The news came, strangely, in the midst of a Saturday afternoon. I know that when something is controversial on the political scene, they tend to release the announcement late on a Friday before a holiday weekend.
This wasn’t quite at that level, of course, but it was startling to see a list of the CCI 4-star Long eventing competitions allocated for 2023-27 by the U.S. Equestrian Federation and not find Jersey Fresh International on it. In fact, the list of six events that will host 4-star L events during that time period includes three in the west and three in the south–but none in the Northeast.
Under the new eventing calendar process, all U.S. organizers were invited to bid for CCI 4-star Long and Short sections, as well as the 3-star Long and Advanced levels. Jersey Fresh generally is used as an observation/selection event for the World Championships (which will be held next year) or the Olympics, as it was this year. But starting in 2023, North Carolina’s Tryon International Equestrian Center, one of the facilities that was awarded a 4-star L, will run on the same mid-May dates when Jersey Fresh traditionally is staged.
So the question is–now what? Should the event be held in 2022 at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown as planned, when it can still run a 4-star L? That’s something on which the sponsors will have to weigh in, along with the Horse Park board of trustees.
“If everybody’s for it, we’ll put on a good event, the way we always have. I think it would be the classy thing to do,” said Morgan Rowsell, co-organizer of Jersey Fresh with Jane Cory.
And how about after that? Jersey Fresh has applied for a 4-star Short and a 3-star Long (decisions are expected next month on who gets those).
“If we retain the 3 Long, maybe we can make hay out of it and salvage sponsorship and pivot to that reality,” Morgan contended.
“We are admittedly behind the times with the arenas, but we will catch up,” he vowed.
“And we will continue our good intentions into the future with better footing and better barn situations. We’ve gotten better and better every year and we’re kind of on the cusp of new financing through the state to potentially get new arenas.”
Morgan Rowsell, co-organizers of Jersey Fresh.
If the Horse Park does get the other divisions, when could they run, since Tryon would have the May dates? There would be no point in scheduling them in the same time frame as Tryon, since so many barns going to North Carolina would be from the competitor pool that usually comes to Jersey. And if new dates are obtained, would the Horse Park have availability? While Jersey Fresh is its marquee competition, the park hosts lots of other fixtures, from dressage and saddlebreds to hunters, jumpers and driving.
Facilities such as Tryon are privately owned and well-financed. Tryon, which hosted the 2018 FEI World Equestrian Games, has state-of-the-art footing in every ring, a stadium, restaurants, housing and a variety of other niceties.
Morgan, who is a Horse Park trustee, said that facility has to be financially sustainable and doesn’t enjoy the fiscal independence of high-end venues such as Tryon or the new TerraNova in Myakka City, Fla., granted a 4-star L as part of its November event. It staged an eventing derby and schooling show in June; it has not run a three-day event.
“There are these fantastic events like Tryon that are pretty grand,” said Morgan.
“They have thousands of acres and seemingly endless money. If you’re going to run a 4-star, this is what you have to produce. Clearly, Jersey’s not producing that. I think we did a great job, we were really good at helping develop horses for the international level, and safety was paramount. But at the end of the day, they don’t want a sustainable model, they want someone to pick up the bill.”
The Horse Park is located on land owned by the state and doesn’t have a bunch of bells and whistles. It’s a serviceable, basic facility that is important to New Jersey’s horse industry and agriculture.
While at one time, eventing ran at rustic venues without the high-end facilities long required by Grand Prix dressage and show jumping, things have evolved and riders have increased expectations for where they will compete with their horses.
Olympic alternate Tamie Smith was asked at Jersey Fresh this spring why her mount, En Vogue, had rails in the show jumping phase for the 3-star L and she cited the arena surface.
“I think she tried her guts out yesterday (on cross-country),” she said of her mare, “and I think it’s hard when you’re not on super-great ground.” At the Kentucky Horse Park, for instance, “They can really trust that the ground feels good when they’re landing,” Tamie observed.
Morgan pointed out that eventing is “becoming a sport of the elite. Always, you could get there as a grassroots eventer. It’s getting exponentially more expensive.”
While the Horse Park makes money off a variety of horse shows, and less off Jersey Fresh, that fixture–which debuted there in 2003–has other functions.
Tailgaters have a great view of the cross-country action at Jersey Fresh. (Photo © 2021 by Nancy Jaffer)
“They use the three-day as a pinnacle event to showcase their facility,” explained Morgan.
“They use it as a way to spruce up the park, which leads to better horse trials, hunter shows and better everything else. It sets the tone for the rest of the year.”
The Horse Park board will discuss the situation at its meeting Monday night and start thinking about how to proceed.
“It’s sad we fell short in the end, but I have to say we couldn’t have done any better. The whole team, the sponsors, the horse park they really put forth a valiant effort,” Morgan commented.
At the same time, he added, “The riders are putting a lot of effort into the horses, the sport has been heartbreaking for years where you ride and do really well and walk away with a ribbon. I can’t blame them for wanting to have a nicer event and nicer prize money and something to come out of it other than what Jersey has to offer.
“I look forward to the challenge to try to figure out the landscape going forward. We have all the nuts and bolts of a great facility; the arenas and the barns are the things that we have to change. If an arena company were to give it (arenas) to us at cost or a long-term payment plan, I see that as being a very good value for them. They could really make a splash with,`Hey, we turned the Horse Park around.’
“The wind is a little bit out of my sails, I’ll be honest,” noted Morgan, who also designed Jersey’s cross-country course this year.
But he’s trying to make the best of it.
“You take the good with the bad. Maybe we can focus our attention on the Advanced in June. It leaves the calendar open for other opportunities.”
