With completely new, rehabbed, expanded or otherwise tweaked show grounds and schedules, the five major winter circuits have plenty to offer competitors this year.

Boasting the largest and longest running winter circuit event in the country, the Winter Equestrian Festival in Wellington, Fla., continues to expand in size and prize money. In this, its 35th year, WEF will be spreading its schedule of classes between its traditional locale at the Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club and nearby Littlewood Farm’s Palm Beach International Equestrian Center.

Show management at Stadium Jumping, Inc., hopes to help alleviate the long days typically associated with the circuit’s packed schedule and robust entries with the additional venue.

“They wanted to make the days more manageable for everyone, but it obviously does make it more difficult to travel down there if you have horses showing at both locations,” explained Jennifer Wood, a representative of Phelps Media Group, the show’s public relations firm. “For the most part, the classes being held at [PBIEC] are mostly unrated and are divisions that are new to the WEF schedule.”

However, some junior hunter, adult amateur hunter, pony hunter and equitation divisions will take turns to occasionally shift to the satellite location. The schedule changes from week to week, so all of these divisions will have the opportunity to show at the polo club as well. PBIEC has added two additional all-weather rings, for a total of six, with new footing in all rings and schooling areas, in addition to other show ground improvements, such as raised, shaded viewing stands.

“The main thing they’re trying to do is make the days shorter–last year the ponies ran into the dark, for example. By moving their classes some weeks to the PBIEC, it gives them a much better showing experience,” said Wood.

Management plans to work with trainers and riders as much as possible to deal with scheduling conflicts, which are not new to the show.

“There are always going to be conflicts when you have a show this big with so many entries,” she said. “It’s a matter of the trainers informing the management and the in-gate of where they’re going to be and when and making a schedule ahead of time to plan out the day.”

An additional week, the WEF/PBIEC Inaugural, has been added onto the start of the now 10-week hunter-jumper schedule that spans Jan. 24-April 7 (the final two weeks of which are held at the Bob Thomas Equestrian Center in Tampa, Fla.). The added week and increased prize money offered in many of the grand prix events have pushed the total winnings up for grabs past $4 million, up from last year’s $3 million.

A large chunk of that sum comes from the $395,000 offered for the CN Worldwide Florida Open CSI*****, held on March 17, the final Saturday of the Wellington schedule. The class kicks off the eight-venue Global Champions Tour, which includes a stop at WEF for the second consecutive year.

WEF has added an FEI show jumper area, featuring RISOHORSE 2000 footing in the schooling ring, to better serve their grand prix riders.

Also returning from last year is the $200,000 FTI Rider Challenge, providing a $100,000 bonus for the rider amassing the most points during Wellington’s grand prix events, and the FEI Children’s International Jumping Competition CSI-CH, which gives younger riders the opportunity to compete under FEI rules.

HITS List
Further north in Florida, Horse Shows In The Sun presents their five-week Ocala winter circuit, which runs from Feb. 14-March 18 and is preceded by two weeks of unrated shows that begin Jan. 24.

The unrated weeks of HITS Ocala will feature a new four-phase $20,500 children’s/adult jumper championship, two legs of which will be held each week with separate prize money for each class and a bonus to the top eight overall finishers. Their popular $25,000 Marshall & Sterling Children’s/Adult Jumper Classic helps conclude the series in March.

The biggest change at Ocala this year is the addition of a new grand prix ring and main hunter rings, which are separated by a berm that houses the VIP seating area. The rings are located on the east end of the show ring area and both feature Footing Authority’s upgraded polymer sand EuroFelt footing. Even those not competing in the new rings will feel the benefits of the upgrade, as the old grand prix arena will now become a spacious Jumper 1.

With the new scheduling space provided by the two new rings, HITS Ocala will be offering more divisions this year, including pre-children’s and pre-adult hunters, a 2’6″ special hunter classic and level 1 jumpers.

“The schedule is jam-packed, but with the extra space we’ll be able to run an efficient show each week,” said Danette Kadlic, exhibitor marketing representative for HITS. “We always want to offer something new to keep things fresh for our clients.”

California competitors will enjoy an entirely fresh, new circuit as outgrown HITS Indio has been replaced 5 miles away with HITS Thermal, located in the town of the same name.

Groundbreaking for the 230-acre facility was March 15 of last year, and it now stands as the largest hunter/jumper venue in the country with more riding area than any other show grounds in the world, according to HITS.

Thermal more than doubles the space that was available at Indio, offering 12 show rings with upgraded footing and 150 RV parking spaces on site with full hook-ups. Each of the four jumper rings and the grand prix ring have their own warm-ups, and the seven hunter rings share two enormous subdividable schooling areas. The grand prix and main hunter ring set-up is the same as is now in Ocala. Those two properties will also share new restrictions on golf carts and other motorized vehicles to enhance horse and pedestrian safety around the rings.

The large property is adjacent to the small, lightly trafficked Jacqueline Cochran Regional Airport, which show management doesn’t anticipate will be a problem for competitors and their horses.

“It’s a bigger, better, fancier facility,” said Kadlic. “Indio had already been a horse show grounds, so there were more pre-existing limitations on what could be done. When you buy a piece of land, it’s a blank canvas. We planned a more efficient layout and better flow of traffic for everyone.

“The response we’ve gotten at the open houses has been incredibly positive,” she continued. “People were able to come by to see the site and its progress, and it has alleviated any concerns.”

Anticipating 2,500 horses per week, Thermal has approximately 1,000 permanent 12′ x 12′ stalls and 2,000 10′ x 10′ temporary tent stalls. The series runs for six weeks, starting on Jan. 23.

Management is more limited in the changes they can make at HITS Arizona, their six-week circuit held Feb. 7-March 18 in Tucson, as they don’t own the property where the show is held.

Despite these restrictions, the maintenance personnel of the Pima County Fairgrounds have resurfaced the schooling ring, installed a longeing pad and have obtained new equipment for the grounds crew, which should make for quicker drag times and other ring prep.

What’s Old Is New Again
Last year, the hurricane-ravaged Gulf Coast of Mississippi was unable to provide the support system required for the Classic Company’s Gulf Coast Winter Classics, and the circuit had to be temporarily relocated to Pensacola, Fla. This year, equestrians and local businesses celebrate the five-week series’ homecoming to the Harrison County Equestrian Center, Feb. 14-March 18.

“The facility itself had very little damage done to it–what can really happen to grass?” said show manager Bob Bell, explaining that last winter whatever hotel rooms might have been available were occupied by the repair people and insurance adjusters helping to get the region back on its feet. “The facility was maintained the entire time we were away. They continued to work the rings and seed the grass rings. I was down there a few weeks ago, and the place looked better than it ever looked.”

All the judges’ stands, the grand prix gazebo, the fencing and other structures on the property were blown away, some never to be found, but the show grounds crew, led by equestrian center director Mike McMillan, rebuilt them to the same specs, using the original plans for the buildings.

“It’s almost creepy,” said Bell with a laugh. “I’d seen it all gone, and now it’s all back, but new. With them having an extra year and a half with us off the grass, our 400′ x 450′ grand prix ring is better than ever.”

The class offerings will be virtually unchanged from previous years, although this season they’ve added a classic for every age group in every division, as well as a $10,000 bonus for the circuit’s high-point grand prix rider.

The local hotels and casinos have also been rebuilt and consequently updated, with the Classic Company performing physical inspections to ensure everything was up to snuff.

“We were flabbergasted by how nice they all are. Everything is state-of-the-art. The casinos are all rebuilding, and they’re much more like Vegas casinos,” said Bell. “Excited isn’t the word–the community is thrilled we’re coming back. They really counted on us, as it’s a slow time of the year for a resort in that region. Particularly the little places out by the show, from the dry cleaners to the pizza places, they really missed us.”

Florida Circuits Take EHV-1 Precautions
The Winter Equestrian Festival’s Palm Beach Polo Equestrian Club and Littlewood Farm Palm Beach International Equestrian Center show grounds in Wellington, Fla., and the HITS Ocala Post Time Farm have all remained free of the equine herpes virus (EHV-1) outbreak that struck the state, and they’re working hard to keep it that way.

Until at least Jan. 15, HITS Ocala had instituted a vet check protocol for any horse entering the site. Either grounds manager Nick Ezzo or show veterinarian Dr. Robert Barber coordinated arrivals, so that a veterinarian or vet technician could greet every horse and perform an inspection before they were admitted.

Although virus-free, Littlewood Farm cancelled their two Christmas shows in December and their New Year’s show Jan. 3-7 as a result of the outbreak in the area. To maintain the safety of the horses on their property, at press time, they were requiring all new horses to have proof of vaccination, a current health certificate and a signed statement of health.

New horse arrivals were coordinated with management and were isolated for at least seven days. During this time a twice-daily temperature log was maintained, and if no temperature spikes were detected and they were cleared by the show veterinarian, the horses could then proceed to their permanently assigned stalls.

All horses on the grounds must also display their issued back number and must maintain a distance of at least 40 feet from other horses. Isolated horses have access to their own exercise ring until they are cleared.

Previously closed to new horses, new arrivals were permitted to enter the main WEF show grounds as of Jan. 2. Their arrivals were coordinated with stable manager Tom Blankenship and were accompanied by Stadium Jumping, Inc.’s “Requirements for Right of Entry” certification statement signed by a veterinarian, as well as an official health certificate.

In addition to information on each horse and its potential exposure level, the certification statement required a period of 72-hour temperature monitoring and vaccination between seven and 60 days prior to entry.

At press time, WEF is going forward as planned, although the entry deadline for the first series of shows was pushed back from Dec. 18 to Jan. 15. The first series runs from Jan. 24-Feb. 14 and includes: the WEF/PBIEC Inaugural, Nutrena/Western Hay Wellington Classic, Palm Beach Equine Clinic/Adequan Gold Coast Jumper Classic and Kilkenny Internationale. A final decision has not yet been made on adjustments that will be made to the second and third series’ closing dates.