The managers of the National Horse Show and the Gulf Coast Circuit insist that they’ll be open for business, despite the hurricanes that have ravaged so much of the Florida and Gulf Coasts.

No changes are planned for the National, Nov. 30-Dec. 4 in Wellington, Fla., which was in the path of Hurricane Wilma last month. But the Gulf Coast Circuit, normally run at show grounds in Gulfport, Miss., will be moving 130 miles east to Pensacola, Fla.

Bob Bell, the circuit’s co-chairman, said that since the grounds suffered only minor damage during Hurricane Katrina and were even used as a supply depot to aid victims, he’d anticipated being able to hold the circuit in Gulfport. He and area leaders had even hoped the circuit would be a major source of the area’s economic revival.

But plans changed when officials with the Federal Emergency Management Agency decided to close the area’s shelters and move victims to local hotels, at least until March.

“FEMA’s decision put us off course, and after an exhausting marathon of meetings that yielded no guarantees for any hotel rooms, we were faced with the reality, and a difficult decision had to be made,” said Bell.

Bell was able to arrange with the Escambia Equestrian Center in Pensacola to move there for this winter. The new dates for the Gulf Coast circuit are Feb. 8-26, three weeks of AA-rated shows running immediately after the five-week Jacksonville (Fla.) Winter Series.

The Escambia Equestrian Center has 300 permanent stalls, two outdoor arenas and a covered arena.

“We have a new outlook on this circuit,” said Janet McCarroll, the circuit’s co-chairman. “While the series may not be physically in Gulfport this year, the hearts of the residents on the Gulf Coast will be with us. This is their event.”

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