Planning for the 2010 show

[fanaberia]

Dec 17, 2009 19:27:17 GMT -5 schwung said:

Monroe Fairgrounds has 4 arenas and more stalls than we could ever need, and the Windy Tide two-day shows that are run there are hugely popular. We could add more gaming on the western day and more jumping on the English day - and even dressage in one of the other rings.

Anyway, lots to think and talk about!

Monroe is a great place to show. However, Windy Tides number have been dropping down lower every year. This year's English days were very small, as in I don't know if they broke even. I process their results for Zone points, so I've got a pretty good idea as far as their turnout. So the two day thing would be a little risky there. But a one day would be nice since it would be SO CLOSE to SAFE and its a really nice venue.

As far as cross entry goes, most people are honest about not cross entering if you put it on the premium and announce it a time or two.

From my experience showing locally the last few years, is that two days shows have really not been worth the cost and effort. One day will always be smaller, regardless of location, leaving everyone wondering why it is the show was two days:-)

Now with Monroe, if you add jumping *AND* dressage, that might make it worth it because you'd add in an entirely different group of people. Maybe some driving classes too? Not too many shows for drivers to go into. However, keep in mind you've just added more judges:-)

Lots of options that way. But if you keep it strictly to flat classes and separate English and Western, you are going to waste money. And there's no reason for that because, as mentioned earlier, the last two shows ended at a very reasonable time.

Cancellations are a pain in the butt... those should be non-refundable. All the clubs this year switched to no scratch/no swap. (No monetary refund, that is) It's a benefit show, so it really shouldn't be allowed in my opinion.

[mymercedes]

I will be checking into rates etc for the Monroe Fairgrounds as well as Frontier Park and some other venues. Often times, the big arenas won't allow a one day show (i.e. the Tacoma Unit) as they have a two day rental minimum. Monroe is a very nice facility with two additional arenas in addition to the large indoor. The stalls are nice too. I agree, it might be a lot easier to be closer to the SAFE horses.

I think the cancellations Jaime is referring to are possibly regarding to the handling etc of the SAFE horses? I think there is room for improvement there, and now that I've seen it all pan out in action, I would be more than willing to help in that regard, and I think we could recruit some additional help as well. I know I have several very horse savy friends who don't show but would most likely love to handle a SAFE horse or two!

I also have never seen a schooling show without showmanship and halter and it gives those with unrideable horses a chance to show in something. If we were going to add some classes, we could add equitation classes with patterns, not just rail work.

Lots to think about. Maybe a meeting is in order for sometime after the first of the year. By then, I will have facility information and we can all brainstorm. That would be fun!

[schwung]

Yes, I was referring to cancellations with regards to riders and haulers. The concern that I had is we brought a lot of green horses and babies and this was their very first outing, and we had no idea how they would behave. Therefore it was important to me that we have experienced people handling the horses and that they worked with the horse beforehand, as I tried very hard but even with all the volunteers I did have several of the horses did not get worked with a lot in terms of showmanship before the show. The only one who really lost their brain at the show was Rhythm, but Sinatra and Scotti were both handfuls at times and I would not be comfortable having people just sign up to handle a horse without knowing their background and experience level and having them spend time with the horse in advance.

[fanaberia]

I meant regular exhibitors, not the SAFE horses. Regular exhibitors should be still assessed a fee; or at least they are in other places.

Since this is your show, and rescues only have horses short term (at least that's the goal), I don't think the same needs to apply to you guys at ll. You can't be expected to know how each of those babies will do with a volunteer that isn't out with them daily. So no big deal there. But this shouldn't be okay for everyone else, individual owners should be acquainted with the horses they know, or just donate to SAFE; it isn't like they are tossing away money anyway.

[schwung]

I think we are having two different conversations here, or I am just confused. I am just talking about SAFE horses in my above paragraph, not regular exhibitors.

[fanaberia]

Yup. Misunderstanding hiccup; we're in agreement.

[cat67]

You will have a hard time policing no x-entry between w/t and w/t/c because every open show around the area allows it. What most of them do is offer a green rider or maiden w-t to create a real "beginners only" walk trot class to go into. But almost everybody REALLY wants to go in w/t as a warm-up for the w-t-c classes, and it's silly not to make the money. Walk only should be limited to cross entry with walk trot, though. Keep it for the beginners and the super green horses.

My experience is you can fill w-t classes easier than w-t-c, and that's all the more true at a rescue/schooling show. So I would offer a ton of different w-t's. W-T for green horses, W-T for green riders, W-T junior horse, W-T senior horse, W-T super senior horse (15+), old fart walk trot, etc.

I definitely would like to see trotting speed classes. We always filled those at NWEEC. Lots of people will go in games if they don't have to run - particularly with green horses. Since the SAFE show attracts a lot of novices who don't normally show, with horses who do not normally show, offering trotting speed classes as well as the traditional ones is a great idea. It also gets people to go into those classes with their pleasure horses - I mean, almost anything can trot barrels without losing its brain. People will do that with their pleasure horses and hunters.

[fanaberia]

Even though a lot of the winter shows allow for cross entry, almost none of the summer time ones do. Couple reasons for this: summer shows are often rated, and WSH as well as USEF don't really allow for this. Also, when cross entry IS allowed, its generally allowed by the show in order to make more money. So I guess that's something for SAFE to decide; cross entry allowance will equal in higher profits.

But really, policing isn't that hard. As a matter of fact, I really hate to call it that. As I mentioned earlier, announcing and putting it on the premium as well as making people pick a high point declaration usually takes care of it. As I mentioned earlier, I attend a lot (at least 10 a year) of local shows as I'm very active in Washington State Horseman. It's not that big of a deal to enforce.

As far as Monroe goes, I know their weekends fill up really fast. So if that's going to be considered as a venue, it may not be a bad idea to look into it sooner than later. I do agree that the corporate sponsors would be much easier to find since the group is local. Plus, its a great venue.

[wildwoman]

Boy-Cat-you hit the nail on the head with me/my horse-the ONE show I've done was last year's SAFE show. We had a blast even though my horse and I had no clue what we were doing. Having more classes we can enter=more ways to take our money=better fundraiser. Is there a way to have clases run concurrently to save time? Break the arena up into 2 show classes and have trail elsewhere? Just a thought.

[shekaberry]

I checked into the Fairgrounds one year and the rental was close to $2k and you had to book about a year in advance, so I don't know how likely that would be. Maybe renting the Bits & Spurs arena would be possible, but if you want something with stalls; your choices are limited.

I haven't showed at a schooling show since the mid-90's, but there was only ever a showmanship class; I never attended one with halter. I also never attended one with W only as an option. There were, however, plenty of people who who entered W/T and just didn't trot. They were just there with greenies (people and equine) for experience.

Kind of the same thing in regards to gaming. There were always lots of folks who never made it out of the trot (even at the first SAFE show I saw that). I just feel like having too many different divisions will make the show drag.

It would be super fun to add equitation pattern classes, in W/T and W/T/C; and maybe a Dressage suitability class, copying Materiale? The Hunter Hack has been a hit, but I do think it would be fun to have patterns.

[fanaberia]

2K sounds about right for Monroe:-) Ouch.

Pattern classes go really, really slow. They are fun, but if time is a concern these aren't a wise addition.

The Bits and Spurs arena is often rocky, and the warmup is really bad and small. I love the club, but for the same price you can rent the Hollywood Hill Saddle Club facility. It was recently redone and it's beautiful. Ample parking, a large warmup, roundpen, very large natural trail course, giant arena, and trails off the property. No stalls here either though.

www.hollywoodhillsaddleclub.com/

Halter classes- half the shows have them, half don't. It really depends.

HHSC also has all the materials on their property available to rent; dressage, jumping, and gaming equipment for a very low price.

[mymercedes]

I will be looking into Monroe and others ASAP. I know the Tacoma Unit in Spanaway is usually around the same price of 2K and you have to book a minimum of a two day show. I'll check some other options as well.

[mymercedes]

I just peeked at the Hollywood Hills web page, and it looks like it might be a really great location for our show, OR a second show for 2010, as well. I'll contact them too!

[schwung]

When you talk to Monroe Fairgrounds, really push for a discount for us as we are a 501c3. I thought it was more like $1200 when I looked into it, but I could be wrong. Again, we would have to really step up our efforts to make it a more profitable show to justify the higher venue costs, but it could be done.

[mymercedes]

I'll do it!! Monroe is a really nice facility and we might be able to draw a really nice crowd there.