The Saratoga Springs Horse Show has been a longstanding tradition in the Spa City for over five decades. This year, though, the anticipated location of the show has fallen through, and now it appears that horse show fans will have to wait until 2019 for the next installment.
Issues With the Location
Yaddo hosted the Saratoga Springs Horse Show for years, with the Saratoga Race Course providing stalls for the horses and parking for the guests. However, Yaddo is in the midst of redeveloping the property, and gave show organizers notice several years ago that they would need to find a new location. Last year was the final show at Yaddo.
Capital Fund of Saratoga County, which has run the show since 2011, had been planning on having the show at the Saratoga Casino Hotel in 2018. Unfortunately, the plans were unable to be ironed out in time for the show which was supposed to take place in May.
“In the end we were not able to pull together everything that was needed in a timely manner to make that location work for all those involved,” Tom Fueston, President of the Capital Fund, told the Saratogian.
Officials in Lake Placid had reached out to Capital Fund, but organizers felt early May up north would be too cold for the event.
HITS-on-the-Hudson in Saugerties was also considered, but the venue is too close to another horse show site that has an event within the same time frame.
Capital Fund is currently working on a permanent location for 2019, ideally in or near Saratoga.
The Saratoga Springs Horse Show is the longest-running horse show in Saratoga. But, that’s not the only reason why organizers are hoping to keep the tradition close to the Spa City. Volunteers, who are needed to keep the show running, come from Saratoga.
Although the casino would have been an ideal location, as it’s in Saratoga and has barns for the horses, any location is likely to be challenging to some degree. There needs to be ample water and power, and show rings have to be constructed.
About the Horse Show & Capital Fund
The Saratoga Springs Horse Show was started by the Saratoga Lions Club in 1961. The show attracted horse fans and talent from across the Northeast. Later, the show was taken over by St. Clement’s Church, and then by Capital Fund.
Capital Fund of Saratoga County uses the show as a fundraiser to support Saratoga County charitable groups (another great reason to keep the show as local as possible). To date, they’ve raised close to $300,000 and supported nearly 70 different organizations within the county.
Sources:
- Saratogian: Saratoga Springs Horse Show a no-go in 2018
- Times Union: Saratoga Springs Horse Show a scratch for this spring
