Two Weeks of Sustainable Sport at Brandywine Horse Shows

Earlier this month, Green Is the New Blue wrapped up two successful weeks of sustainable sport at Brandywine Horse Shows in Devon, PA, and also at the USEF Junior Hunter Finals the following week.

Inside the Dixon Oval, Green Is the New Blue’s Living Jump was decorated with a variety of Pennsylvania-native plant species to promote biodiversity, including gold mop bushes, arborvitaes, marigolds, vincas, daisies, coleus, salvias, spikes, dracaena, and ivy. As native species, these plants support pollinators, birds, and insects that play important roles in the local ecosystem. At the end of the horse show, Brandywine offered all living flowers and plants for sale to benefit two charities, the Moorcroft Conservation Foundation and the Chester County Food Bank.

Brandywine also participated in Green Is the New Blue’s Refuse to Use campaign, targeting single-use plastics on the show grounds. Our signature Plastic-Free Ingate featured our compostable “NoTree” cups, made from bamboo fibers. Food vendor S&S Concession also participated in the campaign, serving in compostable materials instead of plastic or foam.

While our compost-related initiatives are directed at the elimination of single-use plastics, the Devon Horse Show Grounds management is no stranger to composting: They have established a productive relationship with local mushroom farmers to manage manure from equestrian events. Once horse manure is composted to kill harmful bacteria, farmers mix it with straw to create ideal soil conditions to grow mushrooms.

Thanks to Brandywine Horse Shows for joining us on the path to a sustainable sport. For the remainder of this week, we can be found in Denver, Co, at Split Rock Jumping Tour. Next up on our schedule is the Hampton Classic!