Issue link: http://read.uberflip.com/i/1404827
CO T H . CO M | FA L L 2 0 2 1 63 How do you get the oldest horse show in the United States to become a trendsetter? According to R. Scot Evans, creative director for the environmental nonprofit Green Is The New Blue, it's about taking small steps that move you toward big changes. During the Upperville Colt & Horse Show's 168th edition, held this summer in Upperville, Virginia, its management team announced their pledge to go "Plastic-Free By 2023," meaning the show will move away from single-use plastics over the next two years in an effort to become more environmentally friendly. It's just one aspect of a partnership with Green Is The New Blue, founded by hunter rider Stephanie Bulger two years ago with the goal of making horse showing more sustainable. Since Green Is The New Blue began operations in 2019 with a handful of horse shows, its portfolio has grown substantially. It has worked with marquee events such as the Washington International (District of Columbia), Pennsylvania National, Split Rock Jumping Tour and the Palm Beach Masters (Florida), and it partners with facilities including the Aiken Horse Park (South Carolina) and Desert International Horse Park (California). Although the pandemic forced the organization to pivot to address COVID-related challenges in 2020, it's back on track in its third year and looking to lead the entire horse industry toward 21st-century sustainability practices, Evans says. Not just as a feel-good measure, he added, but as a necessity if the sport wants to remain relevant. "This is no longer a choice to be made. We have to be part of this, as a sport, as the equestrian community," he says. Anyone who's ever organized a show or been one of the last stragglers leaving the grounds at the end of a competition knows exactly what Evans means when he talks about horse showing's "trail of trash"—ribbons left behind on the floors of tack stalls, discarded paper programs and orders of go strewn about, overflowing trash cans outside concession areas, plastic cups and water bottles left behind at the in-gate. Signs announcing the Upperville Colt & Horse Show's (Va.) pledge to go plastic-free in its 170th year hung prominently on its historic grandstand at this year's competition. LAURA LEMON PHOTO