We Can Run This Show, But Should We?
2020 has been the year of ethical and public relations dilemmas. For many events scheduled to run early in the year, it was very obvious that they would have to be cancelled. But as time has gone on and the world has slowly started trying to reopen, the question has shifted from “can we run this show?” to “should we run this show?”.
Let’s look at the Pony Finals debacle, shall we? I don’t think too many folks were surprised that the show was cancelled, but I think a lot of people were surprised that the USEF lead people on as long as it did. Maybe they were just a bit too optimistic. Maybe exhibitors showing at the Kentucky Horse Park didn’t take the precautions as seriously as they should have. The one thing everyone underestimated was how razor thin the line between running a horse show and not running a horse show truly is.
State policy affects what runs, how it runs, and under what restrictions, but ultimately organizers made the final call as to whether or not they can operate their event within the legal safety limits. When an organizer says a show is going to run, they are essentially saying to would-be competitors that it is safe to come to their show or event. Horse people understand probably better than most that safety is an illusion and nothing is guaranteed, but I would argue that organizers still have an obligation to provide the safest environment possible.
The adage “Come if you feel safe, stay home if you don’t” doesn’t fly with me. We look to our governing body for direction, and they need to be reminded of that. The USEF and horse show organizers should be considering the wellbeing of their membership and patrons when making decisions, and lately it feels like they certainly aren’t.
“Horse people understand probably better than most that safety is an illusion and nothing is guaranteed.”
After reading many Pony Finals post mortems, my biggest take away is that we, as competitors, should be fully prepared to have shows cancelled last minute. I, personally, will not be booking myself for any away horse shows for which I am not financially and mentally prepared to deal with the implications of a cancellation. That includes losing money spent on travel, hotels, stalls, shipping, etc. It certainly doesn’t give me a cheery feeling about away shows, but the reality of horse shows isn’t overly cheery right now.
We have been lulled into a false sense of security because everything seemed to be going well and we forgot how fragile events still are. As the USEF just found out, the pandemic pendulum is still swinging and sometimes it goes backwards.
Not everything has to be cancelled, and maybe there’s a happy medium. I fully plan to take a page out of Heritage Farm’s playbook. Sticking closer to home, watching for updates, and waiting on the bigger venues until 2021 seems like a smart plan. Most shows are running without incident and that’s fantastic, but we can’t let our desire to carry on as normal get the best of us.