The Roanoke Valley Horse Show, a 43-year-old competition held in Salem, Va., has canceled its 2015 competition due to insufficient funding. Declining entries and unexpected lack of sponsorship sealed the show’s fate. Organizers were only able to raise about about 20 percent of the $500,000 required to run the competition.

“It always takes money to put on a horse show, and when you’re not getting that, that plays a major role in it,” said Roanoke Valley Horsemen’s Association president Donnis Honeywell. “A lot of things contributed to this year; the economy’s been bad for the past several years as everybody’s aware of, and Roanoke city itself has lost some major corporations that have been here in recent weeks. I’m sure that’s added to the situation of the economy in the valley and that also affects what we do as a horse show.”

The show’s dates have also conflicted with as many as three other horse shows in the country in recent years, drawing valuable entries away. This year’s competition had been on the calendar for June 15-20. The organizers are currently issuing refunds to sponsors and advertisers who had contributed to the RVHS this year.

Honeywell, who has been the RVHA’s president for four years and served on the board that originally created the show in Salem, said it was a devastating loss.

“For going on 44 years, I’ve been deeply involved with the horse show,” she said. “At one time, actually four generations of my family at the same time were involved in this horse show. It’s not been an easy decision by any means for this board to make.”

The AA show was founded in 1972 and has been run as a non-profit organization since its inception. The competition donated to a variety of local charities and scholarships annually, with 50 percent of its proceeds going to the Bradley Free Clinic in Roanoke, Va. for the last 30 years.

In addition to hunter/jumper divisions, the Roanoke Valley Horse Show offered racking, roadster, Saddlebred, western and barrel racing classes. It also featured a popular Children’s Stick Horse Classic, Jack Russell terrier races, and its spectator favorite, the $50,000 Grand Prix of Roanoke. The RHVA will continue to put on its usual calendar of seminars, clinics, educational programs and trail rides, and there is a possibility that the show will eventually re-open.

“It hasn’t been an easy thing to deal with, that’s for sure. It’s been a part of our lives for so long, and it’s like losing a family member, actually,” said Honeywell. “We’ll just have to see what the future holds as far as a horse show.”