USA to Stage 24 International Dressage Competitions Plus World Games in 2018, Most in 5 Years & Boosted by New California Lineup
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Aug. 8, 2017
By KENNETH J. BRADDICK
At least 25 international dressage competitions including the World Equestrian Games in Tryon are tentatively scheduled for the United States in 2018, the most in five years and boosted by a resurgence of shows in Southern California.
The Adequan Global Dressage Festival in Wellington, Florida enters its seventh year as America’s prime circuit with seven CDIs including the only top prize money CDI5*, a CDI4* and the sole Nations Cup in the western hemisphere as well as four World Cup qualifiers, with total prize money of about $700,000 over the winter.
Scott Hayes, who has produced well attended and highly lauded master classes by Charlotte Dujardin and other world class equestrians on North America’s West Coast, is organizing four World Cup competitions for next year–one in Las Vegas and three in Del Mar, California–two in January and two in February.
The proposed lineup of shows in 2018 does not include the iconic Central Park Horse Show in New York that has been held usually at the end of September. It could not be confirmed whether it would be held next year, a possible clash with the World Equestrian Games.
The World Games of the seven international disciplines of dressage. driving, endurance, eventing, jumping, reining and vaulting plus para dressage are scheduled for Sept. 11-23 at Tryon, North Carolina.
Tryon rescued the showcase presentation of international horse sports held once every four years with less than two years to prepare for an event that typically requires six years and about $200 million in capital expenditures and operational expenses to get ready.
The dressage WEG test event, a CDI3*, is scheduled for next April after the Global winter circuit.
Both Wellington Global Dressage and Winter Equestrian Festival of jumpers and hunters as well as Tryon events are organized by groups headed up by Mark Bellissimo, who also operates the Colorado Horse Park and has established the Central Park Horse Show in New York as a highlight on the global calendar.
The new lineup of shows by Scott Hayes in addition to the Burbank World Cup organized by longtime manager Glenda McElroy in winter comes after several years of an up-and-down calendar.
Complete details on the new California shows are expected shortly.
The 24 CDIs plus the WEG proposed in 2018 are the most in the United States since 2013, when two simultaneous dressage circuits were organized in Florida. The greatest number of CDIs in the U.S. was in 2012 with 29, 11 of them in Wellington and neighboring show grounds.
The tentative 2018 CDI schedule, subject to approval by the FEI–International Equestrian Federation–2018-cdi-calendar.
