First, a big thank you to everyone who attended our Cascade shows in June and July! We drew a record number of entries across all four shows, and we were gratified to see many new barns from inside and outside Washington state join our long-time supporters in Cle Elum.

In recent days, many of you have been asking about our Cascade Finals show in September. We had been working hard on this event, even expanding our schedule by an extra day this year. However, circumstances outside of our control have disrupted these plans.

From recent national headlines, you may know the country is amidst a nationwide labor shortage. This has impacted our venue partner, the Washington State Horse Park. They recently informed us that they are unable to secure enough experienced grounds management personnel to meet the requirements of a show of our size, quality and discipline during September.

We want to give the Horse Park the time and opportunity to fill its resource shortage. So rather than move forward with a compromised experience, we have made the difficult decision to cancel our September show.

While this is disappointing, we believe the Washington State Horse Park to be a truly special venue, one we expect to host our shows for years to come. We support their mission to be a top-notch equestrian facility and intend to continue our close partnership.

For now, we are setting our sights on 2022. We plan to bring even more excitement to everyone again next season starting with our June shows. Please mark these dates in your calendars:

• Swiftwater Invitational, June 15-19, 2022
• Alpine Preview, June 22-26, 2022

Wishing you and your horses all the best,

Your Cascade Horse Shows Team

Our friends at the Washington State Horse Park have been hard at work since the end of the show season breaking ground and starting construction of the brand new $4.6 million covered arena project. It’s all making for a very busy off-season for the Horse Park, as they work to get the new arena ready for the 2020 showing season. In their own words:

“Construction momentum has kicked into high gear since our final events last weekend… Digging dirt, setting footing forms, laying rebar, pouring concrete, spreading fill and gravel… it’s quite impressive to see the scale and speed of work underway!”

When completed, the new 200 feet wide by 350 feet long covered facility will include:

• A 150’ X 300’ competition space (covered, not fully enclosed)
• 25-foot wide covered “porch” wrapping around the competition space
  — Houses judges stands, portable seating, vendors, etc
  — Protection for horses and riders from weather while waiting to compete
• Balanced visibility via a translucent skylight panel and indirect outdoor light
• Lighting for nighttime events

Artist’s rendering of what the covered arena facility will look like when finished. Image courtesy WSHP.

The new covered arena will allow larger events, significantly extend the potential showing season, and attract new visitors to the Horse Park. Cascade Horse Shows is already making plans for how to incorporate the new space into our future shows.

The Park Needs Your Support

As a reminder, the Washington State Horse Park is a not-for-profit organization entrusted to steward and manage the facility for the benefit of all equestrian disciplines in our state. Cascade Horse Shows pays to use the park, and we depend on the Park’s ongoing success to keep delivering our high quality hunter jumper events. Please consider showing your appreciation with a donation of any size, and make sure to earmark it specifically “for hunter jumper improvements”.

An Unbridled Evening 2019!

You can show your support right now by making plans to attend the Washington State Horse Park’s annual gala and fundraiser on November 9, 2019 at the Sahalee Country Club in Sammamish, WA.  Enjoy keynote speaker John Nicholson, the former CEO of the Kentucky Horse Park, as well as fabulous food, drink, silent & live auction, dessert dash and updates on the park.  Representatives from Cascade Horse Shows will be there to share the fun and excitement with other members of our community. Doors open for all guests at 5:30 pm. Get your tickets now.