Horse Illustrated Magazine

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