Maryland 5 Star Experiences Highs & Lows for 2024 Event, continued... • 3rd
– Hall of Champions (13.3%) A suggestion from a survey participant for
2025 is to include a jousting demonstration since jousting is Maryland’s official state sport. Another survey participant made a point of writing in, “the musicians are a great touch and very talented” and the MARS VIP Dog area remains a favorite destination for spectators with dogs.
Digital Program Te digital program, created by Eventing Na-
tion, got an overhaul this year with the addition of several articles written by either Eventing Nation or Maryland 5 Star partner media out- lets like Te Equiery. Tis revamp seems to have caught the attention of survey participants with more people selecting “just right” and fewer people selecting “did not know” about the pro- gram. However, there are still 46.5% that did not know about digital program. Te most common comment in our survey about the digital program was how people had trouble accessing it while on the competition grounds due to poor internet service around the grounds. For those who did read the digital program,
here are the top most enjoyable pages accord- ing to our survey: • 1st
– cross-country maps (24.4%) 3
www.ProFence.org
• 2nd • 3rd
– schedule (22.2%) – rider/horse bios (11.1%)
Te following three articles tied for the top most enjoyable articles in the digital program according to our survey: • “One Last Hurrah for Ian Stark” by Sally Spickard of Eventing Nation • “A Letter to Fair Hill from Jennie Brannigan” by five-star event rider Jennie Brannigan • “Fair Hill’s History: More Tan a 5*” by Kath- erine O. Rizzo of Te Equiery
Website & Socials New this year, we asked survey participants to
comment on both the Maryland 5 Star website and their various social platforms. Overall, the reviews across the board were overwhelmingly positive. For the website, 73.8% stated the website was
“just right” while only 16.7% selected “needs improvement.” Te most useful pages on the website, according to our survey, were: • 1st • 2nd • 3rd
– ticket sales (46.7%)
– results/live scoring (42.2%) – visitor’s guide (33.3%)
Sixty-six percent of survey participants felt
the Maryland 5 Star social media presence was “just right” with 15.4% stating it “needs improvement.” Te breakdown of social media
platforms used, according to our survey, is be- low: • Facebook (71.1%) • Instagram (28.9%) • YouTube (13.3%) • X (2.2%) • TikTok (none)
Parting Words Overall, 75.6% of survey participants stated
they plan to attend the Maryland 5 Star in 2025, which is slightly lower than reported in our 2023 survey. Twenty-two percent said they might attend in 2025 and 2.2% said they will not be back in 2025. Here are a few of the responses on why people
will attend in 2025: • “It’s a fantastic experience.” • “Really enjoyed it this year. Noticeable im- provements. More seating and food on cross- country was much better.” • “Wouldn’t miss it! Puts Maryland on the in- ternational map!” • “Every year it’s getting better and we may have a 5* horse next year… only seven five-stars in the world and this one is so close to home!” • “I love being able to support this level of com- petition in my home state and enjoy being a sponsor.”
Board Fence - Electric Fence - High Tensile WovenWire - Horse Rail - Trellising - Deer fence
www.equiery.com | 800-244-9580 THE EQUIERY YOUR MARYLAND HORSE COUNCIL PUBLICATION | DECEMBER 2024 | 29
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