DEVON, Pa.—The Devon Horse Show and Country Fair made its annual donation to Bryn Mawr Hospital during a reception on Friday, Dec. 4 while revealing plans to install new, state of the art footing in the Dixon Oval.

Devon’s donation to the Hospital of $320,000 brought the total to well over $14 million that the Horse Show and Country Fair has raised for Bryn Mawr since 1972.

These funds have supported projects such as the Emergency Department, the Comprehensive Breast Center, Maternal-Fetal Medicine program, the Outpatient Diagnostic Center, and various other improvement programs. 

Over the past few years, since the inception of new footing materials and systems, in addition to the Horse Show committee’s annual maintenance of the Dixon Oval and Gold Ring, they have been monitoring the usage of these new materials at many shows to determine how they have performed over time at outdoor venues with heavy usage.

They believe that enough time has now elapsed to get an accurate idea of which materials have performed well under the conditions required at Devon.

They had several options to choose from and put a lot of thought and consideration into this effort to produce a new show ring that will best meet our needs and the needs of all disciplines.

The final decision has been made and plans are to make major improvements in the rings and other significant areas of the show grounds prior to the Devon Horse Show in 2010.

The Dixon Oval has already been excavated in anticipation of the installation of the new footing.

The donation to the hospital represents the proceeds of a very successful 2009 Devon Horse Show and Country Fair. 

Founded in 1896, it is one of the most prestigious equestrian events in the country and one of the largest volunteer fundraising efforts in the nation as well.