No Ordinary Horse Show
March 12, 2009
Last year, I spent a rather cold and rainy weekend in Lake St. Louis, Missouri.
I was there to gather some training stories and write about March to the Arch.
Trainer Craig Miller of Foristell, Missouri, went as a Playboy Bunny this year for the ladies western pleasure event at March to the Arch. Photo provided by GoHorseShow.com.
I knew the show benefited cancer victims and was growing in popularity. What I didn’t realize was how much fun it was.
Not only did the four-day show offer the standard AQHA classes, it also threw a big party that featured a charity auction as well as a class unlike anything I’d seen before: male trainers and exhibitors dressing up as women for the “ladies’ western pleasure.” Needless to say, I had a blast.
March to the Arch started as the brainchild of AQHA Professional Horseman Doug Landon. In 2004, he was diagnosed with testicular cancer and decided he wanted to do something to help cancer patients.
He approached Mark Harrell and David Pardue of Mark Harrell Horse Shows about putting on a charity AQHA show. March to the Arch was born in 2006.
At every show, including this year’s, Mark and David donate their time as show managers, judges volunteer for the show, and many generous members give items and such for the charity auction.
The first two shows donated more than $60,000 to the American Cancer Society and had combined entries of around 6,300. In 2008, the charity was changed to the Shirley Bowman Nutrition Clinic, which was started at the University of Oklahoma Cancer Institute in honor of Shorty Koger’s sister, Shirley. Shorty is well-known in the Quarter Horse show circles as creating some of the best cowboy hats out there through her Shorty’s Caboy Hattery.
The 2008 show raised more than $50,000 for the clinic and had more than 5,000 entries.
This year, the show was even larger. Although definite numbers are not out yet, Kathy Avolt of Mark Harrell Horse Shows said entries were way up and the competition was deep, “amazingly deep.” The 14-18 hunter under saddle class had to be split because it had 30 entries.
The auction was heated as Team Wrangler member Ted Turner got into a bidding war with an amateur exhibitor for AQHA’s donated item of a premium parking spot. Ted ended up winning with a $3,000 bid. AQHA Pro Horseman Jason Smith’s son, Cooper, donated a mini mule, which brought almost $4,000. And in this year’s ladies’ western pleasure, Dr. Ray Murphy and AQHA world champion Chocolate For Sure were the unanimous winners.
I just wish I could have been there to have seen all the beautiful “ladies.”
Cloning Update
About 400 people attended the cloning forum during the AQHA Convention on March 6.
For the more than three-hour session, several speakers gave presentations on cloning and the audience was allowed to ask questions following the talks.
On Monday, the AQHA Board of Directors voted that action on a member proposal to approve the registration of foals produced by cloning be delayed until the 2010 AQHA Annual Convention. In the interim, the committee recommended the appointment of a task force.
During the question-and-answer portion of the forum, Carol Harris, the owner of the legendary Rugged Lark, stood and told the audience and panel her thoughts on cloning.
“In discussing my beliefs regarding the cloning of horses, I absolutely feel that everyone should be able to experiment with their horses as they choose and they should share the results of their experiments, but at no time should they attempt to force their beliefs on any existing equine organizations.
“… I feel it is important to emphasize that cloning actually has nothing to do with breeding. It is merely a replication of genes. I would suggest that those dedicated to the future of cloning create an association of their own and never try to influence or change our established rules. In time, this would provide an opportunity for our horsemen to study the pros and cons regarding the results of cloning in all disciplines.”
That’s just a portion of Carol’s speech. If you would like to hear all of it as well as the entire presentation at the cloning forum, members can purchase a DVD from AQHA for $9.95, plus shipping. To pre-order the DVD, click here.
Tonya Ratliff-Garrison
Field Editor
American Quarter Horse Journal
The American Quarter Horse Journal is your one-stop source for everything about the Quarter Horse. Don’t miss a single issue, subscribe now.
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August 30th, 2010 at 12:05 pm
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