Third Time’s a Charm for the Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill Te third annual MARS Maryland 5 Star at
Fair Hill, presented by Brown Advisory, took place in Elkton on October 18-22 with Equi- ery readers reporting noticeable improvements overall! According to Te Equiery’s third an- nual Maryland 5 Star survey, 85.7% of those who took the survey plan on attending again in 2024, which is an increase over both the 2021 and 2022 survey results. Te Equiery and Maryland Horse Council
strongly support venues such as Fair Hill here in Maryland, and congratulate MHC member Maryland 5 Star at Fair Hill with another suc- cessful event. Below are comments and feed- back from Equiery readers who attended this year’s event.
Survey Participants Te majority of those who responded to our
survey were spectators (71.9%) with volunteers making up 14% of responders and the rest be- ing fairly evenly split between competitors, vendors, owners of competing horses, breeders of competing horses, sponsors, media, guests, grooms and family members of competitors as well as event veterinarians. Saturday’s cross-country day continues to be the most popular day of attendance (82.5%) and showed an increase in attendance over
to previous years with 57.7% stating they felt the ticket prices were “just right” while 9.6% stated ticket prices were too high. (Te Equiery’s research unearthed the fact that the General Admission
tickets for
the Maryland 5 Star are the least expensive tick- ets for any 5 star in the world, with the possible exception of Adelaide.)
Overall Impression
MARS Maryland 5 Star top three riders, from leſt: William Fox-Pitt (second), Austin O’Connor (first) and Oliver Townend (third).
Most people stated that their overall impres-
sion of the event was “just right” (54.7%) with 24.5% stating the event “exceeded expecta- tions.” Both these results show an increase over 2022. In addition, only 17% selected “needs im- provement” which is a decrease from 2022. Te overall facility received an increase in positivity with 59.6% stating it was “great” and only 3.5% stating the facility “needs improvement.” One of the biggest complaints about the in-
augural event was lack of signage, making it hard to find where various parts of the event were located. Tis improved in 2022 and improved again this year with 54.4% of survey responders stating they found things easy to locate at the venue. Bathroom reviews saw an in-
Saturday’s cross-country day was once again the most popular day for spectators. Pictured is Ema Klugman of Clarksburg com- peting Slieve Callan Alpha in the CCI3*.
2022. Wednesday, which features the first horse inspection, showed an increase in attendance also. Tursday and Friday dressage days, how- ever, showed a decrease, as did Sunday’s show jump finale. Overall, Sunday was the second most popular day of attendance (40.4%) fol- lowed by Friday (19.3%). (We asked survey re- sponders to check all days they attended, thus our percentages add up to more than 100%.) Of those who attended this year, 78.6% had attended previous years, with 61.4% stating they attended in 2021, and 68.4% stating they attended in 2022. Only 21.4% of those who took this year’s survey were first time attendees of the Maryland 5 Star. Comments on ticket pricing were similar
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crease in positivity this year with 63.2% stating they were “adequate” and only 5.3% stating the bath- rooms were “inadequate.” Our survey also showed improve- ment in the spectator viewing ar- eas. Tere was an increase in those who selected they “could see the competition well” and those who selected
“just right” for viewing locations. One write in comment
specifically said, “glad there were more bleach- ers around the jumps on cross-county.” Parking satisfaction also saw an increase in
our survey with 66.7% stating the parking op- tions were “just right” and only 12.5% stating parking “needs improvement.” Another 8.3% selected “exceeded expectations.” Tis year, no one wrote any comments about
delays getting into or out of parking which we see as a huge improvement over previous years! One person wrote in, “the parking attendants did a fantastic job. Te 5 Star is heading in the right direction. I saw improvements since its first year.” One volunteer mentioned that parking for
cross-country jump judges was too far a walk to their fences. A competitor also suggested each
horse owner should get a stable parking pass and that competitors need more parking passes in general in their packets. Te shuttles are still an issue with survey re-
sponders fairly split between “adequate” and “inadequate.” Here our survey showed a de- crease over 2022 for those stating the shuttles were adequate and an increase over 2022 for those stating the shuttles were inadequate. One survey responder specifically noted that the venue needs, “better shuttle service from the Saw Mill Field to the Middle Hay Field” while another stated, “Te shuttles themselves were good, but clearer signage on location would have been more helpful.”
Food & Shopping While survey responders felt the food vendors
showed improvement this year, they were not as happy with the shopping options. Our survey showed a decrease in those who selected “just right” for shopping vendors and an increase in “not enough options.” Notably, this year several people clicked “other” and reported they did not have time to go shopping. Our survey showed an increase in those who selected “just right” for food options and a decrease in those who selected “not enough options.” One person wrote “long wait time at some, but good to see more than previous years and better locations.” Another comment was, “Well done to provide options around the course but lines still 40 minute wait.” Several people wrote in that they did not
buy food at the venue since they were either in viewing areas that provided food or brought their own food for tailgates. One person sug- gested some sort of coffee, tea, and hot choco- late vendor or station. Te Maryland 5 Star logo wear is still taking a hit in our survey with an increase of people stat- ing the logo wear “needs improvement.” Several people wrote that they felt prices were too ex- pensive. Tat said, more people noticed the logo wear booths this year than in previous years.
continued... THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | DECEMBER 2023 | 15
Katherine O. Rizzo
Shannon Brinkman
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