It has been a hot topic lately at both the AQHA and APHA World Shows since both shows are currently going on at the same time. Many exhibitors and trainers have expressed strong opinions about this topic, and we thought it would be an excellent topic to discuss on GoHorseShow.com. Many people seem to be against having them at the same time and believe it is a detriment to both shows–especially when the economy is still struggling to gain momentum. Check out what many top exhibitors, trainer, and judges had to say, and please let us know what you think in the comment section of the article and on the GoHorseShow.com Facebook page.
Charlie Cole–Multi-carded judge and Multiple World Champion Trainer and Exhibitor
I think it was a poor move on APHA’s part. I have shown at every paint world since 1995 and have had paints in full time training since then. This year, I had to make a choice as to which show I wanted to show at and chose the AQHA World. I have 5 paints in training that we did not enter at the APHA World. Those horses would’ve shown in more than 25 classes. That’s a lot of entries lost for APHA. Also, many judges, who primarily show AQHA will no longer be available to judge the APHA World. The paint world has always been one of my favorites shows, but APHA has now made it impossible for me and several others from showing there. Whether it was intentional or not–excluding exhibitors from a major show in this economy doesn’t seem very smart.
Garth Gooding–Top APHA Trainer and Judge
It is very hard to say how much it really affects the APHA World given the current economy. I believe we were going to see a drop in numbers no matter what happened. We all like to think back on the “good ol’ days” and blame all our problems in the APHA on splitting the world show. It would be foolish to think that the horse industry would not be affected by the current economic climate.
A big misconception is out there that APHA purposely chose their dates to be on top of the Quarter Horse World. That is far from the truth I personally know how hard Trigg Rentfro and Richard Cox, then president of APHA, explored options for other dates and locations but came up empty handed. In retrospect moving to Oklahoma City in the summer may have been a viable option, however at the time a vast majority felt moving to the fall was of the utmost importance, and I believe the majority of APHA supporters still feel this way.
That being said, I think there are many improvements to be made. I think right now the biggest detriment to our APHA World Show is the negative criticism by people who don’t even attend the show. I think it’s an urgent matter that APHA recognizes this and takes steps to alleviate it as much as possible. It’s little things such as having the online feed facing the stands where everyone is sitting instead of an empty area, or changing the rules on who’s eligible to compete in the slot classes. I am confident we have many passionate people that want to see our breed thrive that will make the needed adjustments.
Sandy Curl–Multi-carded judge
You know, it’s interesting that you should ask – been lots of talk recently about this topic. I do understand why APHA wanted to split their World show (even though it was one of the best shows in the country) but with the economy, its been a difficult split. In my opinion, having it at the same as the AQHA World show has only made the economics part worse. So many of our trainers, halter and pleasure, have horses for both breeds and inevitably a choice has to be made, therefore, one or both organizations will lose. You lose exhibitors, spectators and vendors. A real shame for everyone involved.
Rebecca Halvorson–Multi-carded judge and trainer
I wish they wouldn’t schedule them at the same time, I understand the intent but it hasn’t worked. People are still showing at both shows and all it does is make it more difficult in an already tough economy. By scheduling them at the same time, you are penalizing the very customers that are supporting the respective disciplines in this bad economy.
Julie Kennedy-APHA Trainer and multi-carded judge
I think it was a really bad idea to schedule the APHA Fall World on top of the AQHA World. Any time an association does something that limits the exhibitor/horse pool instead of encouraging growth, I think its a bad idea. We have trainers and amateurs that show in both breeds, we have judges that judge both breeds and we have double registered horses who could show in both shows. By having them at the same time, we’ve lost potential APHA World Show judges that are showing or judging at the AQHA World. We’ve lost trainers who have to decide which show they are attending and we’ve lost potential exhibitors who might have gone to both shows had they been spread apart. It is similar to the “one paint parent” rule that is further limiting the pool of APHA horses, and the new qualifying rules concerning the World shows. It almost seems like a trend of wanting to exclude instead of include. In these tough economic times, I think we need to be doing everything we can to promote growth and encourage participation, and I don’t think any of these decisions have been beneficial in that respect.
Cyndi Hershey Brown-Multiple Carded Judge
It sure makes it hard for the folks that show in both breeds…Especially for the trainers that catch ride at the big shows and who also have Amateurs involved at both shows….
Jenna Dempze-Top Amateur Exhibitor
I think it would be nice for the APHA world to be a different time. I personally am unaffected but I know some of my fellow competitors and some of the trainers are trying to do both, it seems stressful. Also for horse show lovers, I think it would be difficult to pick which one to spectate. It would be nice to get the best of both worlds!
