An observation

[Just Us N Texas]

A few weeks ago we met some people that show minis, A's only. I asked them if they didn't show R's as well, and they do so very lightly. They asked if we showed A's and we said we used to, but since money had gotten so tight, we could only do one or other, and have shown R's only for a few years. They tried to win me over by saying if we knew the A people, we would enjoy showing the A's. I told them the same goes for R's and them. I don't want to get into a flaming contest over who is right on this issue. To each his own, and our breeding program has been changing to the larger B horses in R's. Just a personal preference! We still have our tinies as well. Anyway, this couple was at our house last night, and I asked them what they thought of Nationals, since they did come and watch a couple of their horses show last week. They loved it! They thought the show was extremely well run, the horses were tops, and the people were very gracious and very friendly. They will be going to World's this coming week, and she will be driving her horse there. I wish them the best of luck, since she has a great little driving horse in training. Seems like he has cleaned up in most of the classes he has gone in this year. The husband of the couple likes the bigger R horses as well, and I see them moving more into the R's with a few horses. They will never completely go to the bigger horses, and I think that is a good thing! I believe that there is room in our herds and on our farms for both the tinies and the larger B- R's. See, it just goes to show that we don't have to fight over which is best, A or R. We CAN co-exist!

 

[Little Wolf Ranch]

I agree 100% - both registries are equally nice and well ran, in my opinion! 

I personally prefer atleast AMHR registered horses because I don't want to worry about if I have a horse that gets close or goes over 34" mark while growing. I do have double registered horses and I think they are just as, if not more, valuable. However, the tallest horse I currently have is 33.5" 

so all of mine are in the A range!

It all depends on your breeding plans and what YOU want to do!

 

[Annabellarose]

I haven't shown A or R yet (though I have done quite a bit of showing with other breeds/registries/associations in my life and I hope to show a couple of my Miniature Horses in the future), so I don't know if I am going to prefer A over R or R over A, but, I can tell you this, as someone that is new to the breed/registries, it just makes sense for me to lean toward a horse that is double registered, both with A and R, when looking/buying because that gives me twice the options for showing. If you preferred to only dabble in the taller horses, R definitely makes sense as there isn't anything for you with A, but if you like the smaller horses, doesn't it just make sense to only buy/breed double registered horses (if you ever plan to try to sell what you breed)? I am NOT trying to say that I don't think that a horse that is only A or R should not be owned, bred, or shown or that it is not valuable. I have an only A mare, I have an only R mare, and I have a gelding that is A, R, AND Pinto. LOL I wish that my mares were double (or triple!) registered as well. As someone that is new to the breed/registries, I don't "get" the mentality or comments (that I have experienced and heard personally from MORE THAN ONE person) that one is better (R is more fun, R people are nicer, A shows are nicer, blah, blah, blah) than the other.

BTW, I am a member of BOTH A and R.

 

[JWC sr.]

Having come from the R ranks many years ago and then showing mainly A for the past 10 years or so. I can tell you that when we showed nearly exclusively R, with a little ASPC and A mixed in this last year we enjoyed it immensely.

In our herd all but a couple of our horses are R and A registered. With a few that are ASPC also. It gives us a lot of options and worth the extra paper work that goes with that approach.

We still breed for the little guys and also the larger B sized horses. The diversity gives us the ability to enjoy all aspects of the small equine industry. Additionally when someone is looking for a particular sized horse we can normally accommodate them. Which helps from a marketing standpoint.

In our opinion anyone that limits themselves to only this size or that size horse or any particular registry stands to miss out of a lot of opportunities to know some really special people and enjoy their small equine experience to the max.

So yes I agree all of the registries, people can and should co-exist to round out the small equine experience for old participants and new folks alike.

 

[~Lisa~]

We do not have one AMHA show in this entire state so.. that pretty much makes the choice for us although I must admit I would consider going to an AMHA show if we had them