The World Show ( A chance to be heard)

[Flying minis]

I would love to someday go to mini worlds, but have some of the same issues as others, cost, time away from work, ability to be competitive in amateur classes, need to be able to show multiple classes, etc. One of my issues with Amateur also regards the levels. I understand that if you've shown minis professionally, and now don't, that you would be a level II. But I trained biggies and gave riding lessons. To my eyes, the mini world seems entirely different than big horses, but I'm still a level II in minis because I trained and gave lessons for the big horses. This will be my first year showing AMHA (we showed 1 AMHR show last year, my first with minis), so we'll see how it goes, but when I see the experience and ability of some of the level II amateurs, I think it will take a lot of time and showing to be competitive there.

One of the big "deal breakers" for me for either Worlds or Nationals is the length of the show. Two rings would certainly help that, I know it causes other issues and potential conflicts, but as others have said, I just can't take 2 1/2 or 3 weeks away from home. And if you're in a job where you have 2 weeks vacation a year (or even 5 like I do) by the time you take vacation time for local shows (for example, for shows that start on Friday, I'll usually have to take Thursday and Monday for prep, hauling, etc.), that extra for the world show just doesn't work. Especially if others in your family are non-horsey, and would like to take a family vacation too!

I do have to say, for me, factoring in everything, I would go to AMHR Nationals a lot sooner than I would go to AMHA worlds.

 

[Crabby-Chicken]

Money is a big thing. Distance another, like Nickie we are in Washington. It is sad that I probably will never be able to do a World show. I kind wish they would follow AMHRs lead and make the regionals shows travel and make them more "fancy"! I would make a big effort to support that. And both regionals and Worlds being near the same part of the United States is kinda sad. I know they must for the weather and facility.

 

[MindyLee]

Sorry I have no opinions cause theres no amha shows here in MI and the worlds are to far away so I will never know unless something changes.

I can say it dose really suck owning all double reg horses and can not even do anything with them with amha because of this. Seems like a big fat waste of money now here 5+ yrs down the road to have them since I could have gotten away with R horses only.

 

[valshingle]

Not to hijack, but I wanted to respond to MindyLee: Double registered horses are, in my opinion, more saleable than R or A only.

 

[Jean_B]

Several reasons I did not attend AMHA World in the past:

1. Difficulty in qualifying because of the points required, and there were very few AMHA shows up in WI and MN - until the clubs started putting on a weekend of AMHA one day, and AMHR another. This problem has now of course been eliminated.

2. Cost (others have elaborated on this)

3. Timing. It's held so late in the year and for 'northern' horses, this means body clipping and then (in many cases) coming back home to a COLD and unheated stable. A lot of the "little people" (which is the bread and butter of any successful organization) cannot afford an insulated and heated barn.

 

[Riverdance]

Also, I personally feel that the AOTE rules need to be slightly more defined. Its my opinion that its not an AOTE horse if it was in professional training one year and being shown in AOTE the next. That to me is am Amateur class. Make AOTE truthfully what it is.

This has been one of my biggest pet peeves. I do a lot of driving classes. All of my horses are totally trained by me. They have never had a handler touch them. When I show in AOTE, I am often competing against horses that were Open class World Champions with trainers.

There should be some way to have the AOTE classes only for horses that have never been with a trainer.

 

[stormy]

There are no AMHA shows in my area so even with the rule changes it is not possible for me to qualify a horse for Worlds without traveling 6 to 8 hours to the closest shows. Not having to qualify at a regional show would be a help to some I am sure, not all of us show thru a trainer and are able to travel great distances several times a year to qualify. For AMHR I can qualify locally with just one big trip to Tulsa at the end of the year.

 

[RockRiverTiff]

The new qualifying rule makes showing at the Worlds a more viable option for us, but it doesn't mean I want to show any less the rest of the year. Therein lies the problem because as others in our region have pointed out there simply are NO shows here! When my grandparents got started in minis 30 years ago we were strictly an AMHA farm. Almost everything on our farm from the foals to the stallions all the way through the broodmares was shown and had A points in the 1980s to early 1990s because at that time we had everything from larger more prestigious shows like the Grand Prix in Springfield to at least two club AMHA shows a year down to some one-day county fair shows. The oldest A club in the country is in our state, and yet we now have no A shows here, in Iowa or in Wisconsin. A few years ago when I wanted to see how competitive our homebreds could be on the World level, it was honestly much cheaper to send a horse to a trainer than to try to campaign it myself.

We were excited when we heard about the new qualifying rule, but when I sat down and ran the numbers I realized I could show at at least three local AMHR shows for what it's going to cost to get us to one AMHA show. I've always adhered to the idea that double registered horses have more value, but in the local market very few beginners I've talked to have even given AMHA a second thought because it's simply not represented here. What is their incentive to choose a long haul to an AMHA show over a local AMHR show where they can hang out with people they know, the fees are lower, and they can still be home to their other horses at the end of the day? You've got to get people interested at the local level before they'll even consider an investment like the World show. I understand why they stopped rotating the World show, but it would be nice as others have pointed out if they could continue to rotate Regionals to give the little guys a chance to show their horses at a higher level.

 

[Katiean]

Texas is too far (and therefore too costly)for me to get to. Coming from Michigan it's 1300 miles - even further from Northeast or Northwest US. A more central location or rotating location would get me there regularly.

It is great if you are in Texas. However, My youth driver is not allowed to go that far for that long (minimum 4 days travel there and back plus the show) a rotating location would be great.

 

[midnight star stables]

I'll be honest in saying that I have and enjoy B miniatures for the most part. The distance and money involved to get qualified and to the Worlds isn't worth it to me. I'm happy with the awards with AMHR and I really only have the money to support one registry to the extent that I do. I'm with Tiffany from Rock River, they are just not close for local shows and the costs are very high to show AMHA.

Sorry AMHA - you are too far away, too much money and don't like my big minis.

That said, I still like AMHA and wish them the best! There's a mini AND a registry for everyone

 

[Amoreminiatures]

We have all double and triple registered horses with AMHA & AMHR Also ASPC, in the past we showed very heavily both the AMHA & AMHR circuits back in the days when we had AMHA shows here in Michigan ( Great Lakes Miniature Horse Club ) and also in Ohio and use to LOVE the shows and going to Roberts arena for Regionals, the many wonderful folks and beautiful horses, however over time with the all the restrictions in qualifying for AMHA Worlds and as Dana stated either not enough horses in classes / high costs of shows and then lack of shows in our area and so on, we found it much less stressful to direct our efforts mainly toward the AMHR Circuit, we have enjoyed Nationals in Illinois, Columbia & Tulsa and even though the distance has been hard we understand with a show of this caliber distance is part of fun of getting there, it has always been exciting to load up the trailer with everything but the kitchen sink for horses & us, load up for the across the country journey seeing friends and trailers heading in the same direction and then up load to 10 or more days of fun, friends, sleeplessness, and living on the edge, so the journey is not that bad, I think in this time in our economy we / BOTH registries need to realize folks are trying HARD to get there but maybe ease in some area, qualifying, class costs, stalls, whatever or wherever to help us make these shows successes, We try hard to support our registries in anyway we can and we will be there some way or how...

I hope the changes AMHA has made this year proves to be a GOOD Change in the RIGHT direction..

 

[Taylor Richelle]

You have all pretty much read my mind in one way or another...Yes for me it cost to much. Texas is VERY far away from Maine! qualifying is also harder, you have to have the the "right" horses to do that. I love my horses dearly

but I know once I get them to nationals or worlds they wouldn't fit in. I go to local mini shows and have fun. That's all i want to do and I am very content with it! Don't get me wrong, I would die if I were to be able to get the chance to go to the big shows in Texas. With the gas prices and everything else rising I will be lucky if my parents agree to take me to my shows I have planned for this year.

This is also only my 2nd year showing so I wasn't looking to go to anything like that anyway! I may head to the "bigger" shows in my area next year to see what they are like.

 

[Timeless]

A lot of people have said there are no local AMHA shows. Why is that? Now with the requirements changing, why not? I heard that AMHA is now going to allow 1 day "community" shows. Maybe someone who has info on that could post. If in the areas with no shows, it sounds like there are R shows. Therefore, there must be enough interest in showing to support these shows. We are starting a new club in Virginia with the hopes of bringing a show back to the Virginia Horse Center. I will be posting more on this in the next few weeks.

It seems that if we could build interest at the local level, our competitive nature would make more of us dream of that trophy in Texas.

I also agree that the AOTE should be truly for non- professionally trained horses and the local shows should offer different AOTE classes to make it easier for people to be successful, which in turn will make you want to show more. I currently have a yearling filly and 2 2 year old fillies that have never been touched by a trainer, but they would all be in the same AOTE class. For me, the biggest show expenses are gas, time off from work, and hotels. I want to take as many of my horses as possible. The above costs are the same whether I take 1 or 5 horses.

 

[Charlotte]

Someone asked about the AMHA Community Shows and I couldn't find who it was. My suggestion is that you contact the office for information. If you don't get the information you need from the office please email me personally.

The membership voted this in at the Annual Meeting this past Feb, but it won't go into effect until 2012. However, now is the time to be planning for this and advertising the new shows you can have in 2012.

There are also the Youth Performance Events which will go into effect in 2012.

Both of these types of shows can be held in a day or half day, indoors or outside, show out of trailer, etc and very economical, but all AMHA points and awards apply.

Charlotte

Oh! I didn't look fvery far. LOL It was Timeless.

 

[thehorsegirl]

The biggest problem for me is the time of year. AMHA World is always held in the last part of September, a couple of weeks into the school year. If I work really hard (as in ten to sixteen hour days at World grooming/bathing/cleaning stalls ect.) I can get a free ride from CA to TX witch definitely cuts back on costs. I also train and condition my own horses, so training costs are not a problem. But, I still have to take almost a month off college. Last year I got away with taking online classes and a ton of units in the summer semester but now, moving into more upper-division classes, that's just not going to work. Even last year I would be at the show from like seven to nine and have to get back to the room to write an essay. So anyway, I think us youth and college going amateurs would really appreciate a slight change in schedule. (All of this goes for AMHR as well)

 

[sfmini]

There were a lot of points I want to answer to, but need sleep more so I will add to this tomorrow.

Rotating shows is just about impossible as the facilities are all demanding long term contracts and don't want breaks in shows. That is why the arab nationals no longer does that.

Oklahoma City is about dead center in the US, but the facility did not meet our needs as we grew so we moved to Texas. Now, I believe there are no available dates but the facility has made major upgrades.

They are discussing moving the show earlier, to August. That will be the kiss of death for me, TOO HOT and I am not going to burn vacation time and money to be miserable. The end of September is hot enough, borderline misery for me.

To add more classes, expenses will go up, and we would have to make the show even longer than it is.

As for the AOTE, good luck trying to track which horses were with trainers and which were not. Also, you would kill an entire sales market for the owners and breeders who promote their horses with trainers. Keep in mind, that once a horse is out of training, it is the AOTE that is responsible for keeping that horse up to snuff and conditioned....

More tomorrow, bed now.

Ok, to continue. AMHA has a rolling 3 year contract with Will Rogers but they are open to moving if an acceptable centrally located facility is available. Easier said than done, as our event spans 2 weekends. Can't remember the stall count requirements but that is substantial as well.

As for Eastern Regional location, the show was returned to Ohio due to the low entries at the SC facility, and loads of complaints about the heat.

I do agree with eliminating the plaques, but every time I brought it up I was shot down. They are changing to a smaller, less expensive plaque this year. Ribbons are changing slightly as well to rein in costs to avoid raising prices. The board is very aware of the financial strain of attending the show and has worked to try to keep costs down. Problem is, the World show lost money last year. While AMHA is a non profit, it does have to be self supporting as well as bring in enough extra to have a financial cushion in the bank.

As for the local shows, those are 100% the responsibility of the clubs and members to host, not AMHA. AMHA only has 4 shows per year, the three regional shows and Worlds.

The local shows could be less expensive if the clubs and members would accept lower priced venues but that would mean showing outside rather than in indoor arenas. While us little folk do show in a lot of classes, the trainers are the ones that pay really big bills at the shows so they must be catered to as well.

I have also attended the Nationals and have to say I love it and we are planning to show there this year instead of Worlds for the first time in years. We did show both one year and it was too much.

I do have to say the Nationals is more fun, people are more relaxed and friendly, and the free dinners they hold are fun and save us money, and keep us there watching the show.

As for bodyclipping the show horses, yes it is cold at home, we usually have to stop on the way and put on winter blankets. BUT, after about a month, the horses have grown enough hair to go without their blankets for the remainder of the winter. Our barn isn't even close to being heated or able to button tight in the cold and we have never had problems when we got home. Besides, you have to body clip for every show in the summer....... It is just that one show that causes you to have to make a little extra effort for a while to keep your horses warm. Mahogany Bay is a wimp, we have discovered that he needs to be double blanketed at first and some years has to wear a blanket the entire winter but again, not a big deal.

 

[Woodland Acres Farm]

I don't show AMHA anymore, stalls are very costly, class fees are high and I am changing to taller horses anyway. But for those concerned about location of the show... Fall weather can be pretty cold in some locations so I never thought Texas was too far to go, the warmer weather was always welcome and made it much more enjoyable.

But I think cost of stalls should not increase for quite some time, they are high enough.

 

[Minimor]

A lot of people have said there are no local AMHA shows. Why is that? Now with the requirements changing, why not? .... If in the areas with no shows, it sounds like there are R shows. Therefore, there must be enough interest in showing to support these shows.

Just because there are R shows does not mean there is much interest in showing AMHA in any given area. Here there used to be a weekend show where one day was AMHR and the other was AMHA. It got so that the AMHR day was bigger than AMHA--quite a bit bigger. As a result, the show became AMHR only--the AMHA day was dropped. There are some that still would like to have an AMHA show in the area, but there is no one willing to run the show. The show committee organizes two AMHR shows and is not interested/does not have time to run an AMHA show as well. To have a show you first need people who are willing to step up and take on the job of organizing that show. Then you need entries for that show. Here the people who are interested in showing at sanctioned shows are mostly interested in showing AMHR. There are plenty of AMHA owners and plenty of AMHA horses in this province, but most of those owners do not show at sanctioned shows. (The high cost of showing at those shows is the most common reason I have heard for these owners not bothering to show even when there was a show available.) There are people showing at the fairs that you never see out at a sanctioned Mini show.

 

[Make A Wish Miniatures]

Charlotte, When will more information be available about the community shows? Our san Antonio Area miniature horse club presently has one show a year A two day AMHR show and a one day AMHA show. The cost of putting on this show is extremely high mostly because of the facility we are using. Having some one day community shows might be good if we could make them trailer tie shows. in outside facilities. I was watching this topic on the internet at the convention and it seems like a really good idea.

 

[targetsmom]

I just want to comment on what I seem to see as a general pattern here (not necessarily World Show related):

- Shows are too expensive

- AMHA shows are too far away

- Don't want to show against trainers

- People are showing at local fairs but don't come out for AMHA shows

I didn't hear a lot of "I don't want to show at all" comments.

I really wish that AMHA would consider a program (such as one PtHA runs) whereby people can get points showing at certain classes at approved LOCAL shows. By local I mean any local shows, such as your local fairs, or any OPEN horse shows, but not any shows restricted to one breed (e.g. Pinto, AMHR, etc.). There can be a small cost to participate but no cost to AMHA to put on the shows. People who want points can contact any existing shows to have them add approved mini classes, or start up their own shows if they want. The points could count for existing AMHA awards or new awards could be established. Another benefit is the exposure that miniatures could get among the general horse world and the general public.

Here is the list of classes that the Pinto Association allows in their OCAP program (http://www.pinto.org/ocap.html):

Of course, this is just an example of how a program COULD be run.

Horses, Ponies, and Miniatures

* Halter

o Only one halter class per show

(excluding- Halter Championships)

o Sport horses may substitute Halter In Hand

(Sport Horse- Hunter, Dressage, Eventing horses)

* Driving

o Pleasure Driving

o Fine Harness

o Roadster

o Roadster to Bike

o Obstacle Driving

o Disciplined Rail Driving

o Ideal Pinto Driving

Ponies & Miniatures Only:

* Trail In-Hand

* Jumping In-Hand

* Hunter In-Hand (over fences; Miniatures only)

* Gymkhana Driving

o Cloverleaf Barrels

o Pole Bending

o Keyhole

o Stake Race

o Flag Race

More food for thought, I hope.