Hunters and jumpers soared to increased VIP ticket sales under improved lights and hospitality, among other bright spots at the 2025 Winter Equestrian Festival, while dressage soldiered through headwinds with reduced numbers in some categories, a top horse show executive told Wellington officials meeting Wednesday, May 7.
Wellington leaders remained eager for assurances that things are still on track for the equestrian disciplines to join each other in an expanded, consolidated showgrounds by 2028 — if not 2027 under an optimistic scenario.
“Do you have a target in mind for what you’d like dressage to be year over year?” asked Mayor Michael Napoleone as the Wellington Village Council met jointly with the village’s Equestrian Preserve Committee for updates. “Is there a goal you’d like to hit every year until you grow, or what’s the plan, really?”
The plan is to stay conservative for now, though the potential for growth is certainly there over time, said Murray Kessler, chief executive officer at Wellington International.
“Right now, from a horse-count number with dressage, I’m building my plan based on flat,” Kessler said. “If it grows, great, but I’m building a plan based on flat.”
Competition from other venues, along with a late start in sending out ticket packages amid management changeovers, set back the dressage effort this year, he said.
The Winter Equestrian Festival sold 139,287 VIP tickets, a 59 percent increase in a year, according to Kessler, and featured 365,000 total spectators. Events saw more than 31,000 entries for $15 million in prize money and delivered more than $400 million in total economic impact in Palm Beach County.
“We were sold out every single weekend of the 13 weeks,” Kessler said.
Riders represented 50 countries, featuring a hefty slice of the world’s top 10 talent and 21 Olympians from the 2024 games in Paris. There were 1.4 million livestream views of events, including a 76 percent increase to 84,000 views of the $750,000 Rolex US Equestrian Open Grand Prix.
The dressage festival, meanwhile, held steady or dipped in some categories, with 2,446 total horse and rider entries, 24,718 VIP tickets sold and $500,000 in total prize money.
“We started to become sold out on Friday nights, and we made a number of improvements,” Kessler said. “I’ve got high hopes for dressage for next year.”
Looming large behind all this is the promised bigger showgrounds, part of a grand bargain by which Wellington Lifestyle Partners justified more than 200 luxury homes and a commercial main street with a hotel, restaurants and shops. That deal, approved by the council last year, involved taking 96 acres out of the village’s Equestrian Preserve Area for the first time to accommodate a golf community.
As part of the agreement, dressage, operating for years at a separate Equestrian Village location, is to join hunters and jumpers at an expanded Wellington International showgrounds site.
Kessler reminded village officials that he does not have control of what builders do in delivering on their promises, which require the new, expanded showgrounds by 2028 or no homes can be built on the Equestrian Village land.
He does offer a steady stream of advice on what should go in the showgrounds, he said. Already work on facilities is coming about on what is known as Pod F, including three rings that were used for warm-ups this season.
Approved by village officials last year were an 84,000-square-foot covered arena, a 3,000-seat international arena, a 1,500-seat hospitality area, a 210-seat restaurant, a derby field and 5,100 square feet of retail operations, among other items.
“When are you looking to complete Pod F?” Equestrian Committee Member Sarah Goos asked.
“The fastest it could be is 2027,” Kessler said. “The latest would be 2028.”
