October 2022 Issue

EAST COAST EQUESTRIAN October 2022 Page 23 By Suzanne Bush The Horse Park of New Jer- sey (HPNJ) at Stone Tavern has been a go-to venue for equestrian competition for more than 35 years. It’s the place where the iconic Jersey Fresh three-day event originated in 2003. HPNJ saw Jersey Fresh as an opportuni- ty to fill the gap in the equestrian competition calendar that opened after the Essex Horse Trials in Gladstone held its final meet in 1998. From the start, Jersey Fresh was a success among compet- itors and spectators. Through the years its prestige rose, and its Federation Internationale Equestre rating rose to CCI4*-L, meaning that the competition is advanced level, for horses that have some international compe- tition experience. Riders at this level must be 18 or older and horses must be at least seven. The cross-country segment of the competition has a maximum of 40 jumps and the stadium jumping segment has a maxi- mum of 15 jumps. In 2021, its most successful year ever, Jersey Fresh was the final selection trial for the U.S. Olympic team that went on to Tokyo. (The Summer Olympics, originally scheduled for 2020, were postponed until 2021 due to COVID.) After the 2021 competition, the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF) announced that the event would not be held in 2022; the Jersey Fresh spot on the competition calendar was put up for bid, and ultimately awarded to Tryon Internation- al Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, NC. Competing for Competitions The fate of Jersey Fresh, although unexpected by the all-volunteer board of HPNJ, reveals both the pitfalls and the opportunities emerging as equestrian sports—especially eventing—evolve. Well-funded venues such as those in Mill Spring, NC, Fair Hill, MD, Wellington and Ocala, FL and Lexington, KY offer state-of-the- art amenities for both horses and riders. From the footing in the arenas to the stables, trails and even the jumps, maintaining a world-class facility is a pro- foundly expensive proposition. That reality is what venues like HPNJ wrestle with. As a non-profit that receives no fund- ing from the state, HPNJ relies on donors, sponsors and revenue from shows and events. They lease the 185-acre property from the New Jersey Department of Agriculture. In the months after the final Jersey Fresh International Three- Day, the HPNJ board began an extensive inventory of the capital improvements that could help Horse Park of New Jersey Aims to Regain Competitive Edge (Continued on page 26)