Two significant annual equestrian tournaments held near Calgary, Alberta have been cancelled in 2020 because of the Coronavirus. They include the National, which takes place from June 4-7 and the North American, which takes place from July 1-5, according to the Canadian Press.
The equestrian competitions are at the famous show jumping ring called Spruce Meadows, which opened in southern Alberta in 1975. The National and North American are considered significant summer equestrian events as riders prepare for the Masters in Spruce Meadows, which takes place the weekend after Labour Day.
At this time there are no plans to cancel the Masters, which is the third of four majors annually on the Rolex Grand Slam of Show Jumping tour. The other annual major events are in s-Hertogenbosch, Netherlands; Aachen, Germany and Geneva, Switzerland. The Rolex Grand Slam event in s-Hertogenbosch was already cancelled in 2020 earlier this month because of Coronavirus.
The fact that the National and North American has already been cancelled is interesting. That is because the National does not take place for about 10 weeks and the North American is not for another month after that. Except for the 2020 Olympic Games, most sporting events that were to take place in July have not been postponed yet.
High performance equestrian show jumping is one of two sports that takes place regularly at Spruce Meadows. The other is Canadian Premier League soccer, which was founded in 2017 and had its first season in 2019. Among the teams in the CPL are Cavalry FC. The 2020 CPL season was to start April 11, but was postponed because of Coronavirus.
