nootka
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First of all, as to the overheight horses: I am FAR more concerned with the amount of dwarfy horses being bred for whatever reason than I am the ones that are flirting with even 35".
To me, the issue is about the horses' viability, soundness and quality of life moreso than the perception of the other breeds, but the two go hand in hand. Basically, as long as we keep purposefully breeding these unfortunate little horses to deliberately end up as dwarfs (yes, I know not every one WILL be a dwarf, but when you breed an obvious dwarf, you will more likely end up with one as not), we will be pariahs, and with good cause. It is unnecessary and amounts to abuse, to me.
As long as a breeder can be honest about the height of their horse, I am fine with that, as it does have a bearing on my own decisions for my horses (such as which mares to send to him or his offspring, or which mares to use of his, etc. etc.). To me, the WAY we measure is going against us truly finding much of a solution to the problem, and even after that, there will be different ways around it here or there, if one wants to go that far. When you have rules, you will have the occasional person that feels the need to cheat so much that they will go to any lengths. They do all of us a disservice, but they know this and they likely sleep just fine at night.
Now on to another issue that disturbed me somewhat. I was browsing the items for the Youth and Gelding Fund Silent Auction, and for the most part, found a large number of small, inexpensive things donated, worth a few dollars at most. There WERE some really nice things, though, too.
This is fine, as I know anything is appreciated though there were some nicer things, too. Even these didn't really get a lot of bidding. I would have thought that at the World Show there would have been some higher quality donations for one, and for two, there would have been more support in the form of bids.
I do somewhat think the reason for the lack of interest lies with the organizers, as in they should have generated interest by better publicity and display, but that's just me.
I was sort of ironically "amused/disgusted" by the fact that one of the highest bid on things was a pair of poorly made, made in China boat things, when there were other things worth more that were basically ignored. I wonder if the overall volume of small items was detrimental to the auction itself as well as possibly the presentation (things were just laid on a table, not displayed too well nor was there much publicity that they were there, at least in my notice).
So I was talking to another exhibitor, and they basically said they didn't feel like supporting anyone else's kids to be able to show when those kids already had too much going on for them.
I realize what she was saying/the point she made, as yes, there are two distinct groups of youth, it seems, and for sure here. Many Youth are lucky enough to come from privileged families, they have their college paid for, they have the best of the best horses to show either purchased for them, or through an associated trainer. There are others that do it all themselves and have true need for the money, the incentives as well as the scholarships provided. What is the answer here? A qualification process for these programs?
For sure the Gelding funds should be supported, but do they suffer when they are combined with the Youth program that is perceived in such a light as to be unworthy of donation/support? Most of us realize that we need incentives for people to geld, yet others are hesitant to donate to Youth funds because it is adding money to those that don't need it (face it, how many Youth do you know compared to those that don't, that work to buy their horse, pay the show fees, the cost of attending shows and all the training, etc.)?
And finally, what about the status of an Amateur? I had a friend bring something up while I was there that I didn't give much thought to: What about a person that IS an Amateur, but also breeds and sells horses and offers to train and show the horse through the end of the year (usually Nationals and Worlds) as part of the purchase price of the horse?
I had never thought of it that way, but does that not pretty much blur the line between Amateur and Professional? Heck, I might have done it myself, but would not think to do that in so much as I am not a great handler/trainer, but if I did include that service in the purchase price, I would now consider myself a professional thanks to my friend that brought it up. What are your feelings, what would you think we could do to make sure this doesn't happen?
I see it happen with people that ARE basically professionals, and yet also feel just fine going in and competing against Amateurs...I would think this to be a bit more of a problem within AMHR since they do not have an AOTE class, though I bet in AMHA it would be just as bad as these people consider themselves true Amateurs even though they really aren't. If you're doing this, think twice, as it's not really fair to do to the true Amateurs, and if you're that good anyway, chances are you can compete in Open just fine and hold your own.
Ok, that's about enough gabble from me, I would say! Sorry to make it so long, but I didn't want to do three posts. Maybe I should have, as they are pretty much three separate subjects.
I am very interested to hear what others feel about my questions/topics.
Liz
To me, the issue is about the horses' viability, soundness and quality of life moreso than the perception of the other breeds, but the two go hand in hand. Basically, as long as we keep purposefully breeding these unfortunate little horses to deliberately end up as dwarfs (yes, I know not every one WILL be a dwarf, but when you breed an obvious dwarf, you will more likely end up with one as not), we will be pariahs, and with good cause. It is unnecessary and amounts to abuse, to me.
As long as a breeder can be honest about the height of their horse, I am fine with that, as it does have a bearing on my own decisions for my horses (such as which mares to send to him or his offspring, or which mares to use of his, etc. etc.). To me, the WAY we measure is going against us truly finding much of a solution to the problem, and even after that, there will be different ways around it here or there, if one wants to go that far. When you have rules, you will have the occasional person that feels the need to cheat so much that they will go to any lengths. They do all of us a disservice, but they know this and they likely sleep just fine at night.
Now on to another issue that disturbed me somewhat. I was browsing the items for the Youth and Gelding Fund Silent Auction, and for the most part, found a large number of small, inexpensive things donated, worth a few dollars at most. There WERE some really nice things, though, too.
This is fine, as I know anything is appreciated though there were some nicer things, too. Even these didn't really get a lot of bidding. I would have thought that at the World Show there would have been some higher quality donations for one, and for two, there would have been more support in the form of bids.
I do somewhat think the reason for the lack of interest lies with the organizers, as in they should have generated interest by better publicity and display, but that's just me.
I was sort of ironically "amused/disgusted" by the fact that one of the highest bid on things was a pair of poorly made, made in China boat things, when there were other things worth more that were basically ignored. I wonder if the overall volume of small items was detrimental to the auction itself as well as possibly the presentation (things were just laid on a table, not displayed too well nor was there much publicity that they were there, at least in my notice).
So I was talking to another exhibitor, and they basically said they didn't feel like supporting anyone else's kids to be able to show when those kids already had too much going on for them.
I realize what she was saying/the point she made, as yes, there are two distinct groups of youth, it seems, and for sure here. Many Youth are lucky enough to come from privileged families, they have their college paid for, they have the best of the best horses to show either purchased for them, or through an associated trainer. There are others that do it all themselves and have true need for the money, the incentives as well as the scholarships provided. What is the answer here? A qualification process for these programs?
For sure the Gelding funds should be supported, but do they suffer when they are combined with the Youth program that is perceived in such a light as to be unworthy of donation/support? Most of us realize that we need incentives for people to geld, yet others are hesitant to donate to Youth funds because it is adding money to those that don't need it (face it, how many Youth do you know compared to those that don't, that work to buy their horse, pay the show fees, the cost of attending shows and all the training, etc.)?
And finally, what about the status of an Amateur? I had a friend bring something up while I was there that I didn't give much thought to: What about a person that IS an Amateur, but also breeds and sells horses and offers to train and show the horse through the end of the year (usually Nationals and Worlds) as part of the purchase price of the horse?
I had never thought of it that way, but does that not pretty much blur the line between Amateur and Professional? Heck, I might have done it myself, but would not think to do that in so much as I am not a great handler/trainer, but if I did include that service in the purchase price, I would now consider myself a professional thanks to my friend that brought it up. What are your feelings, what would you think we could do to make sure this doesn't happen?
I see it happen with people that ARE basically professionals, and yet also feel just fine going in and competing against Amateurs...I would think this to be a bit more of a problem within AMHR since they do not have an AOTE class, though I bet in AMHA it would be just as bad as these people consider themselves true Amateurs even though they really aren't. If you're doing this, think twice, as it's not really fair to do to the true Amateurs, and if you're that good anyway, chances are you can compete in Open just fine and hold your own.
Ok, that's about enough gabble from me, I would say! Sorry to make it so long, but I didn't want to do three posts. Maybe I should have, as they are pretty much three separate subjects.
I am very interested to hear what others feel about my questions/topics.
Liz
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