After 15 years at the Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, Kentucky, the National Horse Show will be moving to the Tryon International Equestrian Center in Mill Spring, North Carolina, according to multiple sources related to the show. The move is pending approval from the U.S. Equestrian Federation, as the 2026 show is currently licensed to take place in Kentucky. It is scheduled to run Oct. 21-25 and Oct. 27-Nov. 1, 2026.
The show will also have a new manager, JP Godard. It was previously managed by Stephanie Lightner, who ended her tenure with the horse show following the 2025 horse show.
While the National is best known for taking place at Madison Square Garden in New York for most of its 143-year history, it has moved several times throughout history. In 1989, it was held at Meadowlands Arena in New Jersey before returning to the Garden in 1996. It later went to Wellington, Florida, before taking place at the Syracuse Invitational in New York from 2008 to 2010, before finding a home in Kentucky in 2011.
