’s kind of a Rubik’s Cube to get everything together in the right place in order to limit the amount of travel required of competitors during these difficult times.
Tryon initially didn’t work for Washington because it is a Rolex showgrounds and Washington’s featured World Cup qualifier carried the name of rival watchmaker Longines. But when sponsorship issues meant the class couldn’t be held, it cleared the way for Washington to be part of the Tryon solution with the Pennsylvania National, which dropped all its classes but the Medal and junior jumper championship.
Tryon, home of the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, is now going to host most of the fall U.S. equitation championships
Earlier this summer, the three U.S. Fall Indoor Circuit shows had worked together to come up with a solution so they could be presented. The circuit’s finale, the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, was cancelled in June, but the U.S. shows were determined to find a way that they could run. In the end, National Horse Show officials decided to remain at the the Kentucky Horse Park, while the Pennsylvania National and Washington chose Tampa. Washington’s schedule originally had a conflict with the first weekend of the National, which meant they couldn’t be held in the same location.
“While key partners including Longines and Mars Equestrian made every effort to support WIHS during this extremely challenging year in the newly proposed Tampa venue, as the event drew closer, the barriers and risks were insurmountable,” according to a statement from USEF. At the same time, Penn National determined its hunter/jumper competition also was not viable, but still wanted the junior jumper championships and the Hunter Seat Medal Finals to run.
Washington’s regional championships are being moved to Morven Park in Virginia if USEF and USHJA approve. They are usually held at Prince George’s Equestrian Center in Maryland, but a change was necessary because that facility is only allowing 50 percent of capacity from last year to take part due to Covid protocols. The Capital Challenge show, scheduled for Prince George’s, also has been moved for the same reason. It is going to the World Equestrian Center in Columbus, Ohio.
Also, Tryon will host a new CCI4*-L eventing competition to be held November 12-15, 2020, pending USEF and FEI approval. The event will feature international competition at the CCI4*-L, CCI4*-S, CCI3*-L, and CCI2*-L levels, and offer the only CCI4*-L competition on the East Coast for the 2020 season, following the cancellation of the Ocala Jockey Club fixture. The event will also mark the highest level of eventing competition hosted at the venue since the FEI World Equestrian Games, though international eventing competition is hosted annually at the venue.
