Hello everyone
I have been reading and following closely what everyone is saying about the measuring problem with our beloved Miniature breed associations.
I believe if it is ever going to be corrected or made better then we as members need to come up with a solution to get it fixed. The few members that have the chance go to the Conventions is not enough. We need to get this worked out and go to our District representatives and convince them that the majority of the members feel this way and want to be heard. It is their responsibility to let the board members know how we as members feel but can't be there to tell them ourselves.
I think we should all write down what we as an individual thinks would be the best way to correct it. When we get all the ideas from this thread then we need to make a poll so we can all vote on which one/s we think will be the best to help fix this problem.
I think everyone should write down their ideas and give a brief reason why it should be changed that way. That way when people read them they have a better insight on the reasoning and can make their own decision which way is best. It could even be printed off and taking to the directors when we are all done.
Some ideas already:
Measure at the top of the withers - because when the horse is standing square that spot does not move up or down like other spots and this is how all other horse breeds are measured.
Raise the height limit to 35-36" in AMHA - this will allow the horses that are OV to still have papers and many of those still produce small.
Make a rule, only 34" and under can go for the title Champion of Champions - because that is the original way the AMHA was set up and this hopefully will keep people trying to breed the best smallest horse possible.
A professional horseman from another breed be hired to hold the horses (the proper way) when getting measured - this will hopefully help eliminate some of the cheating, and people would have to train their horses to be handled by other people if they want their horse to measure in. That way horses would all be measured the same because only one person would be doing the handling and one doing the measuring. Of course this would only happen at the big shows, Champion and World, because of cost. It would be up to the exhibitors to make sure the horse measure in the right class all year to see how they are going to place in that height group.
Now these are just some ideas and I would like to hear more and then we should make a poll so everyone can vote the way they think would be best.
I have been reading and following closely what everyone is saying about the measuring problem with our beloved Miniature breed associations.
I believe if it is ever going to be corrected or made better then we as members need to come up with a solution to get it fixed. The few members that have the chance go to the Conventions is not enough. We need to get this worked out and go to our District representatives and convince them that the majority of the members feel this way and want to be heard. It is their responsibility to let the board members know how we as members feel but can't be there to tell them ourselves.
I think we should all write down what we as an individual thinks would be the best way to correct it. When we get all the ideas from this thread then we need to make a poll so we can all vote on which one/s we think will be the best to help fix this problem.
I think everyone should write down their ideas and give a brief reason why it should be changed that way. That way when people read them they have a better insight on the reasoning and can make their own decision which way is best. It could even be printed off and taking to the directors when we are all done.
Some ideas already:
Measure at the top of the withers - because when the horse is standing square that spot does not move up or down like other spots and this is how all other horse breeds are measured.
Raise the height limit to 35-36" in AMHA - this will allow the horses that are OV to still have papers and many of those still produce small.
Make a rule, only 34" and under can go for the title Champion of Champions - because that is the original way the AMHA was set up and this hopefully will keep people trying to breed the best smallest horse possible.
A professional horseman from another breed be hired to hold the horses (the proper way) when getting measured - this will hopefully help eliminate some of the cheating, and people would have to train their horses to be handled by other people if they want their horse to measure in. That way horses would all be measured the same because only one person would be doing the handling and one doing the measuring. Of course this would only happen at the big shows, Champion and World, because of cost. It would be up to the exhibitors to make sure the horse measure in the right class all year to see how they are going to place in that height group.
Now these are just some ideas and I would like to hear more and then we should make a poll so everyone can vote the way they think would be best.