A member-driven proposal aims to make the World Show a qualifying event based on regional show participation —and APHA wants to know what you think.
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Participation at regional Paint Horse shows is critical to the health of our clubs and association, but attendance has declined in recent years. With the intent of helping regional clubs bolster entry numbers at their shows, a group of APHA members has submitted an official proposal to create a participation-based qualification process for the World Championship Paint Horse Show.
One champion of the proposal is Ron Shelly, a Georgetown,
Texas, APHA member, Chairman of the General Show & Contest Committee, Chairman of the World Show Task Advisory Committee and Board of Directors representative for Area 33 (Texas). Shelly sat down with the Paint Horse Journal during the APHA Fall Championship Show in November to explain the proposal’s details.
Read over the proposal and Shelly’s explanations, and let APHA know what you think by e-mailing your thoughts to qualify@apha.com. APHA President John Corbin says members of the APHA Executive Committee plan to evaluate all responses — both in-favor and opposed—and use that information to help make a decision regarding the proposal.
PHJ: What is the intention of the proposal?
Shelly: “The proposal is very straightforward. It’s to motivate people to go to weekend horse shows. We’ve invested nearly 50 years in developing a showcase venue for our horses, which is theWorld Show. Considering that the backbone of our association is the regional clubs, we think itmakes a lot of sense to take this venue that we have invested in and use it to motivate folks to support the regional clubs, the foundation of the association.”
PHJ: Who developed the proposal, and why is it needed?
Shelly: “It started from discussions within the Texas State Coordinating Committee more than three years ago. After discussions there and some rough drafts, it was brought to the World Show Advisory Committee, of which I’m the chairman. From there, after the task force worked on it, it was reviewed by the APHA Performance Department. The APHA Performance Department made several significant improvements to the early draft of the proposal.Then, it was presented at the 2007 APHA Workshop in the combined meetings of the Amateur, Youth Judges and Show & Contest committees. So our national directors have had input, APHA staff has had input, and a lot of discussion nationwide with folks—both face-to-face and over the Internet —has helped shape and refine the proposal.
“The proposal is needed because we have seen entries down at local shows, particularly at the smaller two-judge shows. We need to provide motivation to get people to the shows.”
PHJ: Briefly explain how the qualification will work.
Shelly: “The qualification system is very simple— it is based on attending events. As proposed, the requirement is to compete at four separate events with a minimum of eight judges. It is set up so someone cannot simply go to a major Paint-ORama or Zone-O-Rama and be able to qualify in one weekend. The idea is to create motivation to go to all types of APHA horse shows, not just the big horse shows.
“It is not based on specific show classes. It is exhibitor- and owner-friendly. Participation based means come to the horse shows and participate, and then you’re qualified.”
Click here to read the entire story by Jessica Hein on APHA.com.
