The new version of Wellington International will be as much a showcase as it is a showgrounds.
The finishing touches are being put on the expanded and upgraded host of the 2027 Winter Equestrian Festival, the world’s longest horse show. It is bringing dressage competition to share the revamped location with the centerpiece hunters and jumpers, who have occupied it mostly on their own for the last 14 years.
An additional 98 acres added to the once-crowded facility offers space for construction of the site’s first covered arena, new stabling, installation of a grass field, and addition of more rings both for competition and exercise, as well as facilities geared to spectators for dining, shopping and viewing the competition. Permanent restrooms, including those located by the barns, in the show office and the VIP area, will be another welcome improvement, along with shade structures to offer shelter from the bright sun.
The new covered arena.
There will be an international dressage arena measuring 250 by 350 feet, with covered seating for 3,000, as well as two dressage rings for national dressage competition. While the jumpers “will be close,” they won’t be on top of the dressage horses, as they were at the showgrounds in the days before nearby Equestrian Village became a venue for the discipline.
Having a total of 215 acres will afford much more parking than there has been at the main grounds, with institution of a golf cart shuttle system for those seeking to skip a long walk between the North and South sections of the property. There also will be dedicated rider shuttles between the barns and the rings.
Wellington International President Michael Stone by the new grass field.
Meanwhile, having three entrances and exits, to the showgrounds, instead of one bottleneck access route, also should ease the traffic jams that have become a standard frustration as cars leave after a major competition. While the current Pierson Road entrance will remain, two other entrances will be available from Gracida Street on the other side of the property.
The enlarged facility was required to be open by 2028 as part of a deal to enable construction of Wellington Lifestyle Partners’ luxury housing development on what was the former Adequan Global Dressage Festival grounds, which have been in operation during the winter months at Equestrian Village since 2012.
Michael Stone and Mark Bellissimo when the Adequan Global Showgrounds was under construction in 2011.
The work on the expanded main showgrounds is being finished early, however, and will be ready for a soft opening later this year.
“We’re really excited to get going,” said Michael Stone, president of Wellington International, noting the expansion “means we have way more space.
“One of the criticisms we’ve always had is that we don’t have enough space; too many horses on a small footprint. But now we’re doubling the footprint. Even though we’re bringing over dressage, it only takes up a relatively small amount (of acreage). We have all these new rings and bridle paths and parking to enhance the experience,” Michael observed.
One of the new exercise arenas.
The abundant parking is particularly important for dressage, since many of those who compete are in “show and go mode,” heading back to their farms after competing, rather than stabling on the grounds, as most of the hunters and jumpers do.
The lack of space and parking made for a situation “that people have been justifiably critical of over the years,” as Michael pointed out.
The first year the expanded grounds is in operation, he acknowledged, will be a bit of a learning experience, as competition manager and chief operating officer David Burton works on coordinating everything a project which already is under way. The idea is a schedule that insures someone won’t be showing on the South grounds and then five minutes later have to appear with another horse on the North grounds.
“We’ll refine it as we go along for the hunter/jumper side. The dressage side is pretty straightforward, with a lot more room for warm-ups. It’s a much better venue for dressage,” Michael contended.
Although WEF and other shows at the site draw riders from all over the Western Hemisphere, Europe, the Middle East, Asia and Australia, the facility is no longer one of a kind, as it was in its early days.
Crowds jammed the stands for the featured 2026 Rolex US Open $1 million grand prix at Wellington International.
Florida has become the epicenter of showing in the U.S. during the winter. Not only has the World Equestrian Center in Ocala, four hours to the north gotten a share of the spotlight with its 5-star hotel, restaurants and shopping, but TerraNova, another newer development three hours west of Wellington, also has a modern facility that is an attraction.
“We clearly have a lot of competition,” Michael observed.
But he quickly added, “We welcome competition, because the better the competition, the better we will become.”
