Is it worth it?

[RescueMini]

I have a nice little mare that was rescued, nothing spectacular halter class wise, but has nice enough conformation to make me wonder if she had papers somewhere before she was seized. I really want to show her in R, but the only way to do so would be to hardship her in A. She would be competitive in the performance classes, which is what I ideally would like to show in. She did end up beating some National level minis in Obstacle and Jumper at some of our local open shows this year. I measured her today several times and got an average height of 33 7/8", with the shortest height being 33 3/4" and tallest 34". She had never been measured before, so she was very tense at first, and I was careful to make sure that she was standing square. She measured the shortest when she finally relaxed at the very end.

What I am trying to figure out is if it is worth it to hardship her into A and then R. Buying another mini is not an option for me, neither is leasing one, and I would really like to get into showing at the breed association level.

 

[JMS Miniatures]

If you really want to get her hardshipped do it now, that way you can get in on the discount that AMHR is offering. Plus AMHA will close its doors to hardshipping on Dec. 31, 2013. She sounds nice enough to do it, plus you said buying one that is registered isn't an option for you right now so if you have the money to do it and want to take her to shows then do it.

 

[HGFarm]

YES! I have a mare who is small, but whose mother outgrew her A papers and was only R. I hardshipped this mare back into AMHA and am so glad I did. She has given me a couple of great foals that can be double registered A and R, one being her fewspot daughter sired by my Top Ten leopard I had. I like competing in both A and R so it makes it nice too that I get twice the fun with the same horse, lol

 

[Jill]

Yes, it sounds like in your case, it would be worth it! Good luck!!!

 

[weerunner]

I dont really think it would be worth it to me. It costs 600$ plus a membership fee (65$) if you are not a member for this year, then it would cost you 160$ to hardship her into AMHR (100 to hardship and 60 to register her) and another 65 if you are not a AMHR member. Plus you have to bring your horse to a authorized AMHA member to measure her, or pay their travel fees.

I know around my area, you can buy some lovely show quality colts or fillies and also full grown trained mares and geldings for 1000$ or less. And they often are double registered animals.

Now if you are just in love with your mare, then of course it is worth it because she is the mare you want to show. But money wise I'd say no. Not in my opinion, (for what that's worth).