The Morven Park Horse Trials (Va.) will run without a CCI* this fall for the first time since 1998. Although the horse trials will offer beginner novice through advanced divisions Oct. 2-4, organizer Margaret Good had to make the tough decision to cancel the three-day after the Fédération Equestre Internationale decided not to recognize phases A, B and C of the classic format this year.
“We were so in favor of the long format, and that’s what we were in favor of doing,” said Good. “It’s a losing money proposition anyway, by the time you pay the FEI officials, the foreign judges, the extra vets, and with this economy, we couldn’t do it.”
The Morven Park one-star has suffered declining entries in the last few years, and with the change in FEI policy, Good said it wasn’t worth the gamble to run a long format three-day.
“The last I heard, the FEI said you can do A, B and C, but they won’t count. What if a rider gets eliminated on steeplechase or roads and tracks. Do you pull them out? You’d have to [pull them out] to make it count,” said Good. “We couldn’t bet on getting more entries in a short format. Morven operates on a trust. We have to think of the bottom line very carefully right now. The income isn’t what it used to be.”
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Good is part of a group of three-day organizers trying to keep the long format alive at the national level. Other members of the group include:
• Penny and Brian Ross, Virginia Horse Trials and Three-Day Event (May 20-24)
• Rebecca Broussard and Sarah Kelly, Rebecca Farm (July 23-26)
• Mary Fike, Hagyard Midsouth Three-Day Event (Oct. 15-18)
• Robert Kellerhouse, Galway Downs (Oct. 16-18)
“We all are for the classic format if it can be done and done well and become the dream of the average rider,” said Good. “A CCI* can be your dream and a worthwhile one. You’ll know your horse. But the national long format hasn’t happened yet. It’s still in the developing stages. We’re waiting to see if it’s a qualifier for anything. If it isn’t, the competitors aren’t going to do it. The economy is calling all the shots right now.”