On March 15 the Washington (D.C.) International Horse Show announced that they signed a contract with Verizon Center to extend its run there for the next three years. The show will remain at that venue through 2013. Show management had been renewing their agreement with the venue annually for several years.
The Washington D.C. National Guard Armory originally hosted the Washington International when it was founded in 1958. In 1975 the show moved to the U.S. Air Arena in Landover, Md. The Verizon Center has hosted the event since 2000, and the 53rd edition will take place Oct. 25-30.
Located in the Chinatown district of downtown D.C., Verizon Center is also home to three professional sports teams and one college team.
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“We are thrilled to remain at Verizon Center and continue this great Washington tradition,” said Anthony Hitchcock, Chief Operating Officer of the Washington International. “Verizon Center has been home to the Washington International for 12 years, and while there are complexities in producing an urban horse show with shipping horses in and out of the city and closing city streets to create stables, it also makes us one of the most exciting horse shows in the country.”
As part of the fall indoor circuit, the Washington International attracts the nation’s premier hunters and also hosts the President’s Cup CSI-W and the Washington International Equitation Classic Final.
“It’s taken us a couple years to assess the desire and wants of the horse show community and to weigh the inconveniences of the venue with the prestige of this building and location in the nation’s capital,” said Washington International president Juliet Reid. “Because of what we’ve learned, we’re happy to have negotiated and secured Verizon Center for the next three years. We recognize the importance of being a world-class horse show in a major metropolitan city. While the trend in equestrian sport is for multi-week, multi-ring shows, we have a special place in the sport by showcasing the very best.”
