Annual horse show held at the NYS Fairgrounds cancelled amid rising rent and labor fees

SYRACUSE, N.Y. — In a Facebook post Thursday, the President of the New York State Breeders Horse Show Association Jim Mather announced that the annual horse show at the NYS Fairgrounds will not be happening in May 2023.

This announcement comes on the heels of news that the NYS fair will not only be increasing admission and parking prices, but will be increasing sponsorship, concession and non-fair event rates by 1.5 percent.

MORE:Great New York State Fair admission prices will return to pre-pandemic rates this year

The Horse Breeders Association uses the Toyota Coliseum for its annual competitions. The updated commercial facility rental rates for 2023 see the cost of renting stalls in the Coliseum range from $2,000 - $2,600 a day. To hold an event at the Coliseum, it is an additional $7,405 a day.

Costs of labor have also increased — skilled laborers, which can be hired to clean the horse stalls, cost $71 an hour and a payloader to truck sand into the Coliseum costs $91 an hour.

In the Facebook post, Mather writes, “We would like to express our sincere gratitude to the many exhibitors and sponsors that have supported us for over 60 years. We can’t thank you enough.”