New Exhibitors Welcomed
June 16, 2009
AQHA is working on ways to introduce new people to AQHA shows.
It has been a busy few weeks at AQHA. In May, the AQHA Executive Committee and the Executive Directors met in Utopia, Texas, for a planning session.
During the three-day meeting, we examined AQHA’s standing committees, international growth, membership growth, new revenue sources and creating a user-friendly handbook. AQHA staff will be working on plans for these areas.
To celebrate my daughter Stacey’s graduation from Texas A&M University, and mine and Robbyn’s 35th wedding anniversary, the three of us traveled to Spain for a family vacation. We had a great time and made some wonderful memories.
Now summer is upon us and that means the show season is heating up.
The American Quarter Horse Journal will be reporting from several shows
Melinda Mays and Almosta Boom compete in the TQHA Champion of Champions novice amateur horsemanship class.
this summer. Visit Journal on the Road for photos and information from the shows.
Last June, the first AQHA classes at 4-H and open shows were held in Ohio, and there have been 37 introductory shows held so far. These shows have offered many new exhibitors a glimpse into AQHA shows.
While AQHA was criticized by some affiliates and show managers for taking away exhibitors from AQHA shows — that was never the intent. AQHA introductory shows were created to reward exhibitors at open shows who were showing registered American Quarter Horses. Once these exhibitors earn AQHA points and feel the success of the show ring, we hope to encourage them to move up to AQHA shows.
We have received many messages from exhibitors saying thanks for the introductory shows and that they love having the AQHA experience at these shows. Not only are the shows a great place to cultivate new AQHA show exhibitors, they also offer a place for new judges to gain experience.
Many people are craving an entry point into AQHA shows. The new green classes are filling a void and have proven to be very popular. In 2008, AQHA had 44,000 entries in green classes. These new classes offer a great opportunity to introduce exhibitors and horses to a new class. We started with green working hunter and now also offer green western pleasure, green trail, green western riding and green hunter under saddle. Check out the 2009 Official Handbook of Rules and Regulations for more information on the green classes.
Changes will be made to the incentive fund payout in 2010. Points earned in introductory shows and green classes will no longer be eligible for incentive funds.
Whether an exhibitor is showing in an introductory show, an all-novice show or a novice class for the fist time, they are enrolled in AQHA’s free AQHA’s Show Up! campaign. The more shows an exhibitor attends, the more they are rewarded. After the first show, the exhibitor receives a letter explaining the program and a specially designed jacket patch.
Other rewards include:
- an AQHA showing jacket patch and AQHA cap after the fifth show,
- an AQHA showing jacket patch and AQHA jacket after the 10th show,
- an AQHA showing jacket patch and AQHA barn plaque after the 15th show,
- and an AQHA showing jacket patch and Professional’s Choice saddle pad after the 25th show.
As an added bonus, the top novice youth and novice amateur competitor attending the most shows in a calendar year will win their pick of a Tex Tan western or a Collegiate English saddle!
All rewards are available the first calendar year of an exhibitor’s first AQHA show. In 2008, 4,779 patches were sent to first-time AQHA exhibitors. Bring your friends to AQHA shows and help them earn great prizes!
We also work with members of AQHA’s Professional Horsemen’s Association to encourage new exhibitors. AQHA provides buck slips to Professional Horsemen to give to exhibitors at open and 4-H horse shows. The buck slip is good for one class entry up to $50. AQHA reimburses show management after they return the buck slips with their show results.
Show Me
American Quarter Horses excel in the show ring. To help AQHA members make the most of their show dollars, AQHA’s Marketing Department developed Accounting for the Arena, a brochure combined with a downloadable Excel spreadsheet to help exhibitors save money, track expenses and still enjoy the show experience.
If you’re looking for a show near you, visit the online show calendar. Remember, full show information can be found each month in The American Quarter Horse Journal. Each month, The Journal features great articles on health and training tips from the pros.
You can also get tips on showing at America’s Horse Daily. Sign up for the free showing newsletter.
Have an opinion about a show? Let us hear from you. I encourage you to take advantage of our show survey form. You’re welcome to make copies and have them available at all the shows you attend. Let us know what you think, and we’ll pass along the information to show managers to help improve the show experience.
We continue to examine how we do business and in July we will have a long-range planning session for shows. One thing we know we have to keep doing is introducing new people to the American Quarter Horse and all the opportunities there are to enjoy these great animals. I hope you and your horse get to spend some great time together this summer.
Happy trails,
Don Treadway Jr.
AQHA Executive Vice President
Learn the many reasons you should be a member of the world’s largest equine breed registry. Join AQHA today!
Comments
6 Comments on “New Exhibitors Welcomed”
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June 24th, 2009 at 4:48 am
You are really limiting yourselves by the way you have this currently set up. By requiring AQHA judges inorder for the show to be approved you are missing the boat on getting the grassroots of the indiviudals just starting out. I really love the fact that the open shows are eligable for incentive fund payout, but I’m not to sure that the littler local shows can afford AQHA judges or that it might intimidate the first time showers not to show up.
A possible solution is have two types of open shows. One as already in place and one a little more less formal. The APHA has one in place that is very successful called the PAC program. The open shows still need to be approved by the association, but have the ability to hire any judge. Many of the judges at these type of shows are just starting out and the PAC shows are not only a good avenue for entry level showing, but for entry level judges as well.
How the program is funded by charging members $30 per horse to register for the program annually. There are also year end high point awareded to each class or class type including non traditional classes of endurance/competive trail and dressage.
I myself may never compete in an open show sponsored by AQHA, as many of my local shows would not put one on due to the expense of hiring AQHA judges. However I would gladdly pay an annual fee to show in an open show format such as PAC.
June 24th, 2009 at 3:08 pm
I feel getting more people into the show ring is a great idea.New programs to draw first timers or folks that may have competed as kids in 4-H or open local shows would be super. I believe there are many out there you alienating because of limited class brake downs. You need to implement classes that fit more of a variety of horse people.They should be based on not only their ability but also their wins in the classifications. Example if you have trained a horse or horses for pay,you are considered an open class exhibitor.This is not the best way to rate the abilities of that person in a show. If you can train it does not mean you can show with the same level of expertise. Many times there is no comparing the two. Some people can’t train very well and don’t show well but still are considered open class.I hope you can change this to allow more people into the show ring.
July 3rd, 2009 at 10:26 am
If AQHA is serious about increasing participation in its classes and shows, it needs to address several issues regarding the culture of its shows.
The general membership frowns on cheating, yet cheating such as tail blocking is commonplace.
When we go to watch an AQHA show, we don’t see people having a good time. We see people looking quite grim, because of the pressure to win. It is especially worrisome to see the youth exhibitors behaving like that.
Face it, AQHA shows are too expensive, with too much ‘riding’ on the importance of winning, to be fun. Careers depend on winning. Economic survival of trainers and breeders depends on winning. The value of horses depends on winning.
I think your classes for open shows are a step in the right direction, but I know that my local saddle club cannot to afford to hire AQHA judges.
July 9th, 2009 at 10:41 am
I wanted to commend AQHA on the offering of Introductory shows, which have no doubt brought more people to the show ring. I am on the Board Of Directors for an Association here in Sulphur Springs, TX and we have hosted and are hosting more of these shows. There are also a couple of other Associations that are doing the same, and the response has been quite positive.
I am concerned, however, that AQHA has taken the position of not allowing Incentive fund money to be paid on points earned at Introductory shows. What is the reasoning behind the decision? If the horse has been paid into the incentive fund, they should be eligible to earn the point money. Regardless of where they are shown. I did call AQHA and ask about this, and was told “not many of those horses are incentive fund anyway” and that is not the case. I’m sure the decision was made with valid reasoning, I would just like for it to be shared.
If the point of the Introductory Show was to introduce more people to showing, why penalize them if they earn points by not paying the incentive fund?
March 30th, 2010 at 9:55 pm
The elephant in the room is:
AQHA has lost their fan base primarily because trainers, breeders, judges and anyone else with a big financial stake in winning, have turned the horses, the individual events and the show atmosphere into a freak parade. Look how silly Western Pleasure horses look, how ridiculous Halter horse look, there is no diversification in the gene pool, HUS saddle horses couldn’t take a fence if their life depended on it, the faddish extravagant, show clothes, the angry exhibitors….there really isn’t anything appealing about showing horses in the AQHA venue anymore.
I went to an AQHA judges seminar once and the person that taught the seminar was there with his “other woman,” (he was married.) There were over 20 applicants and 6 got their licenses, the “same 6″ that were in the bar, every evening, with the instructor over the 3-day weekend.
The last three decades, Quarter Horse competition and breeding has not progressed but rather has become a free-for-all. I say get yourself a free “rescue horse,” and just enjoy horse ownership in it’s purest form.
September 2nd, 2010 at 9:21 am
[...] competitor attending the most shows by the end of the calendar year will win his or her pick of a Tex Tan western or a Collegiate English [...]