July 2021 Issue

Page 4 July 2021 EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN Tell our advertisers you found them in East Coast Equestrian. Plantation Field is Up and Running–and Jumping–Again By Amy Worden Last fall it looked like the end of the line for one of the re- gion’s biggest and most respected horse sport venues. Property owner Cuyler Walker cancelled the lease with event organizers after a controversy erupted over the venue’s name. But while the events and shows will go on at Plantation Field, and the organizers have maintained the name, the gov- erning body of horse sports will refer to its owned events there as “Unionville,” the community where it is located. In a statement to East Coast Equestrian the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) said it will use the name USEF Youth Team Challenge Unionville for the Youth Team Challenge leg taking place on the property, consistent with the “USEF Naming and Branding Guidelines.” The other three events in the series are identi- fied as Aiken, Adamstown and Tyron rather than by the venue names. “USEF has been strength- ening the branding and con- sistency of naming for USEF named competitions over the past several years and deter- mined adopting geographic name designations for event locations consistent with the FEI (Federation Equestre International) would minimize confusion with the calendars,” the statement said. The statement urges USEF competition organizers and members to review the purpose and strategies in U.S. Equestrian Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Plan and said USEF is committed to “creating a welcoming and inclusive environment for all while ensuring the best facilities and competition opportunities available for competitors.” USEF added while decisions regarding venue and competi- tion names are “ultimately the discretion and responsibility of individual organizers” that they should “consider the impact of the use of offensive words and phrases.” The dust up began in June 2020, when the online news site Eventing Nation approached the U.S. Eventing Association and the USEF about changing the name because of the objection- able historical roots of the word “plantation,” and followed up with a September editorial citing the “painful” and racist connota- tions of the name. Supporters of Plantation Field flooded social media with pleas to preserve the venue and keep the name, which stems from trees planted on the 300-acre property. Walker, who did not respond to a phone message for comment, and supporters of Plantation Field were outraged at the suggestion of racism. Many pointed to the location of the Chester County property - in the heart of the Pennsylvania’s early Quaker settlements - where residents were active as abolitionists and participants in the underground railroad. “It was a very unfortunate event,” said Denis Glaccum, president of Plantation Field Equestrian Events Inc., in an interview last month about the controversy. “It created divi- sion; we’ve supported diversi- ty.” The name “Plantation Field” he said, dates to the 1940s when a Boy Scout troop planted trees on the property. In colonial times ‘plantation’ referred to a property greater than 100 acres. Glaccum issued a press release after the Eventing Nation editorial ran that said the lease cancellation resulted from what he called “an attack on Plantation Field.” (Continued on page 19)