by Charlotte Hadley

Wellington is horse. To  most people, Wellington, Florida, means nothing. It is just another town in Florida; most people have no idea where to find it on a map. But if you ask any competitive equestrian they would know right away. Wellington is located in southern Florida about thirty minutes from West Palm Beach. In the very center of the town of Wellington is Palm Beach International Equestrian Center. Where every year the Winter Equestrian Festival, (WEF) is held. This Festival, that is more like a horse show, makes Wellington such a popular place to be if you are an equestrian. A single fancy barn with many fancy horses is something you could find easily, but imagine an entire town with huge multi million-dollar beautiful stables, one after another all packed full with horses? It seems unreal. But that is what it is like in the horse capital of the United States.

These beautiful, extraordinary stables are only used for half of the year because Florida gets so hot that riding horses becomes impossible during the summer. Luckily, the owners of these stables are wealthy enough to buy big, luxurious barns up north too so they can all show year round. Most of the “big barns” in Wellington are also in either New Jersey or upstate New York. Providing them access to the other A-rated shows in New York, Vermont, Pennsylvania, etc. Typically, those people who are willing and able to spend a lot of time and money at Wellington all winter spend their time and money at horse shows the rest of the year as well.
One of my favorite Twitter posts I have ever seen was this: “If  I had won the PowerBall, I would show at WEF for one weekend and with the remaining $5 I would buy chicken nuggets.” It is very true; this horse show costs more than any other horse show I have ever been to. However, it is definitely worth going, even if it is just once, for the experience. The Palm Beach Equestrian Center is in the middle of a Grand Prix Village, which kind of sounds like something out of a Barbie movie, but this is all very real. The show ground that holds WEF, is five hundred acres total, with over eighty acres of arenas to ride in and eighteen show rings. Every year about three thousand horses come to the show, and their value altogether is over five hundred million dollars.
Aside from the showing, there is a Tiki bar and an Oasis café, as well as many other food vendors to make it feel like a real vacation. All of the attractions for non-horse people who visit- either because they hear how extraordinary Wellington is, or they have family showing- are next to the International Arena.  Above the arena there are three ginormous buildings all filled with social things to do. One is a club for invited people only; the other is called Gallery which is where they sell horse related art; and the third is called Central Park which is a restaurant that is only open on Friday and Saturday nights. On the other side of the International arena there is the International Tent which is mostly used for Saturday Night Lights, the night when the top riders in the world compete for prize money. It costs a couple thousand dollars per table just for that one night in that tent. All around the other two sides of the arena is stadium seating which is free to riders, unfortunately if it rains or is cold this area is not covered. Although, it is usually full by the time the first rider is competing. There is a bridge that goes high across the ingate of the International arena which is another place to watch, I personally like it there because you can see the riders warm up. However, if you follow the bridge it leads you to all of the shops and vendors. I do not recommend going there unless you want to spend your entire paycheck. The vendors include; jewelry, designer clothing- including equestrian designers that are only found at this show- art galleries, and my personal favorite, a dog rescue. There are also many more places to get something to eat like brick oven pizza, tacos, chocolate dipped cheesecake, it is pretty endless.
The show ground is only a portion of the town of Wellington. Grand Prix Village is like a huge neighborhood but for horses and equestrians. This is where you will find one multi-million dollar barn after the next. It amazes me how all of these big, beautiful barns are only on a couple acres of land. There is an argument between riders when it comes to letting horses run around in big open pastures; some feel that a horse as expensive as the horses in Wellington should be kept in a bubble and protected, others feel that it is very inhumane and a terrible life for a horse. As you walk down the path, still on horseback (not many people go through Grand Prix Village on foot for it is a very long walk), the barns just become more beautiful as you walk down. Some do not even look like barns. Some are huge and all white with big pillars, Roman arches, and green ivy climbing up the sides. Some are gold colored and the doors are open to reveal huge crystal chandeliers, larger than any I have seen in anyone’s house. Even the least expensive barn in Wellington is more than ten million dollars and it is still big and beautiful. My absolute favorite part of Wellington is you will never find a town set up quite the same; there is the pavement road for cars, the sidewalk for bikes and people, and then there is a special dirt path that is regul                                                                                                                                                               arly kept up with for the horses, all three, all next to each other. There are also crosswalks with the button high up so riders can cross roads on horseback safely. Most of these crosswalks also have some sort of rubber cushioning so the horses do not have to walk on the asphalt. Walking on asphalt could make horses legs sore or walking on it for a long period of time could permanently damage some horses, and in a place like Wellington they will do whatever they can to keep horses feeling their best. Something I wish I had known about when I was in elementary and middle school was the school program Wellington has to offer for the younger competitors. There is a tent of tutors on the “pony island” part of WEF, but there is also a very large building a mile and a half away from the show which allows students to bike or walk there, and be able to get back to the show in no time if their class is going on.
My first experience at WEF was March of 2017. Unfortunately, I could not bring my horse because he was rehabbing from a surgery and there is no point bringing a rehabbing horse to a large horse show. I was more struck by the town of Wellington than I was by the horse show. I have been traveling to shows along the east coast since 2010, and never have I seen a town so in sync with the horses. I was lucky enough to come back in March of 2018 with my own horse who had recovered, and show him. The part I enjoyed the most was ring hopping. Ring hopping is when you ride in one empty show ring/warm up ring and then travel to another one once your horse has relaxed in the current ring you are in. It is fun for me, probably not everyone, because you start off with a nervous or “wild” horse in the first ring they may act out a bit but then you calm them down. Then the second ring they start looking around and being nervous again, but then you calm them down again. The action of having a horse trust you that everything in the ring is safe and getting them where you feel ready to show is the best feeling to me. A majority of horse shows have only a couple places to ring hop, but at WEF there are over eighteen warm up rings to ring hop in, one to go with every show ring and some have two.
Wellington, FL means a lot to horse people. To some, it is just a dream, it’s something their parents can not afford. They could also have parents who are not willing to pay money on something so outrageously expensive. To others, it is their winter home; a place from November to April they ship their hundred-thousand dollar horses, yes plural, down to show for the colder months. These people are usually children of families of extraordinary wealth, or families whose parents are trainers and make a living horse off of showing all year round. Wellington Florida is a place you will find Steve Jobs and Bill Gates daughters showing their horses. My most recent experience there I saw a tiny girl on a beautiful, probably 3-5 hundred thousand dollar horse jumping way higher than anyone should who was that age or weight. Most of the time in this scenario either the parents are Olympians or they have an obscene amount of money. I soon found out her father is the CEO of Microsoft and that is why she has fancy expensive horses that were doing her job, because someone who is 10 years old and 50lbs jumping 3’6 on a 1300 pound animal, can not control them. However, she won every class she went into because she had the fanciest, most expensive horse.
Unfortunately, this is how a majority of the classes at WEF are like. Luckily there is one kind of show jumping that is not judged, but timed so it is a little more fair than the judged classes that usually are biased. There are three types of jumping classes; hunter, jumper and equitation. Hunter classes are only judged on the horse and the way it moves; equitation is judged in the horse and rider duo together and how pretty they came make everything look; jumpers is timed and it does not matter how you look as long as you get it done fast. My horse, DaVinci, is a very good jumper but could also compete in the other jumping disciplines. However, in a place like WEF we would not be competitive in the classes because next to all of the names, our names mean nothing to the judges. In March 2018 together we competed in the 1.15m adult jumpers, jumper classes are organized by height and age. In the riding world “New Years” is December first-why I do not know- but everyone with a birthday in the month of December is considered one year younger than they actually are. People in ages 15-17 are considered juniors, this age group is the most competitive out of them all. I am considered a young adult which are ages 18-22, this is the second most competitive group. When speaking of competitive it only means for the judged jumping classes.
Wellington is horse. It just is. Everything about Wellington, Florida was made for horses and their riders. Anyone who has said they have ridden horses in their life and competed should know what Wellington is, because it simply is the horse capital. If you want to meet, see, or compete against the best of the best this is the place to do it.