This isn’t a new issue, right? I feel like I’ve been hearing rumors about this for years. Last time I think the proposed development was an assisted living facility.
I agree that it’s a logistical nightmare because the area around the showground is so built up. Expensive hotels. Crappy parking. (I had to park my trailer in a corn field one year. It rained because it always rains during Devon and everybody’s trailers got stuck. Thankfully I had seen it coming and moved mine to the back of the hotel parking lot beforehand.) It’s really not an easy place to show. But I would still be very sad to see it turned into apartments and parking garages, just so some developers can get rich. Sadly I’m sure it’s inevitable.
I showed at the Devon Horse Show every year from the time I was 13 to 30, and DAD in the Fall and then you couldn’t drag me kicking and screaming. Then I started doing Dressage at Devon annually. The last time I competed at the Devon Horse Show was 2007.
It IS terrible to get in and out of, unless you are used to it, I guess. I don’t have to leave a trailer down there, so that helps. I don’t leave my horses there, either, because even with the improvements, I don’t like the stabling.
Having said that, there isn’t a venue in the country like Devon to show in. And, I’m not alone in saying this. I’ve read countless interviews with Hunter/Jumper competitors, who say the same thing, right along with the Dressage crowd. Riding into that ring isn’t like going anywhere else. It’s magic.
There are some really sharp people trying very hard to keep Devon right where it is- in Devon. But, there has been some very nasty fighting within the BOD of Devon, itself, causing people who had their heart and soul in it to be replaced. Truly nasty stuff.
I sincerely hope that they realize that when it’s gone, it’s gone. If I have to drive by some stupid apartments, condos, or whatever, in that space, I will end up pulling over and crying. I don’t go down to Devon every year anymore- although I do try to get to DAD at least once a year. There is something about the sights and sounds of the show grounds that just gets into you- and it needs to stay right there.
Yeah, um trying moving 20-30 horses in and out of there and driving a big head to head trailer…
I’ve shown there myself as well with just one horse
I still don’t think the middle of an urban area is an appropriate place for a horse show- maybe if there were 10 more acres of so at least lol
This doesn’t really have to do with the grounds specifically (which are owned by the foundation) but the lot next door which is currently used for surface parking and for which there are plans for a large mixed retail/parking garage (which would not be for the competitors or horse trailers, it would be $$$ VIP parking that you buy along with boxes). Because the grounds (and the lot) are owned by the foundation, I don’t think there’s even the slightest chance that the “owner” decides to stop using the property for horse shows. I know various folks involved with the show REALLY WANT the parking garage/retail next door but even if they don’t get it for some reason, I don’t see that impacting whether the grounds still get used for horse shows.
