Lost Spoke Ranch
Well-Known Member
Hi Everyone:
We received this e-mail from Gary Barnes and he asked us to forward it to all of you. Please read. The proposal is below his message.
Dawn
Many of you have heard about this new driving division. The Performance Committee started on this concept four years ago and it has changed and evolved into something very important to this ever evolving industry. The concept originated with input from many people. I originally started on it the year before AMHR came out with "Western" driving. It is on it's fourth name and has input from the likes of Mike McCabe (senior judge and LOC member), Austin Van Wyck (Judge and LOC member), Diane Morgan Stasiak (Judge of many performance breeds), Nancy Idom Judge of many performance breeds, my wife Lisa Barnes and so many other concerned parties that I don't have time or space to thank them all!
Please take the time to read both the attachments.
Whether you are a "Performance" person or not this has benefits. It gives the breeder (halter or performance) another much needed avenue for sales. It gives the competitor (youth, amateur, or open) another place to compete. It will reduce entries in our crowded Country classes at the World and Championship level and by reducing splits should take minimal extra show time. But will still increase entries at the local shows and stimulate much needed entries on the local level.
Many of us own horses that are already perfect "Carriage Driving" horses. AMHR has the Western driving division now and we need those "A" people to come back. We also can really benefit from the opportunity to bring other horse people into the wonderful world of AMHA! This is also a win/win for our vendors.
This needs to be addressed at our June meeting. I submitted it following this years annual meeting for Show Rules determination. If you can,PLEASE take the time to attend the Show Rules meeting Friday, June 13th 8:00 AM till noon. Here is a link to the AMHA website for additional information:
http://www.amha.org/index.asp?KeyName=210
If you cannot attend it is imperative that you email, write or call your directors and ask them to attend. It would also be prudent to send the Performance Committee and AMHA's office a copy of whatever you send. You can do that by replying to:
[email protected]
or by mailing to:
Gary Barnes
1900 Campbell Road
Tolar, TX 76476
Thank You and PLEASE help us spread the word!
Gary Barnes
Co-Chairman
AMHA Performance Committee
(254) 835-4534
AMHA Driving Division Proposal
Submitted for consideration to the Show Rules Committee at the June, 2008 AMHA meeting by the 2008 Performance Committee.
Please read the attached rule submission entitled “Carriage Driving”.
Background:
AMHA’s main purpose (according to the AMHA Articles of Incorporation) is to, “Aid and encourage the breeding, exhibiting, use and pepetuation (spelling as per the current rule book) of Miniature Horses; promote and encourage exhibiting of Miniature Horses in open classes; coordinate and cooperate with the US Equestrian Federation in providing qualified judges for Miniature Horse shows; and in devising and adopting Miniature Horse show rules, regulations and standards.”
While the Performance Committee has no ability to directly affect the judging portion of AMHA’s licensed purpose we do feel that the following criteria for effecting this additional Driving Division warrants its inclusion.
AMHA Growth:
It has been proven to the association through careful auditing by this committee that the performance portion of AMHA has been steadily growing. In fact Performance has surpassed the Halter aspect of our industry. Here is a quote from an article published in our MHW magazine;
“The average number of classes shown per horse for performance has risen to 3.74/horse where as the halter number is 1.69/horse. Furthermore in 1992 66% of the class entries at our National show were Halter entries, in 2005 50% of the entries were from halter. The shift is over 30%!”
These three quotes from Wayne Hipsley (recently hired as a consultant by AMHA) also concern this committee and directly support this proposed division;
“And it appears based upon AMHA figures, the number of horses being shown at AMHA shows is slowly declining…..”
“Third, a breed association has administrative responsibilities to govern with fairness, applying their rules and regulations, and administrative policies and procedures equally for all, while serving the financial responsibility for perpetuation of the breed…”
“Fourth, to provide its membership with communications and support on many issues and programs necessary to sustain their activities and involvement with the breed.”
This committee feels that we as an association should build a foundation that will promote additional interest, participation and growth for the future of our industry.
Current Driving Divisions:
There are a few different schools of thought about our current Driving Divisions. One being that “creep” has affected the Country classes (creep down of un-competitive Single Pleasure horses). Another suggests that our breeding programs have produced a more up-right necked horse and that these horses have influenced the judging of our Country classes. But either way times have changed since the adoption of the Country Pleasure division. By the way when introduced it was feared that Country Pleasure would be poorly attended, now we have splits in almost all of our Country classes at the World show.
Many have suggested that we try to add a division in between Country and Single. The judges and LOC members consulted have commented that the “lines” between the classes would be very small effectively making it very hard to judge. We would also like to raise the level of our Single Pleasure Division, slowly, in order to create bigger differences between the divisions. It is our feeling that making these changes will invite more participation.
Marketing:
This committee also feels that we need to create this division in order to bring more new people into the fold (as the above stated AMHA article of incorporation states is AMHA’s purpose). The three years of work and input we have given to this plan carefully takes into consideration other breeds, associations, and the “lost” AMHA members that have taken to showing at AMHR events. Our current leader based his campaign on finding ways to bring those people back to our shows. AMHR has a Driving Division called Western that although not as well defined as the attached proposed rule will give those members what they are spending their money on at AMHR. It also combines (while still fitting nicely in our structure) our Driving Obstacle and new Reinsmanship classes to offer to ADS members a set of classes worthy of their participation in our shows. ADS membership is growing like gangbusters in all parts of the country. It also opens the doors to our ability to market newcomers from other breeds in a class that they will hopefully consider as an “entry level” driving class.
Participation:
It is often reported that people shy away from our shows because of money. While some feel that we need to only breed more competitive horses, the fact of the matter is none of our breeding programs are able to only produce the “best of the best” (hence the terminology). Why not create a new division with clear and concise rules that makes us more accessible to more people in these trying times? The trainers involved in the creation of this division welcome it with open arms as it will allow them to increase their show strings. Trainers support our local shows tremendously. Remember the “Performance” horse averages about four classes per show.
Horse sales:
The bottom line for many of our members is sales. We can sell good Halter horses and we can sell good Driving horses. They have value because our members feel they can win with a good horse. This new division creates another avenue to sell a good horse. Many of our horses can be good Carriage Driving horses. Many Halter breeders have horses that could be sold as Carriage Driving horses.
Number of classes:
This division will add classes. A minimum of nine should be offered. It is the committees feeling that a substantial number of existing Country Pleasure horses will be more competitive in the Carriage classes. If so we should see a number of Country classes that have been split at our Championship and World shows will not have to be split. If a class is split once then the A, B and Drive-off take approximately 30 minutes each. If adding this division reduces splits we could conceivably save time at these shows. Not forever though as the committee believes this could become even more popular than Country Pleasure.
To recap:
We feel that we can bring old members back. We will create an excellent avenue for our breeders to sell horses. This creates a new way to market our association to existing horse owners. More horses shown helps our local clubs economy. And our “Mission Statement” tells us this is good sense!
CL-034 CARRIAGE DRIVING
(drawing)
Balance shall be 50% to rear
The CARRIAGE DRIVING horse shall be shown with contact on the reins at all times. Neck carriage should remain low and head set by horse being on the bit and face perpendicular to the ground. Stride should be sweeping and ground covering.
A. Carriage Driving is a single horse driving class, hitched to an “open” wheel cart with either wooden or metal spoke wheels. A Basket is mandatory, a boot is optional. To be judged on the following criteria, in the listed order:
ATTITUDE Settled in the bridle, smooth gait transitions.
MANNERS No gapping at the bit. Horse should appear willing to work.
PERFORMANCE Steady in each gait and definite gait changes.
QUALITY A ”pretty” picture with appropriate action for class.
CONFORMATION As correct for CARRIAGE DRIVING.
The ideal CARRIAGE DRIVING horse should excel at all of the above items.
B. Class requirements:
Horse to be shown both directions in the arena at the Walk, Pleasure Trot, and the Working Trot. Horse will enter counter clockwise at the Pleasure Trot. Horse will be required to stand quietly and back readily.
C. Gait requirements:
1. Walk; A four beat, flat-footed and ground covering gait.
2. Pleasure Trot; A two beat diagonal gait. Overall balance as shown above. Horse must demonstrate freedom of movement, be relaxed and easy going, demonstrating impulsion.
3. Working Trot; A lengthening of stride from the Pleasure Trot. Horse must demonstrate freedom of movement.
D. The use of a Martingale is optional. (See CL-030-K)
We received this e-mail from Gary Barnes and he asked us to forward it to all of you. Please read. The proposal is below his message.
Dawn
Many of you have heard about this new driving division. The Performance Committee started on this concept four years ago and it has changed and evolved into something very important to this ever evolving industry. The concept originated with input from many people. I originally started on it the year before AMHR came out with "Western" driving. It is on it's fourth name and has input from the likes of Mike McCabe (senior judge and LOC member), Austin Van Wyck (Judge and LOC member), Diane Morgan Stasiak (Judge of many performance breeds), Nancy Idom Judge of many performance breeds, my wife Lisa Barnes and so many other concerned parties that I don't have time or space to thank them all!
Please take the time to read both the attachments.
Whether you are a "Performance" person or not this has benefits. It gives the breeder (halter or performance) another much needed avenue for sales. It gives the competitor (youth, amateur, or open) another place to compete. It will reduce entries in our crowded Country classes at the World and Championship level and by reducing splits should take minimal extra show time. But will still increase entries at the local shows and stimulate much needed entries on the local level.
Many of us own horses that are already perfect "Carriage Driving" horses. AMHR has the Western driving division now and we need those "A" people to come back. We also can really benefit from the opportunity to bring other horse people into the wonderful world of AMHA! This is also a win/win for our vendors.
This needs to be addressed at our June meeting. I submitted it following this years annual meeting for Show Rules determination. If you can,PLEASE take the time to attend the Show Rules meeting Friday, June 13th 8:00 AM till noon. Here is a link to the AMHA website for additional information:
http://www.amha.org/index.asp?KeyName=210
If you cannot attend it is imperative that you email, write or call your directors and ask them to attend. It would also be prudent to send the Performance Committee and AMHA's office a copy of whatever you send. You can do that by replying to:
[email protected]
or by mailing to:
Gary Barnes
1900 Campbell Road
Tolar, TX 76476
Thank You and PLEASE help us spread the word!
Gary Barnes
Co-Chairman
AMHA Performance Committee
(254) 835-4534
AMHA Driving Division Proposal
Submitted for consideration to the Show Rules Committee at the June, 2008 AMHA meeting by the 2008 Performance Committee.
Please read the attached rule submission entitled “Carriage Driving”.
Background:
AMHA’s main purpose (according to the AMHA Articles of Incorporation) is to, “Aid and encourage the breeding, exhibiting, use and pepetuation (spelling as per the current rule book) of Miniature Horses; promote and encourage exhibiting of Miniature Horses in open classes; coordinate and cooperate with the US Equestrian Federation in providing qualified judges for Miniature Horse shows; and in devising and adopting Miniature Horse show rules, regulations and standards.”
While the Performance Committee has no ability to directly affect the judging portion of AMHA’s licensed purpose we do feel that the following criteria for effecting this additional Driving Division warrants its inclusion.
AMHA Growth:
It has been proven to the association through careful auditing by this committee that the performance portion of AMHA has been steadily growing. In fact Performance has surpassed the Halter aspect of our industry. Here is a quote from an article published in our MHW magazine;
“The average number of classes shown per horse for performance has risen to 3.74/horse where as the halter number is 1.69/horse. Furthermore in 1992 66% of the class entries at our National show were Halter entries, in 2005 50% of the entries were from halter. The shift is over 30%!”
These three quotes from Wayne Hipsley (recently hired as a consultant by AMHA) also concern this committee and directly support this proposed division;
“And it appears based upon AMHA figures, the number of horses being shown at AMHA shows is slowly declining…..”
“Third, a breed association has administrative responsibilities to govern with fairness, applying their rules and regulations, and administrative policies and procedures equally for all, while serving the financial responsibility for perpetuation of the breed…”
“Fourth, to provide its membership with communications and support on many issues and programs necessary to sustain their activities and involvement with the breed.”
This committee feels that we as an association should build a foundation that will promote additional interest, participation and growth for the future of our industry.
Current Driving Divisions:
There are a few different schools of thought about our current Driving Divisions. One being that “creep” has affected the Country classes (creep down of un-competitive Single Pleasure horses). Another suggests that our breeding programs have produced a more up-right necked horse and that these horses have influenced the judging of our Country classes. But either way times have changed since the adoption of the Country Pleasure division. By the way when introduced it was feared that Country Pleasure would be poorly attended, now we have splits in almost all of our Country classes at the World show.
Many have suggested that we try to add a division in between Country and Single. The judges and LOC members consulted have commented that the “lines” between the classes would be very small effectively making it very hard to judge. We would also like to raise the level of our Single Pleasure Division, slowly, in order to create bigger differences between the divisions. It is our feeling that making these changes will invite more participation.
Marketing:
This committee also feels that we need to create this division in order to bring more new people into the fold (as the above stated AMHA article of incorporation states is AMHA’s purpose). The three years of work and input we have given to this plan carefully takes into consideration other breeds, associations, and the “lost” AMHA members that have taken to showing at AMHR events. Our current leader based his campaign on finding ways to bring those people back to our shows. AMHR has a Driving Division called Western that although not as well defined as the attached proposed rule will give those members what they are spending their money on at AMHR. It also combines (while still fitting nicely in our structure) our Driving Obstacle and new Reinsmanship classes to offer to ADS members a set of classes worthy of their participation in our shows. ADS membership is growing like gangbusters in all parts of the country. It also opens the doors to our ability to market newcomers from other breeds in a class that they will hopefully consider as an “entry level” driving class.
Participation:
It is often reported that people shy away from our shows because of money. While some feel that we need to only breed more competitive horses, the fact of the matter is none of our breeding programs are able to only produce the “best of the best” (hence the terminology). Why not create a new division with clear and concise rules that makes us more accessible to more people in these trying times? The trainers involved in the creation of this division welcome it with open arms as it will allow them to increase their show strings. Trainers support our local shows tremendously. Remember the “Performance” horse averages about four classes per show.
Horse sales:
The bottom line for many of our members is sales. We can sell good Halter horses and we can sell good Driving horses. They have value because our members feel they can win with a good horse. This new division creates another avenue to sell a good horse. Many of our horses can be good Carriage Driving horses. Many Halter breeders have horses that could be sold as Carriage Driving horses.
Number of classes:
This division will add classes. A minimum of nine should be offered. It is the committees feeling that a substantial number of existing Country Pleasure horses will be more competitive in the Carriage classes. If so we should see a number of Country classes that have been split at our Championship and World shows will not have to be split. If a class is split once then the A, B and Drive-off take approximately 30 minutes each. If adding this division reduces splits we could conceivably save time at these shows. Not forever though as the committee believes this could become even more popular than Country Pleasure.
To recap:
We feel that we can bring old members back. We will create an excellent avenue for our breeders to sell horses. This creates a new way to market our association to existing horse owners. More horses shown helps our local clubs economy. And our “Mission Statement” tells us this is good sense!
CL-034 CARRIAGE DRIVING
(drawing)
Balance shall be 50% to rear
The CARRIAGE DRIVING horse shall be shown with contact on the reins at all times. Neck carriage should remain low and head set by horse being on the bit and face perpendicular to the ground. Stride should be sweeping and ground covering.
A. Carriage Driving is a single horse driving class, hitched to an “open” wheel cart with either wooden or metal spoke wheels. A Basket is mandatory, a boot is optional. To be judged on the following criteria, in the listed order:
ATTITUDE Settled in the bridle, smooth gait transitions.
MANNERS No gapping at the bit. Horse should appear willing to work.
PERFORMANCE Steady in each gait and definite gait changes.
QUALITY A ”pretty” picture with appropriate action for class.
CONFORMATION As correct for CARRIAGE DRIVING.
The ideal CARRIAGE DRIVING horse should excel at all of the above items.
B. Class requirements:
Horse to be shown both directions in the arena at the Walk, Pleasure Trot, and the Working Trot. Horse will enter counter clockwise at the Pleasure Trot. Horse will be required to stand quietly and back readily.
C. Gait requirements:
1. Walk; A four beat, flat-footed and ground covering gait.
2. Pleasure Trot; A two beat diagonal gait. Overall balance as shown above. Horse must demonstrate freedom of movement, be relaxed and easy going, demonstrating impulsion.
3. Working Trot; A lengthening of stride from the Pleasure Trot. Horse must demonstrate freedom of movement.
D. The use of a Martingale is optional. (See CL-030-K)
wearing my flame suit)
