March 26, 2026, Myakka City, FL. Competitors have arrived for The Event at TerraNova, which will take place this weekend at TerraNova Equestrian Center. The CCI4-S comprises the sixth leg of the US Equestrian Open of Eventing series. At each of 20 CCI4-S competitions in the series, riders win points based on their placings, and whoever wins the most points by the end of the series wins $25,000. The $200,000 final will take place in November at Morven Park CCI4-L (VA).
Across the levels, from Beginner Novice through the FEI levels, The Event at TerraNova draws competitors from around the US, with upper-level competitors representing Australia, the United States, Brazil, Canada, Sweden and New Zealand. This year is an exciting one for equestrian sport as top riders from around the world will compete at the World Equestrian Games in Aachen, Germany in July, and some of the competitors at TerraNova, including Monica Spencer (NZL), Alyssa Phillips (USA) and Colleen Loach (CAN) will likely have their eye on competing in Aachen this summer.
The event begins on Friday with dressage, and continues with Advanced and FEI show jumping and Beginner Novice through Intermediate cross country on Saturday. On Sunday, levels through Intermediate will show jump while Advanced and FEI divisions will tackle the cross-country phase.
Cross country course builder Eric Bull said, “There’s a new sunken road for the four-star, and the three-star is using the one that was on the four-star course, with different fences in and out. It was actually a little easy for the four-star and worked really well on the three-star course. The four-star one is nicely in the middle of the course and will create more geography and stuff to do.”
With the spring season ramping up, Bull said, “I think the course is appropriate for the level, for horses on their way to Kentucky and all their important stops between here and there. We had rain last week and again last night and the footing looks really good.”
Bull noted that the spring and fall events take different tracks around the course; this one is similar to last spring and he said that event got a lot of positive feedback. He added, “We will be removing many of the lower-level fences on Saturday night to give competitors more space on Sunday. It really makes the course more open and gives everyone more room to move around.”
Canadian Karl Slezak, who with his wife Caitlin is based year-round in in Ocala, Florida, has six horses total competing this weekend. Slezak said that he has competed at every event offered at TerraNova so far, and keeps coming back because of the excellent quality facilities and well-run competition. He noted that it’s particularly welcoming to professionals with students and who have clients that own horses, with plenty of comfortable spaces to spend time and things to do for entertainment.
“The social events and spaces are really nice, and even for the Beginner Novice competitors, the atmosphere is like competing at the Olympic Games; they offer prize money at every level, which is nearly unheard of,” he said.
For spectators, a sold out Ringside Luncheon will be offered from 10:30am until 3pm in the Pavilion and will include premier seating to enjoy the competition. Attendees at the Ringside Luncheon will enjoy preferred-parking, pavilion seating, and all-encompassing views of the competition arenas.
Boutique shopping and the Tiny Town children’s’ playground will also be available for spectators’ enjoyment daily, and children ages 5-12 can sign up for a Mini Horsemanship Camp.
On Sunday morning a worship service takes place at 7:30am on the show office patio. Starting at 9am spectators will head to the cross-country hospitality tent for a sold-out family-friendly breakfast spread providing an abundance of fresh options. The open seating offers the chance to enjoy views of the cross-country action right up close to the water jump, and a cash bar will be available.
General admission is free. Food trucks will be on site and bleacher seating is provided.
