The Autumn MET in the Equestrian Centre in Oliva Nova, Spain, provided three wonderful weeks of equestrian sport from 20th October to 8th November, but the organisers are already looking to the future. The three-week autumn tour has been positively received all round, but new goals have been set nonetheless. Herbert Ulonska, who together with his agency Equestrian Sport Events had responsibility for the complete marketing and organisation of the event for the very first time, is delighted with the positive reception: “We had 150 more horses in the Autumn MET as in the same period in 2014. The feedback of the competitors has been consistently positive and it has introduced new tasks and aims for the future.”
Carlos Borho, the Spanish initiator and principal shareholder of the complex, feels exactly the same. “We had significantly more competitors than in previous years and over the coming weeks we will discuss where we go from here. It is still our intention to develop both the content of the event and the facilities and conditions on offer, as we would like to be able to offer top CSIs here.”
For Ulonska it is a good sign that the capacity of the complex has grown to around 700 boxes per weekend. “We must, however, also recognise that this has consequences for the MET operation. The horses are exercised and trained every day, even those horses that aren’t involved in that day’s tests. The arenas and spaces available are ample for those numbers. If the capacity were increased however, then we’d have to consider the creation of more arenas and training spaces in our calculations”.
Interest in longer-term accommodation of horses in Oliva Nova has also increased. Belgian Nations Cup rider Constant van Paesschen, for example, has arranged for 13 horses to be accommodated and supervised within the MET complex. Herbert Ulonska: “That confirms the quality of the facilities available, and is also particularly interesting for those managing operations in the period between tournament tours.“
The structure of the spring tour, which comprises both two and three week MET tours, will also be changed. Between the individual tours there are breaks of one or two weeks, and in Spring 2016 there will be an additional two-week tournament.
“We have by no means exhausted the MET’s potential, but we want to develop the programme one step at a time. The MET is economically healthy and it should continue to grow steadily”, says Herbert Ulonska.
Source: press release
