Historic horse show

This year's Skidmore College Saratoga Classic again welcomes riders and horses for equitation, hunter, and jumper competition-from children and ponies to top competitors in an international derby and Skidmore's own grand prix. Admission is free, and there will be concessions and vendors. The action starts in all three rings at 8 a.m. (7:30 a.m. on Saturdays) June 14–18 and 21–25 at the Yaddo show grounds (on Union Avenue, just south of the Saratoga Racecourse).

This 20th modern show reflects a storied Skidmore tradition. In physical education courses and the Horsey Set student club and at Winter Carnival and May Day contests, equestrian events engaged hundreds of Skidmore students and drew large crowds of campus and Saratoga community members from 1927 into the 1960s. It was Adele Einhorn '80, an advancement staff member and rider herself, who restarted the show as both a highly rated event on the national hunter and jumper circuit and as a major Skidmore scholarship-aid fundraiser.

Many corporate sponsorships soon made the classic one of Skidmore's largest benefits, providing over $4 million for need-based scholarship aid since 1998. The show has also brought to town more than 13,000 horses and participants from 49 states and seven countries and has employed some 850 individuals. Many exhibitors and trainers eagerly return each June. "It's like a big family event, and we're always pleased to see so many returning familiar faces each year," says Einhorn, the classic's executive director. In recent years, she adds, "It's fun to meet professional riders who had previously attended the show when they were kids."

This is slated to be the last Skidmore Saratoga Classic to use the Yaddo show grounds and NYRA stabling; through a bequest last year, Skidmore has acquired its own horse-show venue just outside Saratoga.