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Our U.S. National Show – Our “Crown Jewel” Show???
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Well my friends…we’re getting ready to head off to Tulsa to experience the crown jewel of our annual show calendar – the U.S. Nationals.
Did I say “this is our crown jewel”?? Well by reputation and stature, it is, but by execution…it is a big “yawner”, and isn’t that such a shame? How can that be??
Well it is what it is because the fundamentals are all wrong, starting with the fact that the show is hosted in Tulsa, OK, then leading to last year’s disasterous scheduling of classes, then to the judging system which has no comparison factor at all, which competelely takes the “show” out of horse showing, and on and on it goes.
Most poignant for me is that I tried to schedule a meeting of the AHBA Board of Directors to take place at this year’s Nationals, and I couldn’t even host the meeting because not enough of our promiment board members are attending the show. And that for me says it all. Some of the most promiment members of our Arabian horse community are not even attending the “crown jewel” show of our annual calendar, and I for one can’t blame them.
I’m bringing a group of new people to the Nationals this year, and I’m scared to death that they will walk away from the experience asking themselves the “million dollar” question….”If I could put my hard-earned money into this versus owning a boat, or a second home, or a big family vacation, or one of a million other alternatives, why would I put my money into something that is largely billed as a “lifestyle expereince” and the crown jewel show is so boring and unfulfilling? How am I supposed to answer to that? We better change things fast or we’re in big trouble.
(average: 5.00 out of 5)
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Jeff… I agree with your comments on the US National Show 100 % What has happened to it ??? I went last year…and am not going this year…and for no other reason than i found it boring and slow last year. God..I remember the days back in Louisville KY…Sat night…. the excitement…Stallion Championship!!!…English Pleasure Championship!!! They even started running it into the ground right before they left KY. I always LOVED watching the open English PLeasure Championship….from way back to the days when Bob B and Featurette won it. I remember one of the last years in KY when the class entered the ring after 1 am ???? WTF ? Anyway…I am sure you have had numerous panel discussions in regards to this… If I can ever help you out…don’t hesitate in calling me. LOVE to see the National Show regain its respect and excitement back !!!!!!
PEACE !
Jack Crawford
Why is the show boring? What is missing that was there before? I have only been to U.S. Nationals once and I found the show ok but there were not as many things going on for the visitor to be involved with as when I went to Scottsdale. I have been to Canadian Nationals 3 times.1998, 2002 and 2008 and I saw a real decline last year.I just put it down to the economy. I couldn’t even buy a souvenir t shirt and there was only one gathering to meet the other people involved. There were not many people there on Sat.night and no one seems to dress up anymore. The patrons lounge was moved to the same end as the horse entrance and the other end was empty. The seats were dusty so you couldn’t even sit there if you wanted to. A lot of the hype was gone and that took away a lot of the excitement. I would not go back unless my horse was showing there. What a contrast to 1998 when Magnum Psyche was being promoted. He had a huge new trailer which you could walk in and see and I mean huge with a large banner saying Magnum is here which was visible as soon as you entered the parking lot. We went to see him but he was having a rest. I still remember that class and at least three of the horses, Magnum,his half brother Psymadre and the Canadian contender,the Elixir. The owners actively recruited cheers and gave out little flags and banners to wave. The class was very exciting and his handler, David was wearing a tuxedo.I saw Magnum stretch out right in front of me.(I read that they are not supposed to stretch but that is what it looked like to me).I thought he was beautiful. He won and it changed my life. I never thought I could afford a horse that beautiful but the very next spring I was walking around the barns at a show in Washington State and found a Magnim yearling for sale which I ended up buying without any advice from anyone except my mother who was with me when he won. The filly was from his very first year of babies and did very well. She qualified for Nationals very handily and that is why we went back in 02. We did not win but it was a great experience. we are not showing too much now due to life changes but plan to show again. Some of the Magnum girls we showed against were back in the ring this year, Maggdalina for one so we plan on getting back into the showring too. My mare has had one baby, now 4 who looks just like her but hasn’t done much showing yet. All I can say is I hope it gets exciting again before we get back to it.
Nationals 2009, will not go down in history as my favorate show. Tulsa is boring after 2 years. The exhibits are all over and not much in them. Looked like a rerun in the classes from last year. Same horses in halter, same horses in English and the same in Western. It’s really bad when even the shopping was boring. I like the point system for halter vs the comparison, but they need to jazz it up and speed it up by maybe bringing all the horses in for the walk first. Then you could see them to gether and get the overall quality of the class. I’ve always thought the point system and the posting of the points a great system. I’ve shown at the Egyptian Event for years and it far out weighs the Nationals.
I agree with the idea that some of these shows are becoming boring. The same horses and trainers are winning over and over again. If certain trainers or horses go into a class it is not even worth watching because you can pick who is going to win what. The places are just rotated. There used to be so much excitement about classes and everyone was so excited about night classes. Now there is just no excitement. I agree that a lot of the fall out might be due to the economy. I know that I am no longer able to show due to the decline. I would hopefully like to get back into showing. I think if more people can begin showing again the excitement may come back into the area. I hope that not too many people give up on showing and the big events. Hopefully we will all be back at shows enjoying them again.