Equestrian Sport Productions has canceled the Palm Beach Exquis World Dressage Masters CDI*****, according to Dressage-News.com.
The $130,000 invitational competition in Wellington, Fla., was slated for Feb. 3-5, but top European riders failed to commit to traveling to the event, and concerns then arose that spectators would lose interest.
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“We took the difficult decision to cancel this year’s World Dressage Masters, as we were unable to guarantee the participation of the top European riders that had always made the event so successful in the past,” said ESP President Michael Stone. “There are significant costs involved in staging the event, and without the stars participating, we couldn’t guarantee a sufficient number of spectators to make the event feasible.”
This competition was the only leg held outside of western Europe, with other editions in Falsterbo, Sweden, Hickstead, England, Cannes, France, and Munich, Germany. In the past two years, the Florida competition had previously drawn top foreign riders like Anky van Grunsven and Isabell Werth.
