Blowing Rock Horse Show

Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show

BY DAVID ROGERS

Few, if any, special events have as significant of an economic impact in the High Country as the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show has on Blowing Rock. Estimated at approximately $8 million every year during those special three weeks in June, July and early August, according to an Appalachian State University impact study more than 10 years ago, the Charity Horse Show means business to the region, especially when it comes to lodging, dining, and shopping. That’s because the historic show attracts some of top riders not just from North Carolina and the South, but from many other parts of the U.S. Participants regularly come from North Carolina, Tennessee, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, Virginia, New York, California, Texas, and other states.

And it has been doing it for more than a century, ultimately descending from a gymkhana in the late 19th century, at a space behind what is now the Green Park Inn. In 1897, one newspaper described the event as “... largely consisting of games on horseback and more of an equine fashion show for the amusement of hotel guests.”

In 1923, L.M. Tate held his first Blowing Rock Horse Show, still at a venue near the Green Park Hotel. It grew as an official sporting event, but retained its reputation as a “fun show.” By the mid-1920s, Thomas Broyhill had purchased about 1,000 acres of land in the Mayview section of Blowing Rock and the horse show moved to a small, little-used golf course there. Broyhill’s objective was to make the horse show an attraction for guests of the famous Mayview Manor Hotel.

The Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show Association was formed in the early 1930s, and in 1934, Broyhill sold what was known as the “horse show grounds” to the association for $1.

During the years since, the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show grew and expanded, even while keeping its nonprofit organizational model. As the longest, continuous running equestrian event in the U.S., it survived not only the Great Depression, but subsequent recessions, too, as well as two world wars and other regional, national, and even international crises.

Today, the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show features a Saddlebred competition in June and then two consecutive weeks of Hunter/Jumper events, at times drawing more than 500 horses to compete and thousands of owners, riders, trainers, support staff, and their families.

The first show features Saddlebreds, with roadster, hackney harness, pleasure, equitation, academy and miscellaneous classes. It will be June 9-12, 2022. Altogether, there are 158 competitive classes planned for these four days, with thousands of dollars in prize money on the line.

With increased prize money, the Hunter/ Jumper Division will be two full weeks of excitement and spectacle. It seems to break records for the number of entries, participants and spectators every year. Previous shows have seen upwards of 500 horses competing for thousands of dollars, as well as bragging rights for a year.

Week No. 1 of the Hunter Jumpers in 2022 is July 25-31, then they do it all over again in Week No. 2, Aug. 3-7. For more information, visit www.brchs.org.

PHOTO COURTESY OF BLOWING ROCK EQUESTRIAN PRESERVE Liza Boyd of Camden, S.C. rides Carento to the 2021 Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show’s Hunter Derby championship at the Blowing Rock Equestrian Preserve.

BLOWING ROCK

CHARITY HORSESHOW Saddlebred Division

June 9-11 at L.M. Tate Showgrounds on the Blowing Rock Equestrian Preserve, 1500 Laurel Lane, Blowing Rock, N.C.

Hunter-Jumper I Division

July 26-July 31 at L.M. Tate Showgrounds on the Blowing Rock Equestrian Preserve, 1500 Laurel Lane, Blowing Rock, N.C.

For times, pricing and other details, visit www.brchs.org.

FILE PHOTO A hunter-class horse jumps over an obstacle during the Blowing Rock Charity Horse Show.