The Las Vegas National Horse Show Recap & Venue Review

The Las Vegas National Horse Show came and went like a $100 bill in the hands of a gambler, and I got to be there for the action along with notables like

• George Morris (I thought to ask for a selfie with him, but I refrained)
• Rich Fellers and Flexible
• @StyledEquestrian of Instagram (Jennifer Sims) and her sweet gelding Rocket (I got to pick her brain about great holiday gift ideas for equestrians which I’ll share next week!!!)
• and my mom who likes to watch Grand Prix jumping and write down the each horse and rider’s time and faults in the same vein a hardcore baseball fan records each inning on a scorecard

As you can see, it was a good crowd.

Now I have been to a number of horse shows–local ones as a competitor and “fancy” ones as a spectator/ media member, and I have been to Vegas before, but never have I been to Las Vegas for a horse show. It was an interesting experience!

The South Point Hotel, Casino & Spa was the host site for the Las Vegas National Horse Show and I was shocked and impressed to discover the hotel has its own stable and three arenas. From the freeway exit I spied dozens and dozens of horse trailers in the parking lot and upon arrival a sign that said “Horse Stall Registration.”

Here are a few more fun facts about the hotel which has:

• 2,163 hotel rooms
• 1,200 climate controlled stalls
• 500,000 square foot equestrian center
• 27 spa treatment rooms
• 2 sixty-four lane bowling alleys
• 11 restaurants

At the check in desk (trying to hold my breath from all the smoke wafting over from the casino area) a gentleman wearing white riding breeches walked past–further evidence that this wasn’t just any kind of hotel/casino.

Horse art greeted us when we opened the door of our 24th floor room: a picture of a little girl leading a horse. Nothing as spectacular as Donna Bernstein’s contemporary equestrian paintings, but a nice touch nonetheless.

The hotel/casino/showgrounds is massive, yet contained under one roof. I rocked my step count on my Fitbit hitting over 10,000 steps on Saturday when I hadn’t really left the building!

My mom and I were there strictly for the horses, but it was nice to know there were entertainment options aside from gambling such as the Bee Jees tribute band. Bee Jees tribute band. It’s a thing. Also, I learned Chubby Checker is still alive (no pun intended).

We enjoyed watching the hunters, U25 jumpers, and of course the Grand Prix classes over the course of the weekend.

I have been struggling with a back injury and at the time, sitting for a few hours was not good. One of the best features of the South Point was the arena events being shown on the in-room television. So as the $100,000 Grand Prix on Saturday night was getting ready for the jump off, I escaped to the comfort of my hotel room and was able to watch the action whilst supine.

If you want to read more about the headline event, the $100,000 Longines FEI World Cup Jumping Las Vegas which Christian Heineking won aboard AJE Cluny click here.

Thank you for reading about our Vegas escape.

What are your thoughts on spectating at horse shows: do you have any dream destinations or favorite places to go whether as a competitor or fan? Leave a note in the comments section.

If you like horses and horse shows let’s be friends. 🙂 You can follow me on Facebook, Twitter, or Instagram. Tally ho!