The National Goes Global as Alltech Steps In

 

As horse shows go, the National is something of an institution, and like the best of them it has firmly stood the test of time. Throughout its 127-year history it has seen many wonderful moments, at its original home in Madison Square Garden in the heart of New York City and elsewhere down the years. 

The 2011 fixture has a whole new life to it however, as Alltech has stepped in as title sponsor, while show jumping patrons Mr. and Mrs. William Weeks’ and Sasco Creek Farm, Double H Farms and Mr. and Mrs. Hunter Harrison and Mr. and Mrs. Robert Lourie's Spy Coast Farms have boosted the prize-fund.  The profile of the event has been raised to an entirely new level, and the icing on the cake is the move to America's most prestigious equestrian venue - the Horse Park in Kentucky.

 

Last year's Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games™ were a triumph, as the Horse Park opened its gates to equestrian competitors, supporters and visitors from all around the world. The 1,032 acres of countryside provided the perfect setting for the eight-discipline fixture, and it is the Alltech Arena, where the Reining and Vaulting action took place, that will be heaving with excitement when the Alltech National Horse Show kicks off in two months' time, on 2 November. 

 

INTERNATIONAL ELEMENT

Traditionally, the fixture has had a strong focus on national competition but also maintains an international element, and throughout the early days of Nations Cup jumping it welcomed teams from Europe who toured the North American Fall Circuit which, back then, also included events in Harrisburg, Toronto and, later, Washington. 

The Nations Cup was first staged in New York in 1911 and it is remarkable to recall that, as the years progressed, horses and riders from Belgium, Holland, France, Great Britain, Germany, Italy, Poland, Sweden, Hungary and Czechoslovakia would set off from the other side of the Atlantic Ocean by boat and spend weeks at sea before eventually landing on US shores. 

The show was initially staged in the original Madison Square Garden before it moved to Pennsylvania Avenue. Those early Nations Cup competitions were limited to army sides, and the Irish first arrived in 1929, in brand new uniforms and as flag-bearers for a fledgling state. It seems the etiquette of New York taxi-drivers has not changed a great deal since, because former Irish Army Equitation School maestro, Sargeant-Major Steve Hickey, still tells a story about an Irish horse that was killed by a crazed cabbie who wasn't prepared to slow down as it was led across the street!

The Nations Cup contest was dropped from the programme for the National Horse Show some years ago, but Mason Phelps, President of the National Horse Show Association of America, has plans to re-introduce it, and has already taken the first tentative steps towards making that happen. There is a very clear link between history and sport where this horse show is concerned.

 

DIFFERENT MATTER

Travelling horses around the world today is an entirely different matter of course, and Kentucky, heartland of the American horse-racing and breeding industry and known as Bluegrass Country due to its exceptional suitability for the production of world-class equines, is well-used to welcoming the best of the the best. 

The inaugural Alltech National Horse Show in Kentucky is designated CSI4*-W, and the feature class will be the $250,000 Alltech National Horse Show Grand Prix, a qualifier for the 2011/2012 FEI World Cup. Amongst the visiting riders will be Britain's Nick Skelton and Brazil's Rodrigo Pessoa who will take on the best from the host nation. The total prize-fund on offer is nearly $700,000, and $435,000 of that is allocated to the international classes which include the Wednesday Welcome Speed, Thursday's Jump-Off, Friday's Speed and Saturday's main event. 

From a US perspective however, the national classes are just as important as the riders battle it out in the “AA” Hunter divisions and SJHOF Junior/Amateur divisions, but possibly one of the most coveted prizes of all will be presented to the winner of the ASPCA Alfred B Maclay Final on Sunday afternoon, 6 November. This ultimate test for young riders has often been described as the "proving ground of champions", and this is backed up by the names etched onto the trophy, including American legends William Steinkraus who won it in 1947 and Frank Chapot who claimed it in 1948. World Cup Champion and Olympic gold medallist Conrad Holmfeld, and fellow Olympians Leslie Burr-Howard, Peter Wylde and Katharine Burdsall all started out with success here as did the man who led the unstoppable force of US jumping in recent years - George Morris, who led the victory gallop back in 1952. 

The promise of great displays of horsemanship and top-class sport along with an unique connection with a glorious past promises that the 2011 Alltech National Horse Show in Kentucky will be an event of great significance, not just from an American viewpoint, but from that of the world at large. Join us for the new beginning to an age-old story, that has the horse at its heart.....

The Alltech National Horse Show, 128th Edition, will be held from November 2 – 6, 2011, at the beautiful, new Alltech Indoor Arena at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington.

This year’s show, designated CSI4*-W, will feature a complete schedule of ‘AA’-rated hunter divisions, including the Pony Lane Farm High Performance Hunter section. Also on the agenda, a big money Open Jumper division highlighted by the Sasco Creek Farm $50,000 Welcome Speed Class, the $75,000 Double H Farms Thursday’s Jump-Off class, the $60,000 Spy Coast Farm Faults Converted Speed class on Friday and of course, the $250,000 Alltech National Horse Show Grand Prix, an FEI World Cup qualifying event. $100,000 will be up for grabs for the Junior and Amateur Jumper divisions, including the $50,000 SJHOF Junior/Amateur Championships, sponsored by Sleepy P Ranch, Chansonette and Deeridge Farm. The final Sunday is highlighted by the signature event of the National Horse Show, the ASPCA Alfred B. Maclay Finals, presented by C.M. Hadfield’s Saddlery.

Founded in 1883 at the original Madison Square Garden, the National Horse Show is America’s oldest indoor horse show, firmly established as a major fixture on the national and international sports and social event calendars. The National Horse Show Association’s primary activity is the annual production of the National Horse Show and all ancillary events. Over the years, the National Horse Show has provided financial aid to many worthwhile charities.

Quick Link

• For more information on the National Horse Show Association of America, Limited, please visit www.nhs.org.

story: Louise Parkes/FEI