lucky lodge
Well-Known Member
plus when i do show i have to go on my own so its a lot of hard work and takes me about 4 hours to clip and show prep 1 horse.....
Have you found showing has changed.
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plus when i do show i have to go on my own so its a lot of hard work and takes me about 4 hours to clip and show prep 1 horse.....
horsenut50
Well-Known Member
This is my first year showing Miniatures and I'm having a blast at open shows. Went to one AMHR show in July and would love to do more but this is the only one that is close to home. (
I have no trailer and must beg, borrow and steal rides to shows) I have been very successful this year with my new stallion and though it's nice to win I'm there to have fun whether I win or not. There are definately some sour lemons out there but I'm finding that the majority of people are helpful. Funny now that I think of it, it seems that it's the youth that have most of the attitudes. Us old foggies are the mellow smiling ones. Guess it comes with age.
hobbyhorse23
Well-Known Member
To my own surprise I've about reached that point. I love competing and truly enjoy training performance horses but the constant body-clipping has me at the end of my rope. It was doable with one horse but with two it seems like all I'm ever doing is clipping!targetsmom said:
Hopefully next year will be a little warmer and I can get back to doing the shows I love with the people I so enjoy.
Leia
little shiloh farm
Active Member
I am new to showing Mini’s so I am excited to attend shows so I can watch and learn so when I venture in to the ring next year we are ready! I have been to one mini show so far and I met many people who were so willing to share information about training and showing it was quite refreshing. It is so awesome to see happy horses willingly doing their job, owners giving treats and noticing home bred minis and owner trained horses are as successful as those horses with a big name trainer.
To me it is the challenge of meeting my goals that gets me in the show ring. When riding it was making it around without huge mistakes, with the mini’s it will be having my weanling behave as well as a little one can at her first show and my driving mare helping me through by being the star I know she is…….and I will be attempting to show with no trainer and only the long distance (email/facebook) assistance of my mentor Karen from AKS Miniatures who has shared her love for the minis as well as her knowledge.
Coming from AQHA, it is refreshing to see people smiling and loving on their horses instead of snatching and jerking them around, working into the ground, hanging on the wall all night as well as using pharmaceuticals for masking lameness and other physical issues.
While I am sure there are “those people”, it seems that with mini’s they are fewer and far between.
Oh, and one more thing, the mini shows are so much more affordable, I can do 3 or 4 for what one AQHA show cost, being able to show without pinching every penny as well as having the accomplishment of training the horse myself is priceless to me!
So, for me, yes, it has changed and I do believe that my 3 girls are going to help me enjoy showing so much more than I have in years!!
To me it is the challenge of meeting my goals that gets me in the show ring. When riding it was making it around without huge mistakes, with the mini’s it will be having my weanling behave as well as a little one can at her first show and my driving mare helping me through by being the star I know she is…….and I will be attempting to show with no trainer and only the long distance (email/facebook) assistance of my mentor Karen from AKS Miniatures who has shared her love for the minis as well as her knowledge.
Coming from AQHA, it is refreshing to see people smiling and loving on their horses instead of snatching and jerking them around, working into the ground, hanging on the wall all night as well as using pharmaceuticals for masking lameness and other physical issues.
While I am sure there are “those people”, it seems that with mini’s they are fewer and far between.
Oh, and one more thing, the mini shows are so much more affordable, I can do 3 or 4 for what one AQHA show cost, being able to show without pinching every penny as well as having the accomplishment of training the horse myself is priceless to me!
So, for me, yes, it has changed and I do believe that my 3 girls are going to help me enjoy showing so much more than I have in years!!
This thread comes up at a great time what with the shaky future of one registry and the steady growth and expansion of the other, all set against a horrible economy that is making us all really think about where we spend our time and money.
I think we are all becoming more aware of the "atmosphere" at the shows. It has always been a debate about the different attitudes at both shows. But what has always baffled me was that it is many of the same people at both shows, and quite frankly, the trouble makers and those often involved in the drama show in both registries. I think whenever money is involved and the "free market" is allowed to run rampant, under the excuse that the success will "trickle down" and promote growth, everything gets very shaky and unstable. This is when it is VERY, VERY important that the registries take a proactive role in policing the shows and taking the proper actions to keep everyone happy and satisied. With success and money flowing, greed will follow, people will try harder to win, they will call unethical practices "just bussiness", people will start bending the rules, and it will be an endless cycle slowly increasing, until it implodes. I think you will always have a group of people in control who feel that "catering" to the people who bring the most money to the shows is the most important thing. Eventually this gets out of control and guickly spoils the entire atmostphere of the registry and shows.
One thing I saw happen this year at a show is a great example.
There was a ring stewart who was trying to keep the classes running smoothly and efficiently. It was getting late and the youth classes were dragging on with some of the youth not being at the ingate ready to go in the ring when they really should have been. The ring steward got a little hot tempered and was obviously annoyed. One of the youths parents got aggravated by this and started purposely holding their youth back till the last minute just to tick the steward off and to make it worse had explained this to their youth and was bragging about it to the other exhibitors. It worked, and later on the steward ended up closing the gate without out any type of Gate hold or announcements on a different youth. Of course this did not sit well and just made the ring steward look bad. I witnessed the entire thing and was beyond frustrated with the manipulative pettiness both parties exhibited. But what made this worse was the behavior the next day. Open classes were going on now and again the schedule was dragging on very late. The behavior of some of the professional and amateur exhibitors was far far worse, sitting enjoying a beer in-between classes while the gate is being held and their number called, snapping at the ring steward and glaring at him like they would kill him if he tried to direct them again. At one point I was entering a class and thought, Oh no, I almost missed my class, the rest of my class was all in and the gate was being held. I am almost always first in, so laughed and apologized to the Steward about making them hold the gate. I was quickly interrupted; the steward misunderstood me, and started defending their self. It turned out the gate was being held for another trainer, who had 2 in the class. The steward explained that this trainer brought alot of horses and got alot of stalls and if they aren't happy they wont come and we wont be able to have this show again. I just nodded and went in the class. I watched the rest of the day as the steward was walked all over by this trainer and just kept apologizing to them. I was honestly sickened by the whole ordeal and still obviously am. NOBODY walked away from this happy, everyone involved felt victimized but they all were perpetrators.
I've seen thing like this happen over and over at some shows, and therefore alot of people are moving to other shows, following and creating a new market. We all need to be very careful and make sure that we all are all personally responsible for the attitude and behavior WE bring to the show. The values of these horses ARE increasing again, and for many breeders in the growing registry, they will have a market they have NEVER had before. I think we all need to watch out for two types of people who will "spoil" this for the rest of us. The first one is the most obvious and unavoidable but also the extreme minority, money driven members whose main focus is winning and money. The best thing to do is just ignore them; they won't change, just don't cater to their behavior or support it. The second type is far more dangerous and sadly often the majority. It is those who are enamored and envious of the first group. They start out for the right reasons but are glamour struck by the "elite" and look for any opportunity to be part of the "in crowd". Most of us fall into this group at one point and have to learn for ourselves it isnt worth the time or cost. The tricky thing is these members are great people who we are all friends with; therefore we dont want to make waves. We want to keep the shows happy and drama free, so we tolerate the little things we see happen and use them to justify our own indiscretions. Eventually all these little things add up and all of a sudden the all over impression of the show is negativity and we get exactly what we were all trying to avoid.
Sooo my point, a little long winded, ok very long winded. LOL Though it sounds counterproductive, if we all work together to make a little noise when we see the little things going the wrong way, we can all avoid it completely blowing up in our faces. If we all want to act better than everyone else, elite if you will, and not cause trouble or call a spade a spade, and look down on those who choose to act and try to fix things, we deserve what we get.
Just in case the tone got lost, this post REALLY is optimistic! LOL
I think we are all becoming more aware of the "atmosphere" at the shows. It has always been a debate about the different attitudes at both shows. But what has always baffled me was that it is many of the same people at both shows, and quite frankly, the trouble makers and those often involved in the drama show in both registries. I think whenever money is involved and the "free market" is allowed to run rampant, under the excuse that the success will "trickle down" and promote growth, everything gets very shaky and unstable. This is when it is VERY, VERY important that the registries take a proactive role in policing the shows and taking the proper actions to keep everyone happy and satisied. With success and money flowing, greed will follow, people will try harder to win, they will call unethical practices "just bussiness", people will start bending the rules, and it will be an endless cycle slowly increasing, until it implodes. I think you will always have a group of people in control who feel that "catering" to the people who bring the most money to the shows is the most important thing. Eventually this gets out of control and guickly spoils the entire atmostphere of the registry and shows.
One thing I saw happen this year at a show is a great example.
There was a ring stewart who was trying to keep the classes running smoothly and efficiently. It was getting late and the youth classes were dragging on with some of the youth not being at the ingate ready to go in the ring when they really should have been. The ring steward got a little hot tempered and was obviously annoyed. One of the youths parents got aggravated by this and started purposely holding their youth back till the last minute just to tick the steward off and to make it worse had explained this to their youth and was bragging about it to the other exhibitors. It worked, and later on the steward ended up closing the gate without out any type of Gate hold or announcements on a different youth. Of course this did not sit well and just made the ring steward look bad. I witnessed the entire thing and was beyond frustrated with the manipulative pettiness both parties exhibited. But what made this worse was the behavior the next day. Open classes were going on now and again the schedule was dragging on very late. The behavior of some of the professional and amateur exhibitors was far far worse, sitting enjoying a beer in-between classes while the gate is being held and their number called, snapping at the ring steward and glaring at him like they would kill him if he tried to direct them again. At one point I was entering a class and thought, Oh no, I almost missed my class, the rest of my class was all in and the gate was being held. I am almost always first in, so laughed and apologized to the Steward about making them hold the gate. I was quickly interrupted; the steward misunderstood me, and started defending their self. It turned out the gate was being held for another trainer, who had 2 in the class. The steward explained that this trainer brought alot of horses and got alot of stalls and if they aren't happy they wont come and we wont be able to have this show again. I just nodded and went in the class. I watched the rest of the day as the steward was walked all over by this trainer and just kept apologizing to them. I was honestly sickened by the whole ordeal and still obviously am. NOBODY walked away from this happy, everyone involved felt victimized but they all were perpetrators.
I've seen thing like this happen over and over at some shows, and therefore alot of people are moving to other shows, following and creating a new market. We all need to be very careful and make sure that we all are all personally responsible for the attitude and behavior WE bring to the show. The values of these horses ARE increasing again, and for many breeders in the growing registry, they will have a market they have NEVER had before. I think we all need to watch out for two types of people who will "spoil" this for the rest of us. The first one is the most obvious and unavoidable but also the extreme minority, money driven members whose main focus is winning and money. The best thing to do is just ignore them; they won't change, just don't cater to their behavior or support it. The second type is far more dangerous and sadly often the majority. It is those who are enamored and envious of the first group. They start out for the right reasons but are glamour struck by the "elite" and look for any opportunity to be part of the "in crowd". Most of us fall into this group at one point and have to learn for ourselves it isnt worth the time or cost. The tricky thing is these members are great people who we are all friends with; therefore we dont want to make waves. We want to keep the shows happy and drama free, so we tolerate the little things we see happen and use them to justify our own indiscretions. Eventually all these little things add up and all of a sudden the all over impression of the show is negativity and we get exactly what we were all trying to avoid.
Sooo my point, a little long winded, ok very long winded. LOL Though it sounds counterproductive, if we all work together to make a little noise when we see the little things going the wrong way, we can all avoid it completely blowing up in our faces. If we all want to act better than everyone else, elite if you will, and not cause trouble or call a spade a spade, and look down on those who choose to act and try to fix things, we deserve what we get.
Just in case the tone got lost, this post REALLY is optimistic! LOL
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Minimor
Well-Known Member
James--that is so aggravating when people dawdle in getting to the in gate, especially when they are doing it on purpose. That's where show management needs to step up and say no more of this, if you aren't at the gate on time, that gate will be closed and you're out of luck. Two minute gate hold means exactly that--2 minutes & if you're not there, you're out.
Sometimes show management gets too concerned with humoring some specific exhibitor--and once that starts, one way or another things start going downhill with the show. Someone ends up feeling slighted, there get to be hard feelings between exhibitors, or toward show management and yes, it ends up being a very negative experience for many.
Sometimes show management gets too concerned with humoring some specific exhibitor--and once that starts, one way or another things start going downhill with the show. Someone ends up feeling slighted, there get to be hard feelings between exhibitors, or toward show management and yes, it ends up being a very negative experience for many.
Zipper
Well-Known Member
My first year showing and I love it.
I love that I have a place to take my horses and do something different with them besides parades and events in town or the local clubs and demostrations and that you can talk horses all day long and that most people are willing to help you out and save you time and money from their experiences and I need someone to tell me as I dont know that I am doing something wrong or there is a better or easier way.
I agree with Mindy Lee.
I clip my horses I dont razor them or do all that and I make sure they are clean and I pay my entries and I go in and show and I try to stand away from people as my horses dont stand like statues so I dont disrupt the hard core show people and I still have a great time with my barnyard buddies and get to hang out with mini people all day which is what I am looking for in showing my guys.
Sorry but I am one of those people that are out there to have fun and enjoy.
I love that I have a place to take my horses and do something different with them besides parades and events in town or the local clubs and demostrations and that you can talk horses all day long and that most people are willing to help you out and save you time and money from their experiences and I need someone to tell me as I dont know that I am doing something wrong or there is a better or easier way.
I agree with Mindy Lee.
I clip my horses I dont razor them or do all that and I make sure they are clean and I pay my entries and I go in and show and I try to stand away from people as my horses dont stand like statues so I dont disrupt the hard core show people and I still have a great time with my barnyard buddies and get to hang out with mini people all day which is what I am looking for in showing my guys.
Sorry but I am one of those people that are out there to have fun and enjoy.
Reble
Well-Known Member
Thanks for all your reply's.
Sounds like the majority still have fun, and not much has changed at the shows. Agree is costly, and serious business. Its seems like it is still a great way to promote minis.
Does not seem to change the way we promote being the economy has made things harder.
Interesting in reading all your comments.
Looks like most do and still enjoy showing our wonderful miniature horses.
Sounds like the majority still have fun, and not much has changed at the shows. Agree is costly, and serious business. Its seems like it is still a great way to promote minis.
Does not seem to change the way we promote being the economy has made things harder.
Interesting in reading all your comments.
Looks like most do and still enjoy showing our wonderful miniature horses.
RhineStone
Well-Known Member
I have NEVER experienced that type of behavior from exhibitors or show management at any ADS pleasure show, CDE, or other event. And we have shown at 9 different venues in 5 states over 10 years (over 30 shows)! We did have one time that a show was being so well operated that they were actually ahead of schedule (like 45 min.), and THEN people were irritated because a few people missed their classes. The show then took a break to get back on schedule, and learned not to do that again.
There is just a very mature, intelligent, congenial atmosphere at the ADS shows whether you place well or not. It would be hard to pick a Sportsmanship winner because (most) everybody is a really good sport. (I did throw a brush at my husband once because he picked on me about hitting a cone...
Myrna
CharlesFamily
Well-Known Member
Well, I am having a blast - but I'm not showing, my daughters are. After taking several years' break from showing while my girls were younger, we are tiptoeing back into the ring. We have our first AMHR show this weekend at the Darke County Fair. My girls have shown in a couple of open shows and showed their horses in 4-H this year, but this will be their first rated show. I wanted them to see the difference and get that experience. They've done very well at those shows, but I've told them the competition will be different this weekend.
August has been a very busy month for us, so the horses haven't been worked like they should've been, but we will go and do our best! I don't razor our horses - so we'll see how we do! We can only get over there for halter, color and showmanship on Saturday because the performance classes are on Friday and this is our first week of school. But I'm looking forward to watching them show! Being on the outside of the show ring is more nerve wracking for me than being on the inside!
But the answer to the first question is - when they stop having fun, we'll stop showing!
Barbara
August has been a very busy month for us, so the horses haven't been worked like they should've been, but we will go and do our best! I don't razor our horses - so we'll see how we do! We can only get over there for halter, color and showmanship on Saturday because the performance classes are on Friday and this is our first week of school. But I'm looking forward to watching them show! Being on the outside of the show ring is more nerve wracking for me than being on the inside!
But the answer to the first question is - when they stop having fun, we'll stop showing!
Barbara
maestoso
Well-Known Member
I love showing, and weather I win or lose I still enjoy it. It is always fun to win, but at least for me, that's not the only thing that makes it fun. I think you can find plenty of negativity and poor sportsmanship in showing if you're looking for it. The difference is, some people will focus on that, and some people won't. Showing is what you make it, so make it fun for yourself.
Personally, I don't see any violence, foul play, screaming matches, abuse, etc at shows. The worst thing I see is petty remarks or gossip, snobs, and ignorant exhibitors, all of which are easy enough to ignore.
Personally, I don't see any violence, foul play, screaming matches, abuse, etc at shows. The worst thing I see is petty remarks or gossip, snobs, and ignorant exhibitors, all of which are easy enough to ignore.
Reignmaker Miniatures
Well-Known Member
I have to say I agree with Myrna. I started showing in breed shows a few years ago and initially really enjoyed it. For the most part I found people helpful and friendly. I guess I (as someone else stated) was pretty naive and missed a lot of the 'politics people complained about. What finally turned me off wasn't sore losers nor gate politics (I did have one situation where I forgot I was supposed to be in a championship class and when a gate hold was offered turned it down because I knew it would take too long to be ready to enter the ring...why make everyone wait then be unprepared anyway...it was my error and my loss, not a mistake a person repeats) What made me prefer not to spend my money at breed shows were the catty unkind comments from winners! OK they won, does not mean they are better people than those they were so quick to put down. Somehow, even tho most of the competitors were great and the comments weren't aimed at me in particular, it just soured me on breed shows. Once I tried carriage driving shows tho I felt I'd found my 'place'. Carriage driving is about the horse it seems, NOT who owns it, how much it sold for or who its breeder was. Not about lineage either, a winning horse is one that is put together in a way that allows it to fulfill its job well and that is trained and conditioned the best. Training, conditioning and turn out! So while I may do an occasional breed show in the future, if there is a choice to be made my money will be spent at ADS type competitions.
And of course, they are fun because you actually get to do something with your horse (drive) in every class, be it a judged arena class, dressage, or obstacles.
And of course, they are fun because you actually get to do something with your horse (drive) in every class, be it a judged arena class, dressage, or obstacles.
