Good morning, EN! Here’s the latest from the wide world of eventing.
One Big Thing
We’ve been closely monitoring the developing story over at the MARS Maryland 5 Star, which saw several members of the leadership team, including CEO Jeff Newman, depart suddenly last month. On the heels of those departures also came news that Terry Hasseltine — the executive director of the Maryland Sports Commission (which, for context, was the organization that launched the Sport and Entertainment Corporation of Maryland (“Sport Corp.”), which would encompass the operational arm of the Maryland 5 Star) — was dismissed from his role after 17 years.
What does this mean for the future of the Maryland 5 Star? At this point, we don’t know. A deeper dive into budgetary and financial public documentation indicate that funding, earmarked for a total of $2.5 million out of the Major Sports and Entertainment Event Fund, was recommended to be cut from the event by analysts ahead of fiscal year 2026. Arguments were made to continue the funding for the event, but at this juncture the final allocation of funds for all sporting events involved with this Fund has not been made. We anticipate a final decision on this in the next few weeks or months.
Zooming out: It feels to early to PANIC, but the future of the event, at least for 2026, is certainly held in question with all of these developments. We aren’t going to go too far down the speculation path just yet, because that’s not productive, but it’s certainly safe to say that the loss of the Maryland 5 Star would have ripple effects across the entire sport and not just at the CCI5* level. For this year’s event, it’s safe to say that without an operating entity currently in place in the wake of these developments, crucial planning and infrastructure steps have the potential to fall behind if new leadership is not installed soon. Now, Maryland Sports Commission and Maryland Stadium Authority (yes, there are a lot of “commissions” and “authorities” in the mix here — it’s not at all confusing, lol) have gone on record to say that there is interest and some form of commitment to ensuring the 5 Star’s future, but there’s much still to sort out in terms of the final outcome.
Most recently this week, The Equiery, a Maryland-based publication of the Maryland Horse Council, which first broke the story of these staffing changes, submitted a request via the Maryland Public Information Act (MPIA) for documentation concerning the dismissal of Terry Hasseltine. They’ve been on the case with more updates that you can find on their website here.
We’re working on a larger story for this, so thanks for your patience while we see how this unfolds and do our research.
U.S. Events This Weekend
Horse Trials at Majestic Oaks (FL): [Website] [Entries/Ride Times] [Volunteer]
Other Links and Reading
Mini Classifieds
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Training Tip of the Day
Brush up on your basic polework with British 5* rider Alex Bragg:
Go Eventing
Photo via Andrea McAllister (Roberts!) and Katrina Fidanz Photo on Facebook.
Congratulations to Canadian rider Waylon Roberts and Andrea McAllister, who tied the knot in a small ceremony in Aiken, SC on December 30!
