ESE unveils modernized horse show office
Date: 4/18/2014
By Carley Dangona
carley@thereminder.comWEST SPRINGFIELD – After nearly 100 years of using barn stables as a makeshift office, the Horse Show Office received a modern home.
On April 16, a new 800 square-foot Horse Show Office was officially opened for business after three months of construction.
Representatives from The Barn Yard and Great Country Garages, the builders of the project, were on hand to celebrate the ribbon cutting along with officials from the ESE.
The event coincided with the first day of the United Professional Horseman’s Association Horse Show that runs through April 19 and is the first of the season. This event alone hosts 35 farms for the show.
“Gutted horse stalls served as the [former] office,” Eugene Cassidy, president and CEO of the ESE said. “It’s a very modest facility.”
He explained that a modernized facility was needed to accommodate the needs of today to implement technology such as computers, which must be protected from dust and weather elements.
Cassidy said that horses and their owners come from “far and wide” to participate in the shows each year at the ESE and it was important have the capacity to manage the events in a timely, organized fashion.
“We’re working very hard in our agriculture department to broaden and expand our services,” Cassidy said, adding that the office was one step in the right direction.
He stated the structure demonstrates the ESE’s “dedication” to the horse show industry.
In a given year, the ESE hosts 19 horse shows in addition to three ESE Horse Shows during the Big E and the Equine Affaire, a trade show for the horse industry, that bring horses from all over the world to compete. The grounds have a total of 595 horse stalls.
For a complete schedule of the shows, visit
www.thebige.com.
