# so did everyone like Congress being moved?



## kaykay (Aug 14, 2006)

I have talked to several people that attended congress this year and the majority did not like it being in St Louis. Also the number of horses went down around 20 less then last year. I was worried when they moved it this would happen. Everythign in St louis is so exspensive. Hotels cost more, food costs more etc. I just think it was a little premature to move it to a bigger facility. Maybe even a bigger facility wouldnt have been as bad as moving it to such an exspensive city. This is the first year we didnt go to congress and it was because it was moved to st louis. My husband absolutely hates st louis and just wouldnt go.

Any thoughts?? I know it has to stay in st louis one more year.


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## Dr. Pam (Aug 14, 2006)

Patty was very surprised the arena wasn't air conditioned, but she says there was a good PA system, the barns and facilities were kept very clean, and the staff was friendly. RV hoolups were just a parking lot, and bathrooms weren't great--she says it was a lot like the old facilities in Columbia, MO Nationals used to be at. I know it's a lot closer for us than Gordyville, but we've never been there.


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## kaykay (Aug 14, 2006)

the biggest complaints i have heard had to do with rv hook ups and the camping area. second would probably be the cost of hotels there. I just feel sure there are other bigger facilities wihtout having to go to such an exspensieve congested city. I do think congress was getting close to outgrowing gordyville but the owner did say that they would add on if ASPC promised to keep congress there. But I do know illinois wasnt convienent for everyone.


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## Leeana (Aug 14, 2006)

I think the Ohio State Expo center would be a good place for it. Of course i'm being bias because it would practically be in my backyard. We've been to st louis once or twice with my dad in the semi and it deffently is not my first choice.

As long as they dont move it way out west i will be happy




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Havnt really talked to anyone that went to congress yet so i'm curious to how it went if its going to be in the same place next year.


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## Cathy_H (Aug 14, 2006)

Lee said everything in his tack stall got really dusty. He said next year he is putting his tent up to keep the dust off of everything. I suggested he staple plastic across the top instead............................ Perhaps he will get on here later & voice his opinion on other matters. Today is the first day of school -



where did the 10 weeks of vacation go?



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## Belinda (Aug 14, 2006)

I know that we had just about out grown the old facility



But surely we can find a place that suits our needs and is CLEANER !!!! I am not sure how this up graded us to a National type show !! The areana area was nice. Not Air Conditioned as some had said it was. :new_shocked:

The barn area was the Pits !! We are still cleaning our tack, I will say we did stay at the Days Inn which was suppose to be the closest ?? and it was 7 miles from there but it was less expensive than the Best Western in Rantoul..

If we continue to have the Congress in Aug. We MUST find a AIR Conditioned Arena !! And there are plenty of them out there we just have to Look..

The place we were at this weekend in Tunica , It would be a possilbity for Congress..



: Over 600 stalls , under ONE ROOF !!! Clean Clean Clean, Big time Air Conditioned arena at my stalls you could feel the cold air coming out of the arena.

Big nice clean stalls, all with Rubber Mats so your horses will not be uncomfortable standing on Concrete.

Tunica is only 25 miles from Memphis , Took show management 30 Minutes to get there from Memphis Airport. half the time it took officals to get to show grounds from Air port in St. Louis..

Plenty of Hotels within 5 min.. NO TRAFFIC as you are out in the middle of the Cotton Fields.. LOL!!






I know there are other places , but I guess since this is the first place I went after being in St. Louis I was just so excited to have such a wonderful place to show at . It was like moving from the Ghetto :no: to the Penthouse.



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And of course this is just my thoughts on the place...



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## Katie12 (Aug 14, 2006)

I didn't see any difference between Gordyville and St Louis. I't sure didn't look dirty in the barn area to me and anyone that knows me knows what a clean freak I am. If you don't have concrete ya have dirt! They had workers constantly cleaning that day before the show started. I think some people just like to B_ _ _ _ _ if it's not in their own backyard! I would'n exactly call Gordyie clean . As far as AC what is 30 min. in a class going to help. I think it was just hot. I remember Nationals beworse than HOT!!!!

And the GHETTO? That is certainly stretching it.

P.S. Where did you eat? I find all the fast food places charge the same no matter where you are. I think people were just in an unfamiliar place and didn't find better places to eat.

Sorry had to vent.


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## txminipinto (Aug 14, 2006)

Having never been to Congress before I really can't compare the previous facility. But, it wasn't the worse place I've ever shown at. I really only had 3 issues with the place: 1) stall doors were a pain to open and close. 2) Lack of bathroom facilities in the barn area (wasn't that bad but could have been better). 3) Large pieces of gravel on the driveway (hurts when you're bumming around in flip flops!). Other than that, I really enjoyed my time there. It took 16 hours to get there so it was an acceptable distance, but I probably wouldn't travel much further.


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## Belinda (Aug 14, 2006)

Katie12 said:


> I didn't see any difference between Gordyville and St Louis. I't sure didn't look dirty in the barn area to me and anyone that knows me knows what a clean freak I am.
> 
> I think some people just like to B_ _ _ _ _ if it's not in their own backyard! I would'n exactly call Gordyie clean . As far as AC what is 30 min. in a class going to help. I think it was just hot. I remember Nationals beworse than HOT!!!!
> 
> ...


First of all , not sure what Barn or where you were that it was so clean ?? If it was not dusty and dirty then I want to be there.. I am the first to say I understand we are showing horses !!! AND horses live on DIRT



: , But I Don't live in the dirt , and my barn has CLay bottom stalls, but I do have concrete isle ways... WE are paying alot of $$$ for the show grounds , therefore there are cleaner and better places , for less $$$ .. Not sure you are aware of the money we will loose as a ASSOC. on Congress this year..

AS far as just wanting to B___ !! that is not it at all, and if you knew me very well would know that is not the case here..

And if you have a chance to go to Tunica then you would know it is not stretching it :no:

And may I say when it is 110 *10,20 , or 30 miniutes * in Cool air makes a BIG Difference, It was so hot at times my Halter horses in the ring were wet with sweat.. And I do understand it was hotter than Normal or was it , Heck I always thought Aug was one of our hotter months.

Guess we could always think about moving Congress to later in the Fall.. :new_shocked: LOL!!

I will always show where ever Congress is Held so it really does not matter, I just think if it is to be the Shetland National Show then we ought to be able to have it in as nice a place as the Mini's have their National Show.



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I am open for suggestions and will be more than glad to present them to the Board and the Classic Committee.

Belinda Bagby

Classic Committee Chairman


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## txminipinto (Aug 14, 2006)

I will always show where ever Congress is Held so it really does not matter, I just think if it is to be the Shetland National Show then we ought to be able to have it in as nice a place as the Mini's have their National Show. -----Belinda

I agree Belinda! That was probably the biggest thing that stuck out in my mind at Congress. Having been to Nationals and Pinto World, which are both held in Tulsa, Congress was huge (dare I say it) let down. It just missed the "national level" excitement that Nationals and World generate. Maybe it was just me, but I felt like I was just at "another" horse show. Showing at Tulsa in their air conditioned arenas just seems to bring a whole another level to the excitement of being there. I had fun at Congress and there was excitement, but the atmosphere was much more relaxed. Perhaps it was the arena or just the people, but I generally expect there to be some fan fare for a National show.


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## kaykay (Aug 14, 2006)

katie belinda is not one to complain and always has the horses and the associations best interest in mind. Shes probably been doing this more years then all of us put together LOL.

Gordyville is no longer in my back yard so thats not the issue. Unforutanately I am very familiar with st louis and its not one of my fav cities. Just my own personal view. And the whole point of moving it was to get more horses to attend and have more of a "national horse show" atmosphere but it didnt work.

I also heard many other people complain about how dirty it was.

belinda I think its a great idea to try the facility in tunica. From everyone raving about it it must be nice!

leanna congress has to stay in st louis one more year (or at least that is what I was told)

txminipinto congress has always been a more relaxed event. I never thought that took away from it being a national show?? I always loved that about congress. but i can see where others might not.


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## disneyhorse (Aug 14, 2006)

I did not bring horses to show. This was my first Congress I attended, just as a spectator.

I showed minis at Columbia MO (horrible) and now in Tulsa OK. The Tulsa facility is what I expect a National level horse show to be... everything was asphalt (you have to bed the stalls thick but the horses stay clean, you can groom them in the aisles and if they paw they don't dig dirt onto their legs especially if white) and in the tack stalls your clothes and clean carts and tack stay clean.

Every stall at mini Nationals had a plug outlet. The arena was air conditioned. RV facilities were nice, and on pavement.

I was surprised to see that the facility at Congress was all on dirt and across gravel roads (I HATE gravel getting in hooves!!!) and that the arena wasn't air conditioned. The restrooms in the arena "said" they were air conditioned and to keep the doors closed, but they weren't all that cool inside.

It was weird to me too that the audience was sitting in the bleachers and kept crossing the in-gate to go and sit down, and walked through the warmup ring by the ingate to get to the barns and such... it was always congested and seemed like a safety issue. I thought that part of the ingate wasn't laid out very well.

It wasn't horrible, but it certainly wasn't great.

I think Missouri is okay, it is far for us on the West Coast but I think wherever the Congress is it does need to be as central in the States as possible.

Andrea


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## JMS Miniatures (Aug 14, 2006)

I personally didn't show, but had a horse there with my trainer. I didn't think it was a bad place, you defintelly can't compare it to Tulsa. I thought the barns would have been better. First time I've went to that arena and was about 75% pleased with the arena. I really can't talk though, I don't know what the other arena was like.

Now I think that arena would be a great place for a local/Area show for minis/ponies.



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## poniesgalore (Aug 15, 2006)

JMS Miniatures said:


> I personally didn't show, but had a horse there with my trainer. I didn't think it was a bad place, you defintelly can't compare it to Tulsa. I thought the barns would have been better. First time I've went to that arena and was about 75% pleased with the arena. I really can't talk though, I don't know what the other arena was like.
> 
> Now I think that arena would be a great place for a local/Area show for minis/ponies.
> 
> ...


Hey, I have a idea why don't they move the Congress around the United States and give all of us a chance to show. (I have shown at the Congress 3 times and it cost me alot of money, to travel from California to Illinois).

There are alot of very nice up to date showing facilities around the U.S. Give people who have awesome animals a chance to show at a National level who wouldn't be able to beacuse of the cost.

It's a thought.


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## Karen S (Aug 15, 2006)

Hi Poniesgalore:

That's easier said than done and has been suggested in the past.

Most of these facilities are booked in advanced up to three to five years and since the concentration of Shetlands are in the middle part of the US getting them to St. Louis is about as far south they will go must less to the west coast. I traveled 16 hours to Rantoul, Illinois ( from Texas) for the last five years and this year it was a 12 hour trip. I do know that some from the west coast and upper west coast travel a minimum of two days and some traveled three days to get there. Also the folks from Florida traveled 2-3 days to go. If you really want to go you will no matter what the cost and travel time. I budget my National show (Congress) for each year taking into acocunt cost of diesel for my vehicle and for the number of maximum horses I think I will take. My cost this year was just about the same as I paid last year even with the higher fuel prices

I too, was a bit unhappy with the facility as I felt it was lacking luster and pride of ownership for a National show and my stuff is also full of dirt and dust even with the facility personnel watering down the main isles. Now, I have shown in all kinds of facilities both good a bad, the main complaint I have with this facility (wording from their website) is that they told us it was climate controled. Those of us from the South (extreme heat area) climate control to us means AIR CONDITIONED. Climate control to them means fans. Yes, the ring was hot, too hot for some folks who already suffer from heat stroke and can't be in that type of heat for fear of passing out or getting extremely sick.

I did mentioned to my current director that they needed to get with the folks that were putting on the Tunica, Mississippi show (the facility that Belinda talked about) and see if the pony people would travel to that facility. I think it is worth a try as well and looks to be very easy to get to with plenty of hotels/motels, eating facilities and other amenities. The problem we will have with moving to any facility is our show dates, just like Mini Nationals had a couple of years ago before they were able to secure the original dates again.

All in all, we were down around 20-25 horses over last year, but I could count how many people from my state (Texas) who was not there this year due to having new babies (children), health issues and lost jobs. Those folks would have made up the difference in the number of ponies that weren't there and I know that Lewella wasn't there this year due to taking care of her hay business. These were situations where people would have been there regardless where Congress was held.

Well, we'll see what the BOD decides for next year as nothing is set in stone at this time even though our Congress program book says we will be back in St. Louis next year in 2007.

Karen Shaw

Fiddlestix Miniatures & Shetlands

Burleson Texas


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## disneyhorse (Aug 15, 2006)

Mississippi??? That is WAY far south/east of the country!!!

Please bear in mind that the geographical center of the United States is Kansas. I would love if they really tried to keep the show somewhere in the MIDDLE of the country to be fair to ALL competitors. I can't believe there is only one or two National-level facilities in the whole darn country.

Andrea


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## Karen S (Aug 15, 2006)

Hey Andrea,

Here is the website for the facility in Tunica:

http://www.tunicaarenaexpo.com

The show site committee has looked at all possible facilities ( I have talked with some that are on that committee) that the Congress could be held at. Lincoln, NE doesn't have enough stalls, Tulsa right now is too expensive for Congress (maybe in a couple of years), and there is a new facility in Springfield, Ohio that will be checked out by a few. You just won't find any of the old time pony people from the North East and Central part of the US traveling any further. If we do move the show further than St. Louis, they will stop coming to Congress and then what? No Shetlands, No Show. That's just the way it is. Most of the newest Shetland owners (those in the last five years or so) will travel to any facility to show their ponies they don't care how long it takes to get there.

I too have tried to persuade some of the older pony people to move, but they are use to Illinois, Ohio, and Iowa (most don't travel over 3 hours to a show) where most of the rest of us do travel longer periods of time to show. I'm fortunate to be able to travel in any direction in a minimum of 45 minutes up to an 12 hour period to attend any Shetland/Miniature show where some of you are not. I don't know at this time if there is a solution in order to make everyone happy. No matter what the BOD decides, it will make some mad and stop coming, but there again, the newcomers just might make up the difference.

Karen


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## Lewella (Aug 15, 2006)

I can't say I'm surprised to hear the complaints about the dirt, congestion at the in gate, etc. I was at an Area IV National Show at the St. Louis facility a few years ago and was not impressed for the same reasons everyone mentioned. I was quite shocked, knowing the layout and the stalls, etc., when I got the premium book and saw the stall price. I didn't feel it was a step up as many tried to lead us to believe.

In case anyone wonders where I've been - computer is down and so is the average rainfall. Yes, the hay grower (with more than enough tillable acreage in hay that should more than support her pony habits) had to buy hay to make sure she could make it through the winter. That ate up my Congress money but I will be in Reno at Convention to pick up my HOF plaque for Willowlawn's Mr. Unique!



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## kaykay (Aug 16, 2006)

for sure the increased price in showing to move to st louis didnt sit well with a lot of people.

I have heard that facility in springfield illinois is really nice.

I also wish they could move amhr nationals around and congress but its just not feasible. Having helped put on local shows I know how hard it is to get the dates you want to go with the facility etc.

someone emailed me and said why do we have to cater to the older pony people. we do because they are the ones that stuck with the ponies for years and years even when they werent so popular. And some of them have been around long enough that they were vital in establishing the breed. Without them who knows what would have happened to the Shetland Pony. So yes out of respect to them I do think the National show should be where they want it.


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## mendocinobackofbeyond (Aug 16, 2006)

Belinda said:


> Katie12 said:
> 
> 
> > Guess we could always think about moving Congress to later in the Fall.. :new_shocked: LOL!!
> ...


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## txminipinto (Aug 16, 2006)

I don't know how much Tulsa costs, but I'm pretty sure Congress doesn't have the entries to carry it. Now, if we combined Nationals and Congress that would be an idea! Of course, a lot of people who show both probably couldn't get that much time off at once.


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## Belinda (Aug 16, 2006)

txminipinto said:


> . Now, if we combined Nationals and Congress that would be an idea!


:new_shocked: :new_shocked: :new_shocked: :new_shocked: :new_shocked:

Not sure I could even do that one.




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## txminipinto (Aug 16, 2006)

Oh, yeah you could Belinda! Just think, haul them all to one show and just get it all over with. Of course, there might be an issue of fitting everyone into one trailer! :new_shocked:


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## keeperofthehorses (Aug 16, 2006)

kaykay said:


> I also wish they could move amhr nationals around and congress but its just not feasible. Having helped put on local shows I know how hard it is to get the dates you want to go with the facility etc.
> 
> someone emailed me and said why do we have to cater to the older pony people. we do because they are the ones that stuck with the ponies for years and years even when they werent so popular. And some of them have been around long enough that they were vital in establishing the breed. Without them who knows what would have happened to the Shetland Pony. So yes out of respect to them I do think the National show should be where they want it.


OK, this goes back a few years, and jumps species



: but FWIW when I showed dogs we did have a travelling Specialty (the equivalent of the Congress). It did take lots of advance planning and regional clubs did play the host (our club hosted twice). If I remember right, it was determined 7 years in advance which club would host, and it gave them lots of time to find facilities and prepare. Of course, the faces of the entries really varied from year to year (although those of us that were die-hards found a way to get there no matter the location) but as the sites rotated, small breeders from all over the country had a chance to show at a specialty where they otherwise may not have had the opportunity if the show was in the same location year after year. Granted, dog specialties are not nearly as facility-dependent as the pony Congress (we slept in the van with up to 10 dogs at a time). But it's food for thought. Obviously it would take rule changes, votes and such.

I would not think twice about hauling my dogs 1,200 miles or more to a specialty, but hauling horses is so much bigger of an ordeal (for them and for me). For me personally, a few hundred miles is a total stresser with horses (heck the 12 miles to vet stresses me out)



: Even if it was an 8 year rotation, at least then I know I'd have a chance of someday having it in my own backyard. For me, St. Louis, Gordyville and Tulsa may as well be Miami Beach. I'll doubt I'll ever have it in me to haul a horse to any of them.

While I do have enormous respect and gratitude for the fanciers who've saved our breed, I also think it's important to keep looking ahead. So while we don't know what would've happened yesterday without those folks, we have to remember that we have a tomorrow to plan for with a whole new set of members.


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