The organizers of the Winter Equestrian Festival, the Wellington Equestrian Partners LLC, have filed a legal complaint against Stadium Jumping, Inc., Jeremy and Louis Jacobs, Michael and Matthew Morrissey, and Solar Sportsystems Inc., regarding the Wellington Masters CSI*** FEI World Cup qualifying event the Jacobs family hosted on Feb. 4-7 in Wellington, Fla.   

Attorneys representing WEP filed a complaint in Palm Beach Circuit Court on March 18, claiming that the Wellington Masters show held at the Jacobs family’s Deeridge Farms  violated a settlement agreement that the Wellington Equestrian Partners and Stadium Jumping Inc. (including Charlie and Louis Jacobs and Michael and Matt Morrissey as directors of SJI), entered into in November of 2007.

The Wellington Masters featured a $200,000 Longines FEI World Cup qualifier grand prix, a $50,000 grand prix qualifier and a $35,000 welcome stake, all of which were licensed by the U.S. Equestrian Federation and the Fédération Equestre Internationale. It also hosted four classes at lower fence heights that were non-licensed, exhibition classes. The show ran during the same week as WEF Week 4 and just 1 mile away from the WEF showgrounds. Louis and Charlie Jacobs were listed as the presidents for the show, and Michael Morrissey the event director.

In 2007, WEP and SJI signed a settlement agreement that resolved years of disputes over the USEF dates in Wellington. As a result of the 2007 settlement, Equestrian Sport Holdings, a subsidiary of WEP, obtained the USEF competition licenses previously held by SJI.

The settlement also included a non-compete clause: “SJI, on behalf of itself and its subsidiaries, affiliates, directors, managers, officers and investors, covenants and agrees that it will not directly or indirectly, for its own account or any other entity, or member of any firm or otherwise, compete with WEP in the promotion and conduct of equestrian events within the exclusive areas established by the U.S. Equestrian Federation regulations for the time periods during which WEP is now or hereafter licensed by USEF to conduct equestrian events and any future and other shows and events in Wellington, Florida,” the settlement agreement included.

In regards to the licenses, the settlement also specified mileage and time limits as to where and when SJI could go about obtaining future licenses. That part of the settlement reads: “Prohibiting Defendants and any other related persons or entities covered by the Settlement Agreement from applying for and/or holding any USEF licensed competitions in Wellington, Florida or within 225 miles of Wellington, Florida until November 19, 2037.”

So although the USEF did grant an exemption to its mileage rule and issued a special license to SJI and the Jacobses to allow the Wellington Masters to take place at Deeridge this year, WEP’s complaint argues that by running the show, SJI and the Jacobses violated the terms of their 2007 agreement.

The goal of the complaint, in legalese, is enforcing “specific performance,” meaning if the suit went to court and a judge ruled in favor of WEP, SJI and the Jacobs would not be permitted to host any more USEF-licensed horse shows until 2037, when the 30-year limitation from the original 2007 agreement expires.

At the Wellington Masters in February, Louis Jacobs said at a press conference that they planned to host the FEI World Cup qualifying classes at Deeridge for at least two more years. The Wellington Masters announced on March 22 that the show’s 2017 dates are Feb. 2-5.

“When we sign agreements, we honor them,” Mark Bellissimo, CEO of WEP, commented on the matter. “We expect the Jacobses, Morrisseys, Stadium Jumping and SolarSports to do the same.”

The Chronicle reached out to the Jacobs family’s public relations firm and to SJI manager Matt Morrissey for comment multiple times over five days, and as of publication no response was received. 

Bill Moroney, interim USEF CEO, commented: “The Federation maintains a neutral position on commercial disputes and does not intend to intervene in this litigation. The law governing non-compete agreements varies from state to state, and we are not in a position to evaluate their enforceability. We do hope the parties resolve this matter quickly and in the best interest of equestrian sport.”