April 1, 2016 
WELLINGTON, FL—With seemingly record crowds, a record number of horses and exhibitors representing a record number of countries competing for record prizes every year, you could say that the Winter Equestrian Festival and Global Dressage Festival have been a roaring success for south Florida. Great news for Wellington, right?
“The music, and the traffic, my God the traffic.”
Wrong. Not everyone is ready bow at the feet of the internationally beloved festival, certainly not Doris McClanahan, who moved to Wellington five years ago.
“Every year they all just roll into town, plop their feet up on the furniture and make a big mess. And who has to clean it up? Our cleaning ladies, that’s who.”
There’s no arguing the festival’s rapid growth has made an impact on the local community. Officials estimate the event brings an additional 20,000 people to the tiny Florida village each winter, and with a population of just 55,000, it’s virtually impossible not to see and feel the effects.
“If I wanted the loud music and hootin’ and hollerin’ and carryin’ on at all hours of the night, I would’ve moved to Boca, or just stayed in Atlanta where my grandkids are,” she groaned.
McClanahan’s patience boiled over last week when she spotted a truck and trailer recklessly speeding through her gated neighborhood, Last Stop Pointe.
“They had to be going at least 35, 38 miles an hour. And this development is gated, so Lord knows how they got in. The passcode is probably posted up in the barns over there for anyone to see. I certainly feel threatened and that’s why I’m taking action. Enough is enough.”
The action McClanahan speaks of comes in the form of a lawsuit, filed in local court last week, against the Winter Equestrian Festival and its organizers for what she calls “reckless endangerment and disruption of peace.”
“I’ll take it all the way to the Supreme Court if I have to,” she warns. “My late husband was an attorney, so were three of my brothers…well, two still are, the other passed in 1996. High cholesterol. We told him for years to clean up his act but those southern men are gonna eat and drink what they want, I’m telling you what…anyway, I have a thorough knowledge of our justice system and I know my rights.”
WEF organizers and city officials declined comment for this story citing policy on discussing ongoing litigation, but I did find one individual who adamantly disagreed with McClanahan’s lawsuit.
“That old bag?” Asked Sophia Davidson, McClanahan’s neighbor. “She’s crazier than—well let’s just say she’s not ‘all there.’ Look, I don’t understand why you’d need music blaring for a dressage show but I gave up trying to understand kids these days a long time ago. No point in it. I tell her all the time, if she hates it then just leave. I’d even hire someone to help her pack.”
Not even the festival’s significant economic impact on the local economy is enough to move McClanahan.
“So what if this town makes money? If they aren’t protecting the taxpayers, what’s the point? I heard someone say, ‘but they’re creating jobs this and new jobs that—’ Honey, those aren’t jobs. Riding horses around and around is not a job. Picking up horse crap isn’t work, it’s punishment. Whose job is it to get rid of that afternoon manure breeze? No one’s, apparently.”
It would be easy to write McClanahan off as a lonely, bitter, stereotypical South Florida retiree. That’s not entirely true, however.
“Don’t even get me started on the fornicating. I know what goes on at Whitehorse. Everyone’s sexting this and sexting that. It’s disgusting, and it’s why I will not quit until this circus is out of my backyard.”
Ok, so maybe it is true.
