US Equestrian Goes ‘Wall-to-Wall’ for Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event

Live coverage of three-discipline competition will stream on ESPN3, USEF Network

All eyes are on the Bluegrass State, where the year’s biggest equestrian event is in full swing. The Defender Kentucky Three-Day Event began yesterday and continues through Sunday at the 1,200-acre Kentucky Horse Park in Lexington, KY. What started as a two-camera operation decades ago has turned into “wall-to-wall coverage” with about 80 production personnel, tens of thousands of fans onsite, and domestic and international coverage airing across multiple ESPN platforms.

Nearly a dozen events will be produced, including about 40 hours of live coverage on ESPN3 and the USEF Network, US Equestrian’s streaming service. Multiple events will be postproduced for ESPNews and ESPN2, and a two-hour highlight show will air on the latter network in two weeks.

US Equestrian’s Paul Kosuth: “We have a core audience that watches our shows no matter what. I’m trying to attract a new audience.”

“My goal is to produce the best coverage of the event over four days,” says Paul Kosuth, managing director, broadcast and digital media, US Equestrian, the sport’s national governing body.

He also serves as executive producer for the event. Veteran media executive and freelancer Tim Singer is producer, and director is Carr-Hughes Productions Producer/Director Jim Carr, who has directed the event for 20-plus years. The Saratoga Springs, NY-based production company has worked with the event since its start in the 1970s.

The event features three disciplines: dressage, show jumping, and cross-country. Tailgaters and equestrian enthusiasts stake their claim across the 4-5 miles of trees, forest, and brush to watch some of the world’s best, including several Olympic hopefuls, compete.

More than 75,000 ft. of fiber helps power communications. About 15 manned cameras are deployed for the cross-country competition, with seven to 10 point-of-view cameras for the various jumps. Point-of-view cameras on the cross-country course have been increased this year, according to Kosuth, to show fans a closer angle of some of the jumps and the complexities of trying to surpass the 6- to 8-ft. water jumps.

At Rolex Stadium, which houses the dressage and show-jumping disciplines, the broadcast deploys seven cameras, including a wireless handheld, 25-ft., jib, and fixed cameras.

Carr-Hughes Productions’ Jim Carr (center) has directed the Defender Kentucky competition for 20+ years.

Footage from two overheard drones will be integrated into the broadcast to highlight the crowd and the course, but it won’t be live. “There’s still some concern about fans and drones,” Kosuth explains. “We also have a concern about shocking the horses; not all of the horses are used to drone flight. So it’s a slower process to get live drones.”

US Equestrian is partnering with German-based ClipMyHorse.tv for coverage on the USEF Network. The international organization will add German and Dutch remote commentary for those respective global audiences.

“What I’ve tried to do in these last few years is educate our audience on the sport,” says Kosuth. “We have a core audience that watches our shows no matter what. I’m trying to attract a new audience.”

Live timing and scoring for US Equestrian events — a practice begun in 2023 — is part of the strategy to draw in new viewers and potential fans of the sport. For example, he adds, with multiple competitors simultaneously on the cross-country course on any given run, viewers will see an on-screen scoreboard displaying what horses are on the course and their time.

US Equestrian’s team of three or four social-media strategists and two independent film videographers will prioritize Facebook and Instagram throughout the event, along with TikTok and X, formerly Twitter. In addition, the team plans to collaborate with ClipMyHorse.TV and Equestrian Events Inc. (EEI), the event’s local organizer, on sharing content for social and digital. Social-media staffers plan to take clips from the live stream and post online, according to Kosuth.

The cross-country course additional POV cameras on several jumps. Here Tami Smith is on Mai Baum (Photo: Leslie Potter/US Equestrian)

Meanwhile, Durham, NC-based SMT will power virtual sponsored graphics during the event, with title partner Land Rover’s Defender brand visible on the cross-country course and stadium floor. MARS Equestrian is the event’s presenting sponsor.

On the audio side, about 15 effects microphones will be integrated throughout the three events to offer fans what they may not easily see or hear. It’s a point of emphasis, according to Kosuth.

“I come from Fox Sports, so I want to hear what’s happening on the field of play,” he says, adding that he’s trying to incorporate more “sound” in equestrian. “I want to hear the horse and the rider: the commands, the breaths, the ‘attaboys,’ the taps. It adds to the beauty of the sport.”