National Show Venue

[miniwhinny]

Have the registries ever concidered rotating the National show around regions to make travel easier for all. One of my sons competed in the Junior Olympics a number of years back, the event that year was held in Florida but the venue then changed in following years just like the adult Olympics and went to the Northeast, Midwest and West coast. Oregon has a brand new world class event center, I'm sure many other states do too. Sure would be nice to have the National shows "travel". Going to Nationals if you live in Texas sure is easier than if you live in Washington or Maine. :bgrin

 

[disneyhorse]

Well I'd say a GOOD MAJORITY of National competitors plan to go every year. I wouldn't think it fair to move it around too much, because if it was too far to one coast or another it would be very difficult for the other coast to attend.

Remember, exhibitors are hauling LIVE ANIMALS in a trailer... it's not like people hopping on an airplane. It wouldn't be fair to ask an exhibitor to haul so far, for the health and safety of the horses.

I live in an extreme part of the country... southern CA... so it IS a trek for me to travel to the middle of the country with my horses and then back. But I love it, so I don't mind.

I AM sad that they moved Congress this coming year SO FAR... I personally feel the National level shows should be kept close to the midpoint of the United States to make it most fair for everyone, not the majority. But that's just me.

Andrea

 

[Sunraye Miniatures]

Like disneyhorse said, it would be stressful not only on the animals but the people as well if they keep on moving it to different places year after year. I think AMHR has finially found a place to be proud of to have their National show, look at their numbers. They aren't decreasing they are increasing each year eversince the move to Tulsa. I like the fact this year for the 1st time I didn't get lost for once in Tulsa lol.

I went to Congress this year to just watch, and I got to say I didn't feel like that place was a arena to hold such a caliber show. I suppose after showing at Nationals in Tulsa I got to remeber that the entries for Congress isn't near comparable to Nationals. Hopefully numbers will come up and maybe they can make the move to Tulsa?

 

[txminipinto]

I AM sad that they moved Congress this coming year SO FAR... I personally feel the National level shows should be kept close to the midpoint of the United States to make it most fair for everyone, not the majority. But that's just me.

Andrea

AMEN!! All National level shows should be centrally located to increase participation (for new and old timers alike!). The problem with Congress is there's not enough ponies to justify using Tulsa.

 

[HGFarm]

I agree- I live in AZ and I think a 'mid point' is easier for all, rather than going from one extreme to the other. It is a long trip for us too, but an adventure, so we get through it! And, what a big relief when you get there and then get home again!

:

 

[Lisa-Ruff N Tuff Minis]

Well another think to think about is it takes along time to find a venue that can hold 1700+ horses and is a quality place. As well as those places are usually booked up years in advance.

The Expo center in Tulsa has told me we are there biggest show they have all year long, no other show books up the hotel and such as early as we do I am sure that must give us some extra attention to needs?

I do agree it would be nice to have it close to me since not much seems to happen on the west coast here but bottom line is most will still continue to somehow someway make it to the national show

 

[Belinda]

The problem with Congress is there's not enough ponies to justify using Tulsa.

Cairn ,

Much to Your Surprise we are looking very hard at having Congress at Tulsa !! WE can use the new arena over at the new Race horse barns and the cost would be less... Our possibility is Springfield , Ohio which looks to have very nice arena also.. I believe they have had the Eastern AMHA Regional there..

But to the question of moving AMHR Nationals that is just almost impossible at this point due to the amount of stalling we need.. Not many can hold that many horses in Permanent stalls..

 

[Davie]

When I first got into minis the "A" National did move from east, central and west every year so that you had a Nationals in your region every third year.

There are several reasons for a centrally located place---

1. Show Dates/Facilities are getting harder and harder to find

If you leave a highly sought after location another show moves in

When you give up a show date, no guarantee you'll get it back

A facility will not hold dates for say every third year--what are they going to do the other 2 years? They can't say to another organization, OK you can have it year 1 & 2 but not 3 because it is already booked to someone else--they will look elsewhere.

2. One facility--long term contract (5 yrs or more) mean less expense

Some of the big horse Nationals are signing 10 year + contracts for the State Fair arena here in Oklahoma City and because the Fair Board knows those events are here longterm they are doing major renovations to the facilities as they can count on the revenue and the local governments are willing to also get involved with incentives because of the income generated from such events.

3. Central location makes it easier for all show folks to show.

I personally like the idea of a firm show date from year to year (same calendar weekend) as it makes it easy for me to plan my show year and work time off around that critical date of Nationals.

Central location (Central US corridor--be it TX, OK, KS, NE) doesn't matter to me as long as I'm not hauling for 4-5 days to get there--east cost to west coast and vice versa. Not to mention the price to travel to the location.

When the Nationals was rotating I never got to go except when it was in the Central part of the US for "A".

As for "R" they were centrallly located in MO for several years before I started attending, but I had heard the facilities were pretty poor--had an opportunity to meet someone to deliver horses at that facility and I would not have shown there at all--very remote location, very few motels or restaurants without having to drive several miles. My opinion just not a good facility for a NATIONAL show. "R" moved to the Tulsa facility and their entry has grown each year since they moved there and it seems that everyone is extremely happy there.

Just my humble opinion here, but I love seeing the National shows in a somewhat permanent location in the central part of the US. Long term contracts with great facilities (both for horses and exhibitors) that will allow the organizations to put on a "National Quality" show and yet keep costs reasonable is the most important. Right now it does not hurt that the "A" Nationals are only 3.5 hours from home and the "R" Nationals are only 2.5 hours, but even if they move to KS or some other central location it still would still be fine.

 

[txminipinto]

The problem with Congress is there's not enough ponies to justify using Tulsa.

Cairn ,

Much to Your Surprise we are looking very hard at having Congress at Tulsa !! WE can use the new arena over at the new Race horse barns and the cost would be less... Our possibility is Springfield , Ohio which looks to have very nice arena also.. I believe they have had the Eastern AMHA Regional there..

But to the question of moving AMHR Nationals that is just almost impossible at this point due to the amount of stalling we need.. Not many can hold that many horses in Permanent stalls..

OOOHHHHH!!!!!! :aktion033: :aktion033: :aktion033: Make it happen Belinda! I would just die and go to heaven. I LOVE TULSA!!!

:

For those who've never made the trip to Tulsa, it is SO WORTH IT.

 

[sfmini]

Davie pretty much detailed the reasons. I know that the rotation is coming up for vote at the AMHA convention, here is a topic that I hope like anything people will LISTEN to the discussions before voting as the logistics are just about impossible. I know we (AMHA) have looked at other factilities, but finding one large enough, available, cheaper than where we are, nice enough, etc is just not easy to do as we need TWO weekends at the facility.

About the only way I could see pulling it off would be to work together with two or three other breeds to share the facilities so we could rotate with them.

I have to say I loved having the AMHA national show here in Columbus, Ohio in 1994, but was terribly embarrassed by the facility. The grounds were dirty, showers were broken, I will never forget getting ready for a shower, only to find no hot water. Scuttled to the next one, nope, next one, nope, next one, sort of.

That place in MO where R used to be was awful, literally in the middle of a truck stop. Temporary barns all over, up hills, down hills.

 

[bevann]

Many years ago the Arabs moved their national show from Louisville,KY to NM on an every other year basis.Does anyone know if they still do this&what happens at the facility in the off year?I got to attend the AMHA nationals when it moved around in 1994 in Columbus,OH&in Lexington,VA in 1997.Haven't been able to go since&have never been able to go to AMHR nationals due to distance.Having hads ome experience with putting on shows I understand the dilema of finding suitable facilities, but it sure would be nice to rotate so more people in my position could have a turn to attend once in a while.

 

[sfmini]

No, they have settled permantly in one location as the moving was no longer feasable.

 

[Becky]

The US Arabian National Championship Show is moving to Tulsa, OK in 2008! :aktion033: :aktion033:

 

[ruffian]

I would like to see it rotate to various parts of the country, or moved to someplace more central to the entire US, not just the southern parts. I went to the Columbus OH AMHA show to watch and had a great time. I think it would increase the local show participation if there was a greater chance of attending nationals.

I agree that the MO AMHR site was horrible, but cannot believe there isn't anyplace in the Central US that was be set to hold a miniature horse show. Tulsa is two day trip.

 

[disneyhorse]

Ruffian... you think Tulsa is far from YOU??? I think Tulsa is a good midpoint to hold the National show. It is fair to people on both coasts. Now, Shetland Congress is a bit too far from the west coast.... hopefully they will move it after 2007 (pretty please to anyone who is reading this !) Tulsa would be excellent!

Andrea

 

[RockRiverTiff]

I agree with everyone! :aktion033:

Sorry--just wanted to take a moment to enjoy the sensation. As far as AMHR is concerned, I think they're pretty central. There's a show in our area nearly every weekend, so if we ever got our act together, qualifying would be super easy and going to Nationals seems very attainable. But for AMHA? :no: There's pretty much nothing in the entire region (IN, IL, IA, WI=nada). The nearest show is more than 6 hours, and we used to go every year, but even there classes weren't large enough to make it worthwhile. We have a stallion we really adore, so we sent him to a trainer for Worlds, and that was much cheaper than campaigning him from IL would have been. Maybe it was already happening, but when they stopped rotating the AMHA Nationals/Worlds it seemed like this area just died. If they started rotating the Worlds again, it would be incredibly hard for anyone in this area to qualify anyway.

 

[joylee123]

[SIZE=12pt]What Davie said[/SIZE]

:

 

[bevann]

There are very few AMHA shows in the east anymore. one in MA 5 or 6 hrs from me through NY city area traffic ,maybe 1 in Asheville,NC-8 hours ,TN 12 hrs or more.Our club tried AMHA for several years and just kept losing money so we had to drop it.Our AMHR show is great&we make lots of money&give it back to exhibitors with nice trophies&breaks on entry fees for Youth&amateurs.

 

[HGFarm]

I think Tulsa is a great location also and about mid point. I am in central AZ and it is a long 2 day drive for us (both days!)

 

[SilverRidgeMinis]

The only national show I have ever been to is the 1994 AMHA show in Columbus, Ohio. I understand the reasons for not wanting to rotate the shows. I would still would love the shows to move every 5 or 10 years. I think it would allow more people to attend who normally don't get to and possibly bring more interest to our horses.

Freida