You know what, I for one could care less if they add 6 divisions into AMHR as long as they make those divisions optional and not required for the local shows. I’m quite sure that the shows here would not see a need to add any new divisions if they were available to be added…because we don’t have that many Shetlands being shown AMHR, and of those that are being shown, none are Moderns.
What amazes me is that people seem to believe that if another division or two (or three or four or whatever) were added to AMHR, that would fix all their problems and complaints. If they truly believe that and cannot see that it would just open the way for a whole new set of problems and complaints, then they are fooling themselves. People cannot agree now on what should be Pleasure and what should be Park or Country Pleasure. They think it’s cut and dried what would be a Foundation Mini—but I don’t see it being cut & dried at all. They’d find that there were those Minis that qualify for Foundation by virtue of registration, and yet they still have the refined look of a Shetland—and yes, there are some Minis out there that people would take to be Shetland or half Shetland if they didn’t know the breeding or see the papers, just as there are ASPC/AMHR horses out there that you wouldn’t recognize as Shetland if you didn’t know they had that 2nd set of papers. So, then you’ll have people moaning about the fact that Foundation wasn’t meant for “that” type of Miniature. They’ll complain that certain Minis should be showing “open” rather than “foundation”. Then again, maybe if that will make them happy, give them the division and when they complain about how unfair it still is because there are the wrong type of horses getting into that division they can listen to people saying “I told you so”.
One only has to look at the dissatisfaction a number of people have with the Foundation division in Shetlands to realize that it isn't going to work any better in Minis.
I would go along with a Foundation division—even though I don’t believe in it—but I would not go along with taking the Shetlands or even just the Modern type Shetlands out of the regular AMHR classes & forcing them to show only in Modern Park…because IMO some of them aren’t park horses, they belong in pleasure. Add the Foundation division if you must, and then let everyone that wants to show in the regular AMHR division. And I say that as someone who has only straight AMHR horses, no ASPC/AMHR horses.
And I say that there is no way we should all bow down to what that one division wants just because they believe they are the money makers in the registry. I say that if they want to leave, let them leave. I do not believe that all Mini owners will leave—I’m sure some will. But I’m also sure that there will be many who stay. The ASPC/AMHR Minis are growing more and more popular, and as long as their owners want to show AMHR, there will be AMHR, and there will be money coming into AMHR as well as ASPC. Even if ASPC/AMHR is left smaller than it currently is, I believe it will be big enough to survive and even thrive.
But why shouldn’t it be? Just because “you” don’t want it to be? For that matter, why shouldn’t it be a good moving horse that is more fluid moving than what it is now? Adding pony doesn’t mean that only up/down movement will be added—it will add fluidity and extension as well. Many people like that!
Quarter Horse is its own breed, and Arabians are their own breed, so you’d hardly cross them to get one or the other. Miniature horses are small size equines that are 38” or less, so if you can find a Shetland that fits into that size, adding it into the breed sure isn’t the wrong thing to do!
I am curious….why is it okay if someone has a 6th generation Mini that came from Shetland stock, only 6 generations back someone threw away the Shetland papers, thereby making their horses “Miniature” only. But, if someone else kept the Shetland papers 6 generations back, making their horses ASPC/AMHR for those 6 generations….and of course that makes their current horse ASPC/AMHR now!....that is not so okay—people complain because that horse is winning in AMHR when it should be showing Shetland instead? Maybe some of those other AMHR horses shouldn’t be showing AMHR either, they should have had ASPC papers all these generations and then they could show ASPC “where they belong” too! They’re really AMHR because the Shetland was so far back? How do you know? Might not a Shetland without papers be every bit as much Shetland as one that has papers? Or does it really make it not Shetland any more if you don’t know by the papers that it is Shetland?
