CHANGE is COMING – APHA World Show Moves to September
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by Megan Arszman
Chocolate or vanilla? Republican or Democrat? Fort Worth or Oklahoma City? It’s a debate that’s been going on for nearly six years now. Since the American Paint Horse Association (APHA) separated the Open/Amateur World Championship Show from the Youth World Championship Show and moved it to November, exhibitors, trainers, and judges alike have had to make the decision between Fort Worth and Oklahoma City for the AQHA World Championship Show. Starting in 2017, there will no longer be a debate.
In April, the APHA announced they are moving the Open/Amateur World Championship Show (OAWCS) from November to September, much to the relief of Paint and Quarter Horse enthusiasts. What was initially meant to help build the show actually resulted in the opposite, making it difficult for members to attend both championship events.
“We made a commitment a couple of years ago to build what we call a bigger tent,” explains APHA Executive Director Billy Smith. “But having our World Championship show sitting on AQHA’s show didn’t allow us to build a big tent. It kept people from participating who might have participated in our event. The primary rationale behind moving it was to create a bigger tent for people who might want to own Paint Horses and play at the highest level.”
Recently, the APHA announced the new dates for the OAWCS, starting in 2017.
• September 20-30, 2017
• September 19-29, 2018
• September 18-28, 2019
The show will still be held at Will Rogers Memorial Center in Fort Worth, Texas, and qualification requirements had not been announced at press time.
Working Together
Knowing that autumn is generally a busy time for horse shows, the APHA is working with futurities and other established shows to help them if they decide to run during the new dates over the next two years.
“We know there are some shows that have been planned for those dates, so we will allow those shows to stand and continue, if that’s what they want to do,” Smith says. “If they want to seek out a new time or venue, we’ll work with those clubs. For the next two years, if they remain on those dates, we’ll rebate back to them their show fees as an attempt to allow them to change dates with minimal negative impact.”
If a club wants to continue hosting its show during the new OAWCS dates and is within 600 miles of Fort Worth, the Performance Department will grandfather those dates to allow them to do so. Shows from outside that area don’t require grandfathering.
Smith and the rest of the executive committee at APHA realize there is a large number of members who compete at both Quarter Horse and Paint venues, so the decision to move the dates was meant to help those owners.
“One of the phenomenon that’s happened in the last eight to ten years is that a lot of trainers and people ride multiple breeds. So, we have to be sensitive to the fact that we’ve got Quarter Horse people riding Paints and Paint people riding Quarter Horses. Some of them want to play in both environments, so we need to let them do that so we can have the biggest possible tent,” he says.
Different Dates = Better Competition and Better Judges
AQHA Professional Horseman Charlie Cole of Highpoint Performance Horses agrees with the date change being a positive move for both APHA and horse owners.
“I think it’s a very positive, and long overdue, change,” Cole says. “When APHA made the decision to overlap the APHA World onto the AQHA World Show, it was a costly and unfortunate mistake. I had always enjoyed the Paint World and kept between four and seven Paint horses year-round to go to the show. [The overlapping dates] forced us to choose and, because we keep the majority of Quarter Horses, we sold or sent home our Paints. I know several other trainers and owners who were forced to make the same decision. With the new September dates, Highpoint will be attending again and already have three Paints in training prepping for the show.”
Amateur exhibitor and breeder Erin Bradshaw is delighted with the new dates, especially after juggling her stallion John Simon’s show schedule with both the APHA and AQHA World Shows in 2014.
“I think it’s amazing,” she says. “We had Rusty Green show John Simon last year, and he had to be driven down to Fort Worth from Oklahoma City to show him the day of, and then we had to turn around and drive straight back to Oklahoma. I think it will open up the ability to allow the Quarter Horse people to show as well, which, at the end of the day, is the biggest complaint everyone has had [about the APHA World] with the numbers being down. I think this is a step in the right direction. A lot of people do train both [breeds] and those clients have had to decide which World Show they’re going to sacrifice.”
Other trainers and exhibitors are already making plans to attend both championship shows starting in 2017. Bradshaw points out that it might open up for more catch-rides by trainers, thus, more entries, as well.
“If you have Western Pleasure horses, you can only show one horse in the junior and one in the senior. You could bring someone else in to catch-ride another horse, if the World Shows didn’t overlap. I think it opens up so many more opportunities and gives you more bang for your buck,” she says.
Not only does it open up dates for the exhibitors, it also allows for a bigger pool of judges, which was becoming difficult for the association.
“When we go to select judges for our World Show, there were three barriers: Some of those judges will be showing at the Paint World Show, some will be showing at the AQHA World Show, and some will be judging at the AQHA show,” Smith says. “A significant number of our judges have AQHA cards, and a significant number of AQHA judges have APHA cards. So it does limit us.”
Smith and the Executive Committee understand their members want the best judges to judge the best the breed has to offer, and the date change will allow for more specialized judges to be available for the show.
“One of the reasons why it’s important to have a larger pool of judges is because our membership is very interested in having judges who are specialized in their areas. We’re going to work very hard to seek judges who have specialized skills in specific disciplines like Reining, Cutting, and Halter,” he continues. “With the growth and interest in specialized performance judges, it makes the pool smaller. So, in September, we will have a greater opportunity with a greater pool of judges.”
An important factor is also opening up dates for vendors who want to sell to both breeds. “I’m sure vendors will also be thrilled they can attend both shows,” Cole says.
Why September?
Smith points out that having the show in September fits nicely with the Fall classics, allowing members to attend the OAWCS in late September, the All-American Quarter Horse Congress in October, and the AQHA World Show in November.
Citing the weather, Smith also points out that September is relatively cool, which will be beneficial for everyone, especially the horses.
“I’ve been telling people it’ll be nice weather. You can sit outside on a patio and have a drink,” Bradshaw says. “You’re not going to be battling ice storms, and it’s kind-of miserable when it’s that cold out. People won’t have to travel in all that bad weather to get down here, and it’ll make travel easier on everyone.”
Smith did admit the board considered combining the Youth World Show and OAWCS and having it all in July, as was previously done, but he says there were a couple of road blocks for that plan.
“One of the fundamental reasons for separating the shows years ago was the number of Futurity and young horses we were bringing on the grounds in what could be stifling heat in Fort Worth,” he says.
The other reason was scheduling—it would be difficult to find more than 20 consecutive days available at any of the major show venues during summer, including the Will Rogers Memorial Center.
More than a Date Change
In addition to changing the date of the OAWCS, Smith says they’re looking to improve the experience even more for exhibitors and trainers.
“We’re building toward a World Show in 2017 that will have some new and unique features,” he says. “It’s not just a date change, but it’s an attempt to create a big tent by opening opportunities for others to show at different levels at the World Championship show.”
One of the changes Smith hints at includes an expansion of APHA’s Intermediate Exhibitor recognition program that will give greater opportunities for more Halter and Performance classes in both open and amateur divisions.
“We have to look at our situation and the number of horses in our environment (which is very different from AQHA),” he says. “So, we’re going to take in all the factors about the number of horses out there and the number of horses competing and create some opportunities for people at our World Show.”
Another change, or rather addition, is the inclusion of Zone championship shows. These shows, which were piloted in 2014 in Oregon and New Jersey, have grown to eight for 2015 and are voluntary on the part of each Zone’s show management if they want to host a championship show or not. The APHA wants to create more opportunities for Paint owners and exhibitors who might have found competing at association shows to be too competitive.
Each zone can implement these championship classes, that have been designed for people who live in that particular zone to participate in, if they have not won World Championships in those classes in the past, or who have not placed in the top five at the World Show in the past three years for Halter and top ten for Performance. APHA is funding the awards for those classes.
“We’re attempting to create an environment where the local exhibitor has a good, competitive opportunity to do well, while at the same time not pushing away the national competitor who travels to compete in shows in other parts of the country,” says Smith.
Better in the Long Run
Smith hopes the date change, along with other ideas in progress, will help continue to grow the APHA and the horse industry as a whole.
“This is all part of our efforts to improve the show and grow the Paint Horse industry. Over the last two years, we’ve grown participation at the World Show for the first time in a long time, and this will just continue the progress,” he says. “In my position, personally, I’m very optimistic about where we’re going to be. We’ve reached some significant milestones in turning around our industry, and this is just a continuation of what we think will be a real strong performance of Paint Horses in the coming years.”
