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Lake Placid set to host largest horse show in a decade

The Lake Placid Horse Show kicked off Tuesday with riders and trainers getting their horses warmed up at the North Elba Show Grounds. Shown here is an unidentified rider on Calau (from Newbury Farm), which Katie Hession will ride in competition this week. The horse show will continue through Sunday and will be followed next week by the I Love New York Horse Show from July 4 to 9. (Enterprise photo — Andy Flynn)

LAKE PLACID — On the first day of the Lake Placid Horse Shows, Lori Martin and her team of family, friends and colleagues work within the beehive that is the primary administrative building at the Lake Placid Horse Show Grounds.

Seated at her desk behind an organized maze of meticulously decorated goodie bags, Martin and her team put the final preparations Tuesday on this year’s two-week horse show schedule — the largest in a decade.

At the other end of the bustling one-story building, David Orlando, the man in charge of the show’s stables and feed passes out parking passes and feed slips to the endless stream of riders checking in for the week. Swiveling his chair and clicking on his Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, Orlando says there are more than 1,500 people currently in town for this week’s horse show, which effectively kicks off today with a full slate of more than 40 events at the show grounds nestled at the feet of the Sentinel Range.

Martin said she is unsure why numbers are up this year, but she thinks it has something to do with how concurrent events, such as CAN/AM Hockey are manifesting in families deciding to come here to take part in multiple events.

“We thought we were going to be down because there are so many competing (horse) shows,” Martin said, “but I think it goes back to the same thing we always say, ‘Lake Placid sells itself.’ Our numbers are really big, which we are all really excited about. One of my riders has three children going to CAN/AM — the girls are riding and the boys are going to hockey camp.”

Aside from once again seeing all the returning faces to town from the event’s competitors, spectators and members of its family-like management company, the one thing Martin is particularly excited about this year actually melds two sports dear to the heart of Lake Placid: hockey and show jumping. For a few years, Martin said she has worked to secure a new Boston Bruins-themed jump from members of the family that owns the popular National Hockey League franchise.

And so this year, a pair of hockey jersey-clad bears flank that new jump, which is located halfway down the Turf & Field Club VIP Lounge pavilion at the heart of the grounds.

“And that’s exciting,” Martin said. “They are sponsors of the shows and they ride in the shows. Their jump is just awesome, it has been added to our inventory this year. I was so excited, because we are such a big hockey town.”

Martin added that this year, two tents have been added for the increase in number of horses, the class schedule is pretty much the same as years past and that the show has gained and lost a typical number of sponsors.

As for how the grounds have held up after a long winter, wet spring and soggy start to summer, Martin said the Richard M. Feldman Grand Prix Field has held up “miraculously,” while the all-weather footing fields are good to go and will host events as long as there is no thunder and lightning.

This year’s shows will run now through July 2 and July 4-9. The event will offer more than 100 classes of competition each week for riders at all levels, from children on ponies to grand prix competitors and Olympic medalists. Action begins at 8 a.m. each show day with classes running simultaneously in four separate rings until approximately 5 p.m.

Spectators can come for an hour or a whole day and see competition ranging from ponies ridden by tomorrow’s champions to members of the U.S. Equestrian Team atop some of the world’s best horses.

Admission to the horse shows is $2 on weekdays and $5 on weekends. Children under the age of 12 are admitted for free. Discounts are available for groups of 20 or more.

For a behind-the-scenes look at the shows, one-hour guided walking tours are offered Wednesday, Thursday and Friday at 11:30 a.m. The tour groups meet at the show ground’s retail booth.

For more information, call 518-523-9625 or visit www.lakeplacidhorseshow.com.

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