Jet Linx Washington DC was proud to sponsor the oldest show in the equestrian circuit: the 2016 Upperville Colt and Horse Show.

In 1853, Colonel Richard Henry Dulaney gathered his friends and neighbors for a summer show to encourage all to take better care of their stock. Although there is no documentary record of the original show, Colonel Dulaney spoke of it frequently. Today, his love for the animals – and the sport – lives on at the Upperville Colt & Horse Show, the oldest horse show in the United States.

This year marked the show’s first year with a four-star ranking from Federation Equestrian Internationale, or FEI – the show’s winners, in addition to taking home a handsome purse, also received world standing points at the competition Jet Linx Washington DC was proud to take the reins to support the industry and sponsor part of the event, the Jet Linx Jumper Ring 1. Take a ride through beautiful Virginia horse country, and enjoy the view: “The actor Robert Duvall says that Virginia horse country is the last stop on earth before you go to Heaven,” said Jet Linx DC Base President Greg Kinsella.

Kinsella was a first-time visitor to UCHS, and was impressed with the caliber of the show and its exciting atmosphere. “You’re really in the upper echelon of the equestrian world at Upperville,” he said. Most exciting for Kinsella was seeing the Jet Linx sponsorship come to life, with the help of friends involved in the show: Barbara Roux, the show’s Second Vice President, and Tracey Weinberg, a Board member with UCHS. “We had the primary jumper ring named after us, Jet Linx Jumper Ring 1, which was shown on live streams worldwide throughout the entire six-day event,” he explained. A custom-built jump displayed the Jet Linx branding to all watching the show’s center stage.

As a newcomer to the show, Kinsella was fascinated by the sport. “At the event there are two styles of riding: on one side, there’s the ring that we sponsored, the jumper ring, and then the other style is what they call a hunter,” he noted. Weinberg shared an analogy to help describe the difference between the two events. “If you take the equestrian sport and look at the hunters and jumpers and compare it to the sport of ice skating, the hunters are analogous to figure skating,” she said, illustrating the example. “It’s all about the figure, the beauty, the form, the precision, the way the movements are made. It’s a very subjective sport, meaning you have a panel of judges critiquing you and giving you a score, and everything is incredibly beautiful and precise and every step counts.” The jumpers are a whole other sport, with much clearer and objective rules, she explained. “When you look at the show jumping, it’s comparable to the ice hockey world: all about power, speed, and bravery, and it doesn’t matter what the form looks like,” she said excitedly. “You need to get over the obstacle, clean, without knocking it down. The only judge, if you will, is the clock: you’re up against the clock and you’re up against keeping all the jumps up.”

The Upperville Colt and Horse Show is unique throughout the equestrian world – and for good reason. The fact that it’s the oldest horse show in North America lends the show a unique perspective on the sport and history. “The show was originally founded by one of the huntsmen — the masters of the hunt in Upperville — as a way to showcase their field hunters against the different hunts,” Weinberg explained. Regions would compete to show the diversity of the hunters out on the field. “It is located in the majestic setting in the heart of Upperville, on gorgeous grounds. There are the oaks, and over the years they’ve kept the integrity of the grounds,” she said. Usually, horse shows take place in a ring or in a grass field; here, the show was planned around the 300-year-old trees. The quality of the competition complements the luscious scenery. “The caliber of the competition is unparalleled, both locally but also in North America, in the quality of the horses and the quality of the riders,” Weinberg continued. The event’s prestige has continued to attract fans throughout the show’s history. “Over the years it has become the social thing in Virginia. You know the first week in June is Upperville and it’s on everybody’s calendar. As the years go by, it’s also about the vendors, the local cuisine, the local wines: that’s what sets the horse show apart. As with most sports, as time progresses, the venues become generic, or cookie-cutter. This horse show has been able to maintain integrity from 163 years ago.”

Weinberg was inducted to the Board for the Upperville Colt and Horse Show in 2014, but has been involved in equestrian pursuits for much longer. “I started showing at about 13, and the goal was always to go to Upperville,” she recalled. “If you did well, it was the strawberry on top of the cake, if you will. I competed from 13 to 18, and then I got out of the sport for about 25 to 30 years, and I have been competing for both the hunters and the jumpers.” Upperville has long held a special place in Weinberg’s heart. “I moved from Maryland to Virginia about 12 years ago, and it’s part of the local pride, being on the board and helping the show take steps forward and helping raise money. It’s an honor to compete there,” she said. “In my lifetime of competing, I have only missed Upperville once: I skipped my high school graduation for Upperville.”

Competition ignites a fire in Weinberg, but she carefully selects which shows she will participate in: the level of competition at Upperville makes it a perennial favorite. “I’m partial to the competition [at Upperville],” she said. “To be honest, I love to compete and I love to compete at top quality shows. As I’ve gotten a little older, I tend not to go to shows that I might have gone to in the past because I’ve gotten very particular. I want to go where the venue is beautiful and the footing is beautiful, where it’s a competition about the horse and not the spectator. So many competitions worldwide worry about the spectator and the bottom line, but not the horse: I care about that, and Upperville cares about the animals.”

This year was a banner year for Upperville: the show received a 4-star rating from Federation Equestrian Internationale, or FEI. “In this day and age the riders are looking for world standing points with Federation Equestrian Internationale,” Weinberg said. “For competition to be sanctioned by FEI is a big deal, and there’s a big checklist to complete: like applying to be a venue for the Olympics, basically.” FEI issues ratings on a scale from one to five, with five being the highest. “We were granted four stars in our first year because of the venue, the footing, the caliber of the sponsors, caliber of vendors, and caliber of prize money we are able to offer,” she continued. “For Upperville in 2016, this was a very big year.”

Kinsella saw the excitement build throughout the week. “It starts on Tuesday and when you go out, it’s kind of lightly attended and the people in attendance are the die-hard equestrian fans, and it’s more casual,” he recalled. Even though Kinsella and the rest of the Jet Linx team were newcomers to the sport at the beginning of the week, he said it was easy to find fans to help provide insight. “They love to share their knowledge and enthusiasm for the sport, and they appreciate the sponsorship. I didn’t know much about it, but as you sit and watch the competition and your new friends explain to you what’s good and what’s bad, what works and what the rules and strategies are, you can see that it’s a very strategic sport and very athletic,” he continued. The energy of the event continued to build up to Sunday’s Grand Prix. “By the end of the week for the final event, men are in seersucker suits with bowties and ladies in big hats and Derby-style clothing. It gets more serious as competition gets more intense and the stakes are higher,” he said. Upperville’s Grand Prix boasts a $216,000 purse – which is “large for one event in that sport,” said Kinsella – and other competitions with purses on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday during the event start at $35,000.

Even if someone is new to the sport, Weinberg advises that everyone can find something to enjoy at Upperville. “Regardless of if you have an affinity for horses small or large, whether you have a horse in the backyard or ride in any discipline or compete at any level, or for the person who is looking for entertainment – the horse show offers all of that to people,” she said. The show’s variety of competition, with jumping, hunters, leadline class (for young children), sidesaddle, Cleveland bays and more, showcases the diversity and the agility of how the horses compete and perform. Of course, the Upperville show’s setting and history add to its draw. “It’s a gorgeous setting. We have top notch vendors from all over the country with a wide variety of wares, delicious local cuisine, and we’ve built it into a spectator sport,” Weinberg continued. “For those wanting the VIP experience, we have the 1853 Club, named for the year the show was founded, and it’s unparalleled at any other equestrian event in North America. There will be something for you whether you’re interested in horses in a big way or a small way – or if you’ve never met a horse,” she smiled. “The thing about horses is that they’re majestic creatures. There’s something about a horse and the bond between the horse and the rider that is majestic and hard to articulate.”

The contest was originally founded after Colonel Dulaney rescued a colt from freezing under a fence. An animal lover, he was certain that he could make a difference and encourage the better care of young horse stock: after discussion with neighboring planters, the show and its prizes were set for the following June. He visited silversmith Louis Tiffany in search for trophies, and Tiffany – perhaps equally in recognition of the importance of the show and the potential for future business – donated the craftsmanship of the trophies, charging Dulaney only for the silver.

By the time the “Upperville Union Club show,” as it was first known, was first documented in print, the show expanded from its original two categories (colts and fillies) to three (riding stock, quick draft, and heavy draft), with 14 judges selecting winners in classes in each for yearlings, two-year-olds and three-year-olds. The show’s reputation for quality began early, as the judges awarded no premiums in heavy drafts, “the colts not being entitled to any.”

The primary reason for the show – the encouragement of better care, and the improvement of the Quick Drafts for riding and driving, and Heavy Drafts for working plantations and smaller farms – was at the forefront for the early years of the Show. In 1857, the show’s first magazine stated, “We have several times urged the farmers of Virginia to form just such a club (Upperville Union Club) for the improvement of their various breeds of horses; but so far as we know, this is the first successful attempt of the kind. The object, which the title of this Association sufficiently expresses, is a very laudable one; and no locality offers a fairer field for its accomplishment than the Counties of Fauquier and Loudoun. They already have fine stock there; taken as a whole perhaps the best in the state, and better than can be found anywhere else, except Kentucky. But it may be improved.”

The Show took a hiatus during the Civil War, and in 1869, removed the word “Union” from its name. A detailed charter was filed when the Upperville Colt Club was formally reorganized in 1894, renamed the Upperville Colt and Horse Club in 1902. The organization changed its name again in 1902, becoming the Upperville Colt and Horse Club, sponsoring a two-day show. Pony classes were included, as were High Steppers in Harness, Sporting Tandems, Four-In-Hands, and classes for Park and Gaited Saddle Horses.

Since then, the show has continued to grow and advance the original mission of Colonel Dulaney. With the 2016 receipt of the four-star ranking from FEI, the international governing body of equestrian sports, the event will continue to advance the Colonel’s original message: care for the horses, and showcase the best in equestrian sport.