HITS show can go on
State initially issued cease and desist order to equestrian event
SAUGERTIES, N.Y. » HITS kicked off its 2020 season Wednesday with a pared-down horse show, after initially being issued a cease and desist order by the state Health Department.
Saugerties Town Supervisor Fred Costello said the state-issued additional guidance to HITS allowing it to host the first of its shows, the Vermont Summer Special, with no more than 25 competitors each day. The show was scheduled to run July 1-5.
Costello said events would take place on Wednesday and Thursday, but that HITS president Tom Struzzieri “voluntarily” canceled shows scheduled for July 3-5.
“That’s my best understanding,” said Costello on Wednesday. Struzzieri did not return a telephone call for comment.
On Tuesday, the state Health Department issued a cease and desist order in a letter to HITS, stating that horse shows were among the non-essential businesses required to cease “in-person services.”
“Consequently, by operating the aforementioned horse show, HITS, Inc. will be in violation of Department of Health regulation
and an Executive Order related to the COVID-19 state of emergency,” the letter stated.
Costello said the state subsequently agreed to allow a scaled-down version of the event to take place.
“I think the pushback came because there are a number of horse shows happening in New York as we speak, including one in Westchester County, in Saratoga and in western New York,” Costello said.
After canceling its threeweek spring series in Saugerties due to the COVID-19 pandemic, HITS announced in May plans to start its 2020 HITS-on-the-Hudson series of horse shows in July,
saying it would host six consecutive weeks of competitions in Saugerties under the name Great American Summer Series.
HITS planned to combine three Vermont Summer Festival shows with three of its own scheduled shows to form the series.
The Great American Summer Series was scheduled to begin with the Vermont Summer Special from July 1 to 5 and the Manchester Summer Festival from July 8 to 12, each culminating with a $100,000 Sunday Grand Prix.
According to the HITS website at hitsshows.com, the event is open to participants only and no spectators
are allowed.
Regularly scheduled HITS shows had also been planned for July 15 to 19, July 22 to 26, and July 29 to Aug. 2, with the summer series concluding with the Vermont Summer Celebration from Aug. 5 to 9. It is unclear whether the state will place similar restrictions on those events.
Late Wednesday afternoon, Ulster County posted on its social media channels that, “In response to concerns from the public, the Ulster County Health Department will be conducting spot checks to ensure that HITS in Saugerties will be staying within the 25 person gathering limit
established by New York State.”
The post added that the “Health Department will also be interviewing patrons at the campgrounds to ensure that participants are adhering to Governor Andrew Cuomo’s recent Executive Order mandating quarantine for travelers from certain States.”
The state Health Department did not respond to an email seeking comment.
Costello said that in light of the ongoing pandemic many in the community had mixed feelings about the return of the horse shows, which draws thousands of people to the region each year and is an
economic boon to the community.
“There’s a natural concern about any type of congregating event right now,” Costello saying that the community has made a “sacrifice” to get to the point where the number of cases of COVID-19 are going down.
“We have not seen our loved ones,” he said. “We’ve all experienced that together in the community but people are concerned that anything that might change that trajectory is a gamble.
“Trying to balance those concerns against the economy, that’s the box we’re in,” he added.