For more than a century, the Maryland Hunt Cup has been shaped by families—riders, trainers, breeders and foxhunters whose names return again and again to the timber course.
To Lord Tennyson, spring lightly turns a young man’s fancy to thoughts of love. In Maryland horse country, spring turns thoughts elsewhere—toward timber.
Specifically toward the heart-pounding, palm-sweating four-mile test known as the Maryland Hunt Cup, where horses and riders gallop across open countryside and meet twenty-two solid timber fences built of oak rails that neither bend nor forgive. Across rolling pastures and hedgerowed hunt country, riders come at those fences at racing speed, knowing that the tallest obstacle on the course—Fence Six, rising four feet ten inches high—has ended many hopeful afternoons before the finish line ever comes into view.
With the 100th Hambletonian come and gone back in August, I found myself thinking about another Hambletonian—not that long ago.
It was Saturday, August 4, 2018. To most of the world it felt like just another ordinary, humdrum summer day. But to those of us who knew, it was anything but ordinary. The horses felt it too. Grooms hurried. Owners spoke carefully, trying to keep tension from creeping into their voices for the sake of their horses—but how could they? So many dreams were built on this race. The Hambletonian Stakes, one of harness racing’s greatest events, the first jewel of the trotting Triple Crown.
Currently Pennsylvania is operating under a temporary Interstate Quarantine Order. Documentation is required.
The Pennsylvania Equine Council extends a warm welcome to all horsemen traveling to the Horse World Expo and into our Commonwealth. As we kick off the beginning of our most active season, equine movement increases across state lines. For health safety (biosecurity) we encourage all visitors and residents to stay informed and take strong precautions to protect your horse – and all others. This is especially important in light of current concerns surrounding Equine Herpesvirus (EHV-1) and its neurologic form, Equine Herpesvirus Myeloencephalopathy (EHM).
Though Pennsylvania is currently operating under a Temporary Interstate Quarantine Order, effective December 8, 2025, which adds documentation requirements for incoming horses to ensure they have not been exposed to or diagnosed with EHM, these precautions make for more secure travel everywhere.
For horse fans and spectators trying to follow competitions today, the biggest challenge is no longer finding the show schedule. It’s figuring out where the competition is streaming.
Ten years ago, most equestrian coverage lived in only a few places: association livestreams, occasional television broadcasts, and the websites of major events. Today it feels like you need a map, a flashlight, six memberships and a sherpa to find what you love, as the programming spread across a much more complicated ecosystem of platforms. Then there’s the technology, and the cost. Competitions stream on one set of services, training content lives somewhere else, venue feeds operate independently, and championship events sometimes move to their own pay-per-view broadcasts. The complexity runs wide and deep. Media analysts increasingly refer to this layered ecosystem as the streaming stack. Understanding how that stack works is quickly becoming one of the most useful skills an equestrian sport fan can have.
Delaware may be compact, but it is unmistakably a horse state—one where barns sit just off two-lane roads, trailers are as common as pickup trucks, and nearly everyone knows someone who “keeps a few horses down the road.” The equestrian presence here is not ornamental or siloed; it is functional, interwoven, and visible. Horses are part of daily life, not just weekends or competition seasons.
By the numbers, the footprint is substantial: roughly 13,000 equines, more than 2,000 equine operations, and over 27,000 acres devoted to horse use. Economically, the industry contributes approximately $360 million annually and supports more than 3,000 jobs, spanning agriculture, services, retail, tourism, and sport. Racing alone accounts for more than $180 million in annual impact, with roughly 41 percent of the state’s horses tied to racing—a reminder that Delaware’s influence in Standardbred and Thoroughbred circles far exceeds its geographic size.
We asked the experts at ProFence “What type of fencing is safest for horses, and how do you choose the right one for your farm—and budget?”
The foundation of horse safety starts with a simple but critical goal: making sure horses remain contained in their fields and on your property. Choosing fencing for horses is often framed as a question of materials—wood, vinyl, woven wire, or electric—but experienced horse owners know the real decision is about designing a system that matches the horses, the property, and the way the farm is managed.
Horses are powerful animals with strong flight instincts. When startled or during play, they may run toward a fence line, push against it, strike it with a hoof, or try to go over—or through—it. Because of that, good fencing must do more than define a boundary. It must be visible, structurally sound, and designed to reduce the risk of entanglement or injury.
To advertise or for more information, please contact: Phyllis Hurdleston at phyllis@eastcoastequestrian.net
