Red Hills Horse Trials - No More thanks to USEF

[Jealoushe]

So were they bumped for Copper Meadows, Carolina or TerraNova?

[Whoaovergo]

Agreed with the YouTube sentiment whole heartedly! Plus, Red Hills was the epitome of how the relationship between eventers, community/local government, public space usage should operate.

It does feel like a deliberate squeeze to venues that aren’t in on some nefarious kickback scheme.

[Turntable]

TerraNova, where the owner has bought 1000 adjacent acres to sub divide into 5-10 acre homesites.

[hey101]

Unless I missed a follow up announcement stating they are back in the game, Copper Meadows, another family run facility, is also done. They announced that a few months ago.

[Fiesta01]

Exactly what I was thinking. Follow the money.

[Gryhrs]

Let’s take a page from Robbie Robert’s playbook and have Red Hills say Adios to the USEF and register the event with the National Snaffle Bit Association. Does the USEF just have it out for eventers???

[Jump314]

What happened to Virginia International?

[tnf007]

Copper Meadows is no more, all cancelled now

[Highflyer1]

It would likely fall after the last date listed so may have just been cut off.

[LexInVA]

@joliemom_again

Business slueth that I am, I do wonder why USEF jumped on this facility when at any time the developer could sell the whole darn place if there’s not a high enough ROI.

https://www.businessobserverfl.com/article/father-daughter-duo-target-best-in-class-equestrian-facility

Note: use Firefox if you’re unable to read the article in its entirety.

The short answer that doesn’t involve a PowerPoint presentation is that the development is effectively an extension of Wellington - not physically, as the two are separated by many miles - because it’s close enough to Wellington and an easy driving path through the rural landscape for anyone to go to/from Wellington, without much trouble and it’s easier than the Ocala drive, with about the same time committed. So, if you wanted to get a house down there and move a horse or two to have access to “world-class Equestrian facilities”, you would still have access to the riches of Wellington, without the lottery-winning cost of living there, though there are certainly multi-million dollar options available in this development. At the same time, the development will also be bolstered by the existing comforts of the Tampa Bay-Sarasota area, which should be appealing enough to moderately wealthy individuals who don’t need the excess found in Palm Beach.

[Xanthoria]

Yeah that’s confusing - 2 dates on the calendar screenshot above show CM events?

Saying Goodbye to the Copper Meadows Horse Trials

Also happy to see a Woodside event… if only one…

[alyssaequestrian]

The screenshots are from March, which was the last time it was updated. USEF has the updated now one up now showing copper meadows crossed off!

[Turntable]

@Gryhrs

Does the USEF just have it out for eventers???

They have run out of beloved small H/J venues to destroy. Such a shame to see this happen again.

[libgrrl]

Roberts is taking over everything though. They bought Jockey Club, which was a lovely facility in and of itself. They aren’t benign, in my estimation.

[Cat.J95]

I mean it makes sense when you think about the mileage rule. That in my opinion has always been their goal. To have corporate events and that’s it.

[Bensmom]

You got it!

[FrittSkritt]

@RAyers

A wealthy owner and supposed expert in safety once told me that if we want to be good eventers we should move to the east coast just like the great skiers move to Colorado. I pointed out, being the idiotic statement he made, that Vermont has produced the largest number of alpine skiers and that many skiers NEVER move to Colorado/Utah UNTIL they make the team.

Yep. The best skiers are made from learning how to ski down the icy, ungroomed runs of New England. Very few people who learn to ski out west can handle the conditions seen out east.

[Bensmom]

Thank you all for the kind words - especially about the live stream. We had issues getting it going, but I was particularly glad that’s it’s on YouTube and was broadcast also on the City’s community tv channel.

There is so much to unpack here, and if there is interest, I’m glad to say more about the calendar process and what happened here because, frankly, I think the people that pay for the sport deserve to know what happens. Can we stop it? Probably not, and I can explain why that is too.

Tonight, my heart is broken. At this time, there are more than 500 comments on the FB post and over 800 shares and I think I’ve read them all. This event has been a part of my soul for more than 20 years and seeing the number of people - horsey and not, that it has mattered to as well has just about broken me.

Thank you to everyone who has let us know that our hard work and volunteer hours has mattered. It is the best thing I’ve ever been part of and I feel as if I’m losing an entire family.

[riderboy]

Like (almost) everyone I was shocked by the news of Red Hills cancelling. Here in Area 8 we lost Richland a few years ago to similar stupidity, it was an absolutely great show. I loved Red Hills, and It’s loss is huge. Great weather, (Raeford avg temp is 10 degrees colder than Tallahassee) footing, access and enormous community support. As a friend of ours says, they’re killing a dying sport.

[Jealoushe]

I think posters here would definitely be interested in the calendar process and what happened here. The more we all know the more we can work to prevent these things from happening.