When things return to “business as usual,” I dearly hope this virtual horse show community will continue on as well. The positive experiences had by so many in this group may very well be the thing that makes them feel confident in branching out to the next higher level of competitive equestrian events, thereby having the ultimate positive consequence of infusing new life into our breed shows!

The horse industry, at large, and stock horse breed organizations specifically have dropped in horses registered, as well as individual memberships progressively, and, for the most part, continuously over the last decade. There are many reasons for that, but just that fact alone is something to wrap your head around. When a stock horse breed organization has less than 2,000 horse registrations per year, they begin to enter a category known as a “rare breed.”  That number may seem like a large number, but when you consider that since 2014, there has been a progressive decline resulting in 1,400 less registrations, you can start to wrap your head around a more global view of a single issue and then begin to consider the further implications for the association, as well as the trickle-down effect for individual members.