Winter Equestrian Festival getting set to start in Florida

There are only two days to go before the start of the newly expanded Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF) at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center, January 16-April 6, and the excitement in Florida is building.

The WEF offers more than $3 million in total prize money, making it the world’s largest and richest horse show. The event features 10 weeks of hunter/jumper competition and three weeks of dressage competition, ranging from top-level competitors down to children’s pony classes.

The event is truly a huge undertaking, with all on-grounds stabling of 2,800 permanent tents and stalls being sold out. Highlights of the WEF schedule include three World Cup jumping qualifiers, a Nations Cup and five Olympic jumping selection trials.

A Top Ten North America versus Europe Challenge and high performance six-bar and speed derby classes are being introduced to add excitement and glamour that will surely attract spectators to the WEF from around the world.
Here’s a quick overview of the top WEF events:

WEF 1/SUNCAST® CORPORATION OPENER “AA”
January 16-20
Featuring: $25,000 Six Bar Class & $25,000 Speed Derby

WEF 2/EQUESTRIAN SPORT PRODUCTIONS, LLC. CSI 2* “AA”
January 23-27 CSI 2*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 1
$40,000 Palm Beach Equine Clinic/Adequan Grand Prix FEI – CSI 2*

WEF 3/SMART FOR LIFE™ CSI 2* “AA”
January 30 – February 3 CSI 2*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 2
$50,000 Smart For Life™ Grand Prix FEI – CSI 2*

WEF 4/SPY COAST FARM CSI 3* “AA”
February 6 – 10 CSI 3*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 3
$60,000 Spy Coast Farm Grand Prix FEI -CSI 3*

WEF 5/KILKENNY /QBE CSI 3* “AA”
February 13 – 17 CSI 3*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 4
$60,000 Kilkenny International Cup Grand Prix FEI -CSI 3*

WEF 6/PALM BEACH EQUINE CLINIC/ADEQUAN CSI 3* “AA”
February 20 – 24 CSI 3*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 5
$75,000 Palm Beach Post Grand Prix FEI – CSI 3*

WEF 7/ZADA ENTERPRISES, LLC CSI 3*-W “AA”
February 27 – March 2 CSI 3*-W
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 6
$100,000 Zada Enterprises, LLC Grand Prix FEI -CSI 3*-W
USEF Selection Trial Rounds 1 & 2

WEF 8/CN OPEN CSIO 5* “AA”
March 5 – 9 CSIO 5*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 7
$150,000 CN U.S. Open Grand Prix FEI -CSI 5*
$75,000 FEI Nations Cup presented by CN
“FEI Nations Cup Tour”
“A Palm Beach County Tourist Development Council Funded Project”
USEF Selection Trial Rounds 3, 4 & 5

WEF 9/CN WORLDWIDE CSI 4*-W “AA”
March 12 – 16 CSI 4*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 8
$200,000 CN Worldwide Grand Prix FEI -CSI 4*-W
$50,000 CN Challenge “The America’s vs Europe”

WEF 10/SUNCAST® CORPORATION CSI 3* “AA”
March 19-23 CSI 3*
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Round 9
$75,000 Suncast® Corporation @ Grand Prix FEI -CSI 3*

WEF 11/PENTA WATER COMPANY, INC. “AA”
March 26-30
Featuring: $30,000 WEF Challenge Cup Final Round
$75,000 Penta Water Company, Inc. Grand Prix

WEF 12/EQUESTRIAN SPORT PRODUCTIONS, LLC “AA”
April 1-6
Featuring: WEF Awards Presentations on Sunday April 6th
$20,000 WEF Young Jumper Final 5 Year Olds
$20,000 WEF Young Jumper Final 6 Year Olds
$20,000 WEF Young Jumper Final 7 Year Olds
$50,000 Invitational Junior/Amateur Owner Jumper Classic
$50,000 Invitational Children’s/Adult Amateur Jumper Classic
$50,000 Invitational Junior/Amateur Owner Hunter Classic
$50,000 Invitational Children’s/Adult Amateur Hunter Classic
$50,000 Invitational Pony Hunter Classic

Best 9 of 12 show results count toward WEF Championship