Hello,
I was browsing the new members' introductions and was struck by the number of members who do not show, or who do show only on a limited basis. There is nothing wrong with either situation as long as you are ultimately enjoying your horses. I for one, am currently not showing. I go to tons of horse shows, but instead of hauling a horse, I am hauling the tack shop trailer. My perfectly good CEP gelding is now my perfectly good stress-reducing psychologist and physical therapist. It's all good.
My AHA membership expired in March. The notice is sitting on my desk and occasionally I pick it up and look at it and spend a few unproductive moments debating what to do.
The odds are perfectly good that I will not be showing any time soon. I am unsettled by some of AHA's recent news and am not sure that I want to provide them with my unspoken approval by renewing my membership, but I have enjoyed being a part of the normal Arabian Horse Community for very many years. (Sigh - as I lay the notice down yet again.) I may just join my home Arabian Club to stay a little in touch. (Thank You Ammy Army for also being a harbor of sorts for this ex-trainer, ex-instructor, who now almost has time to be a true ammy.)
For those of you showing on a limited basis, there is absolutely no reason why you should not go to a horse show and do it up to the hilt, no matter the size of the show. I see countless competitors of a variety of breeds that are just slogging through the motions....the competitors that stand out and ultimately do well, are the ones that take pride in clean horse, clean tack, and neatly presented persona. Get your friends together and have your own little AMMY ARMY at your local show. Help each other prepare, photograph, and cheer. The AMMY ARMY doesn't have to be just at the big class A shows, though it has made a wonderful impact there, it can spread the word at the Community and local show level as well. It promotes Amateurs enjoying their best friend, the Arabian Horse.

I am an ACS show person myself. Money just not right for Class A right now, mainly because its more of a waste of money and not much competition. Maybe in the next year.

I take my boy to a few local shows too, mainly as support for the Missouri Fox Trotter/QH cross and my friend that owns him (training them both). But we were floored a few weeks ago, my boy won the Gelding/Stallion halter class in a ApHA sanctioned open show. We don't know how that happened. Awsome anyway you look at it, especially in a QH dominated area.

Congratulations on the win - very cool and unusual. I have friends who have a gaited horse who are thinking of showing ApHA, but were not sure what would happen - I will have to share your results with them, to show them that they are not the only ones.

It was interesting. As my friend does W/T currently with the MFT/QH she got 2nd in Eq. and Pleasure. My sister instead of taking our arabian in to her age group rode the MFT/QH while didnt place did get honorable mention both times and class was about 12 riders. So we were pretty pleased for his first time in WTC classes, the arabian rode the sweepstakes HP classes placed in both and hit money in one. So tell your friends it is perfectly doable to hit the ribbons at thoes shows.

I am hoping to have my mare,Rana, make her debut at the NYS Fair this year. I am just planning on dueing mostly local shows till I can ride again. I guess its just halter classes for now.

I show at our local class A show, Fiesta Del Mar and Region One - halter and SHIH. I also go to my club's two community shows. That's about all I can afford. I won't be showing next year because I committed my mare to motherhood.

When I read the economic tea leaves, I think that the show ring will undergo major changes. Shows will have to become more affordable. Show committees will have to find less expensive show grounds. Del has made the point many times that Ammys doing their own thing is the future as most people can't afford to have horses in full training.

Dave

Hi Dave,
Something that I was thinking about this weekend...Have our exhibitors become to expect too much from our shows. For example: Do we really need music? Do we really need the center ring island? Can we get away with more outdoor venues? Dare I ask if we could really be convinced to (gasp) tie horses to the trailer? Are there less "gorgeous" functional venues that could be more affordable?
When I was showing, I did tie to the trailer IF I was only going to be there for the day, but some shows began to require that you purchase a stall....that ruled out some shows for me - I wasn't paying $45 to $75 for a stall for a few hours.
What would we be willing to do without to reduce expenses either for ourselves, personally, or in order for a show to break even.

I agree with you Audie, when I showed it was usually for 4-h. Now that I am planning on going to the NYS Fair this year for Rana's debut. I'm a little worried about the stall fee. They regular stalls or tie stalls which the later is cheaper but not by much. I'm just doing halter classes, which last just the morning of the first day. Even if you just go to a show at the fairgrounds you have to rent a stall. I miss the good old days of tying to the trailer and using the trailer as my tack room/changing room.

Ahhh- The 4-H days. Horses arriving in all kinds of conveyances, tied to trailers, trees, or held by mom and dad. The ring within spitting distance of the ferris wheel...and we were all fearless nuts !!! We had a ball !

Yes, the dang ferris wheel. I remember during my 4-h years I rode a mostly arabain gelding with some quarter horse, Doc. He carried his terrified rider(me) into a ring with 50+ other riders. We even got a couple blues. Last I knew he's still alive at 30years of age. I trail rode him last year.

I think it is important to maintain membership in AHA whether you show or not in order to have your voice heard. I think one of the problems the breed has is that instead of staying to fight for what a person wants, they just leave. The association will never change if the new blood doesn't stand up for themselves and help make tnose changes! Yes, it is difficult and some minds are so very closed but if we keep picking at them, they are going to start changing, just to shut us up if nothing else!!!!

This year I will not be showing either due to the expence. I am not a member either ( for the past 15 years I was a member) By the time you pay memberships. In Canada you need club membership $100.00 plus, Sport Licence CEF, $80.00. Then the show extra fees. Stalls and you have to pay for bedding+ tack room, number fee, resolution 9 90 teaching fee, drug fee, office fee. etc before you start paying for the classes you are up to an addition of $300.00. The show office is also asking for aditional cheques for the stalls. An additional deposit of $40.00 per stall to make sure you clean out the stall before you leave the grounds or they keep you cheque. For one horse at a class A show it costs me $600.00 that is without paying for a trainer. Add the hotel and meals out, opps forgot the parking pass for my truck and an extra one for the trailer. Add it all up $1000.00 for maybe 7 classes. The classes may not have enough riders to help me obtain enough points for regionals or nationals. So, I will have to go to another class A show. Further away and more gas money, too. One show out here does have a haul in charge if you show out of your trailer $35.00. per day.

Spike, you have a good point. But ...I have been involved in the Arab horse industry on many levels for a very long time and many of the changes (like the extreme shoes, balding, accepted conformational changes) happened in spite of the objections of some of us. The score card was a win for the good of our horses. Do you envision additional wins against the oversized shoes, balding, and judging COI? What do you think has to happen to get existing rules enforced regarding class specs (ex: movement in pleasure classes)?

And for those who object to the expense of showing...would the current exhibitors go for reduced amenties? What can you live without? We pay extra for drug tests and certain educational programs...is there any part of those that we can live without? Would we be able to manage with the el-cheapo pin-on, FREE numbers from the feed distributors instead of the fancier heavy-duty numbers that you have to pay a fee for? Scottsdale manages with an outside venue...would you show at say, the local fairgrounds if stabling was available? How about if you had to tie to the trailer?

Hi Audie,

I could very well live without all this new fangled expenses. I have never really shown in an open show before last year and it was a non-arab show.(hunt pace) I would prefer showing out of my horse's trailer if it was a one day show and it would be a bonus if it was a local show. I always showed with the free numbers we got in 4H and never had those heavey duty number cards. It all sounds very nice but as a horsewoman on a shoe string budget its hard to get into the caviear tastes. I only have one horse for now. Hopefully soon this will all change. But anyway, why could we have AHA shows(local or even rated shows) at a local stable with an outside arena? Basically, let's get down to the basics and have fun doing it.

I realize I'm late into this conversation, but have a question. What is the "safety" issue that these shows are touting as the reason for each horse being required to rent a stall for the day? And this stall thing, is on top of the "grounds fee." What the heck is that for if you're required to get a stall anyway?

I am only showing in Hunter classes and at this point, only the walk/trot ones, so why can't I tie my mare to my trailer, underneath a canopy, with a big bucket of water?

That's a good question....

Originally the grounds fee was charged to clean up after horses that spent the day tied to a trailer. There would generally be some hay and manure that needed to be raked up. If you have to rent a stall, then the grounds fee is double dipping. I suppose that if there was only asphalt for the horses to stand on then maybe there is a safety issue requiring a stall, but if grass or dirt is available.........

I haven't been in the showring for years. The cost of the stalls, the parking, the grounds fee, the drug fees, the class fees, not counting the fuel to get there, the motel room, or the food, was becoming overwhelming. I just could not justify the cost or the headache. Just walking on the all cement to get from point A to point B was enough to kill my feet, so I could only imagine what it was doing to my horses. (Yes I bedded heavy in the stalls.)

Local shows when I competed were the most fun, you could tie to your trailer, which my horse preferred to standing in a stall constantly except when we were showing or excerising. I hauled my own water, I had several bales of hay in the truck, I have a weekender trailer, so it is a motel room, change room, tack room, feed room, and groom room all in one. Snacks were available from Walmart in my trailer, and if enough of us were showing at the some small show, we would grill out together at the end of the day. It was great!

The class fees were reasonable and I had a good time with my friends earning the opinion of one person for the day.

Fast forward 8 years.......

Currently I have gotten back on my horses and now compete in SASS Mounted Shooting with my arabs. We can set up tie out pens, we can have campfires, we can have a good time with our friends and our horses shooting balloons for fun or cash. I prefer the fun as I am not as fast as I use to be.

The entry fees are great $45.00 for 4 stages of 10 balloons each, and you don't have all the extras tacked on to deplete your pocketbook. I also do not have to have an opinion to earn placing, it is the horse & I against the clock and my ability to hit what I aim at. No judges cards, no politics, no throwing out the highs and lows to find the score. Just the clock, my horses abiltity to run the course clean and my ablitity to shoot the targets. What a breath of fresh air.

I am a member of AHA and I only send in points for the OEIP.

Now this is a big stretch here, but if AHA would add Mounted shooting matches to thier competention schedule....... I might give it another try in the AHA arena, as long as they leave out all the glitz, all the bling, and all the extras that we don't need.

I may be a little slow at the switch today - what is OEIP?

If I were you, I would maybe only encourage mounted shooting as an exhibition or non-points contest in the AHA venues....if they make it an "official" class you'll be back in the boat of required stalls, 5-90 fees, office fees, ad infinitum.