It’s hard pressed to find manure on the walkways for long.
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I mean… the team that operates both shows is still HQ’d in Ohio, so don’t think they’re going to let their flagship go down in flames. It’s just older and a slightly different mentality. But by no means the ugly stepsister. WEC Ocala still is a work in a progress, it was always slated to have like 10 phases. I think we’re barely halfway there at this point. So it was always meant to be expansive and inclusive of more than just the hunter/jumper world… ie expo centers, lux shops and retail, etc.
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I agree. I’ve always really enjoyed my time showing there.
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Here here…I used to show at Roberts Arena and, trust me, would never say a word about it given what it once was. Don’t forget what they learned at Roberts was and is still being incorporated into WEC South. Great to hear they are continuing to improve WEC North within the constraints of the property and what they started with.
Even back then, sorry as it was, it was better then most of the other venues, footing, spooky rings and all. Always had some decent bathrooms too. And heat.
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As much as I like the facility, and will continue to go there and support it, the OP has a few valid points. Sure, there are port-a-potties outside of K-M, but no way this old gal is going to use them in January or February! As a woman of a certain age, I really wish they would have them closer.
The layout of the place is a little challenging, if you’re in the back barns. At one show, just for the hell of it, I used a step counter one day. I had a bit over 12k steps. Going from the back barns, and ring to ring, with 7 or 8 horses showing, it was a bit much. And there is no safe way to avoid it either. Golf carts or scooters are certainly not an option!
I’m glad they’re fixing the wifi situation, because it doesn’t help us if they say go on line and look, but the wifi keeps kicking you out. But that is a Wilmington problem, I was told by a local. The whole of Ocala was kind of the same way, last time I was there in 2022
The place as a whole is great though! Good people, good footing, just very pleasant.
We always get an Airbnb close to the show grounds, for many hundreds of $$$ cheaper than the cabins. We are usually no more than 5-7 minutes away
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WEC North started as a family farm, the property layout does constrain how the facility can be expanded so its always been a little awkward. WEC South was developed with its current use as a show grounds and regional event/ convention center in mind. Space they got.
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I guess if I’m doing the winter circuit in Ohio (which I’m not) I’d expect it to be well…Ohio.
I also rode my electric bike ALL OVER when I was there over the summer. It was a Godsend.
I also think it’s amusing that “bad wifi” is a complaint. I have fond memories of people always playing Chicken as my main show grounds you could only get a signal in the middle of the road.
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Maybe it’s the New Yorker in me, but that’s not that many. Out of curiosity, I looked at my last time showing there and logged between 9,000-14,000 steps every day.
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Do you think it was a wakeup call for Roberts when the Champions Center in Springfield came into being? If I’m not mistaken a lot of the shows left Roberts for Springfield at the time. (For the non Ohio crowd, Roberts Arena had a lot of western shows at one point) Then the big transformation happened, Champions Center got a little tacky (is better now), and some of the shows went back to Wilmington.
Of course now WEC North outshines everything in the area, even the Kentucky Horse Park. A bunch of Arab shows left KHP for WEC and now the USDF Finals have abandoned KHP as well.
Horse show venue drama!
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I remember when no shows had wifi bc there was no wifi. Anywhere. If you wanted to know something about your ring you waited for an announcement or trudged up to the ring. Admittedly, showgrounds were smaller then.
And no one had phones either.
We were pirates.
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Now there’s an app that shows you how many trips away you are!
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You can tell I’ve only shown there in the summer! Arab people are wussies, we turn the horses out for the winter!
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When it works.
We refer to Show Grounds Live as Slow Grounds Live or Show Grounds Dead or even Slow Grounds Dead.
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No idea. First showed there around 96 or 97 and the family had a camel or something similar out behind the stalls (buffalo?). I remember a time when the HJ shows went away, maybe 2005ish? Think the facility was not operating for awhile. Maybe it was bankrupt or tied up in probate or development deals or whatever. IIRC there were grand plans and think Robbie took it over. We thought he was nuts. We were wrong. He spent quite a bit of time picking the brains of trainers and exhibitors when his DD was showing Ponies. Guessing he also did the same with the Western side as the family has a long involvement with Quarter Horses.
WEC North might be the first show grounds to run onsite cabins and seriously operate an event center on the grounds though much smaller scale then South. Multi use keeps revenue flowing, South has started a huge Soccer program and the Christmas Fair is a hit.
Certainly exposes our sport to a broader audience and thats not a bad idea at all.
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Lol! Perhaps, but for an older lady with bad knees, trying to run from ring to ring on multiple types of footing, its a lot!
Yes, I remember that too. Cell phones aren’t super helpful inside some of these ginormous steel and aluminum structures; too many dead zones. We may go back to the dark ages of walkie talkies
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I remember being super shocked a year or two ago when I was at WEC Ocala in the summer, and I walked outside in the middle of the day to use my phone, only to discover it was boiling hot outside!
I had been so nice and comfortable all day long in the AC inside that it completely slipped my mind that I was in Florida in June and it was 100° outdoors. Lol.
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That’s actually a pretty normal step count unless you’re a couch potato. I have a 9-5 desk job and I easily get 9k - 10k steps/day.
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Electric bike. Mine went everywhere
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Not a couch potato. I’m a hard working,63 year old trainer with bad knees, who runs back and forth from ring to ring in an effort to not make anyone wait. Can we just agree that the place is huge, and requires a lot of walking?
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