Photo copyright White Fence Equine Photography.

Wellington, FL – May 4, 2020 – Equestrian Sport Productions (ESP) announces that an additional week will be added to the 2021 show schedule as part of the 2021 Winter Equestrian Festival (WEF). The “WEF Premiere” week will be held on January 6-10 and added on to the beginning of the WEF 2021 circuit, held at the Palm Beach International Equestrian Center in Wellington, FL.

Our hearts go out to everyone suffering during this difficult situation, whether it is hardships with their health or their business. Our industry has been severely impacted, and everyone at ESP has been working hard to keep Palm Beach International Equestrian Center ready for when shows resume. Equestrian Sport Productions wants to offer a way for everyone to be able to enjoy competitive sport again and build their businesses back up.

“The mandated COVID-19 cancellation of the last two weeks of the 2020 WEF was very hard on all of our stakeholders,” said ESP President Michael Stone. “We are very cognizant of the hardships created by the abbreviated schedule and also keenly aware of the difficulties everyone is facing as the pandemic continues. We wanted to find a way to add value back to our competitors, sponsors, vendors, and VIP tableholders and feel that we can best accomplish this by being able to offer more with an additional week on the WEF schedule in 2021.”

The remaining 2021 WEF circuit will run as originally scheduled on January 13 – April 4 with the full schedule of major events essentially running as it did in 2020.

The WEF Premiere week will be a USEF Premier “AA” rated show and host national rated competition – pending final approval by US Equestrian – as will the following week of WEF competition. International FEI jumper competition will then follow during the week of January 20-24 with a CSI2* rating per the usual WEF calendar. For awards and circuit championships, competitors will still use the best nine weeks of competition out of the 13 now available for tallying points and money won.

“We are working to balance our escalating and unpredictable costs of managing the facility in the new post-pandemic environment,” added Stone. “We believe that the equestrian industry will emerge stronger in 2021, and WEF will continue to provide the best possible sport of any horse show in the United States. Our top priority is to provide a safe environment for everyone involved, and we look forward to welcoming everyone to the circuit in 2021.”

For more information on the Winter Equestrian Festival, please visit www.PBIEC.com.