In 1978, Former Director of St. Louis County Parks and Recreation Wayne Kennedy attended the USEA World Championships in Lexington, Kentucky and, inspired by what he saw there, returned to St. Louis determined to build a rolling terrain, top quality cross-country course in Ballwin, MO. Kennedy, along with Richard Newton and Brock Fitzgerald, worked rigorously to construct that very first cross-country course that our local community knows affectionately as “Queeny Park.”
Queeny Park Equestrian Events, Inc. is a non-profit association established in 1980 to organize all the Queeny Park Horse Trials, and even now, 40+ years later, QPEE works in partnership with St. Louis County Parks and Recreation to maintain the property for well-attended horse trials.
Generally understood, “horse trials” are considered a triathlon for horse and rider. Three phases are presented by the horse and rider team over two days: Dressage, cross-country jumping and stadium jumping. The horse and rider team with the least amount of penalties wins.
This year, come see the Dressage and stadium jumping portions of this event at the National Equestrian Center (while cross-country will remain at Queeny Park) and get more familiar with this agile, exciting and viewer-pleasing competition unlike any other in horse sport.