The Quest For the Globe Begins Tomorrow…11 Lb Worth of Blood, Sweat, and Tears
By: Brittany Bevis
Each of the 815 exhibitors headed to Oklahoma City for the 2014 AQHA Youth World Show has a singular goal in common. The hours of practice and preparation will lead up to one moment, and every competitor hopes the final outcome will result in having to clear a place on the mantle for a special piece of gold hardware.
The Quest for the Globe begins tomorrow, Friday, August 1st, when the Youth World Show begins with the first halter classes of the week. Over the course of the next nine days, 38 World Champions, 38 Reserve World Champions, and 38 third place winners will walk out of the arena with a specially designed World Show globe. Whether the trophy is gold, silver, or bronze will ultimately depend on the quality of performance and the opinion of the judges.
Without a doubt, the globe is the most coveted prize up for grabs at the Youth World each year, but how much do you really know about the trophy itself? We chatted with Jody Stoddard, AQHA Senior Director of Human Relations and Operations, who works directly with Award Recognition Concepts, to get the inside scoop.
Did you know that the World Show trophy has taken on several different appearances since the first World Show in 1974? The design of the sculpture has evolved over the years, but the current version is made up of a walnut base with horse and surrounding rings made of zinc. The entire piece measures 16 1/2 ” tall and weighs a whopping eleven pounds!
A grand total of 114 globes, 38 of each color, will be presented at the Youth World Show. 138 globes, 46 of each color, will be awarded at the Adequan Select World Show. 315 globes, 105 of each color, will be given out during the AQHA Open and Amateur World Show this fall. That adds up to a grand total of 567 globes that will be presented in 2014. We crunched the numbers and that means an approximate 6,237 pounds worth of World Show globes must be transported from the ARC factory to Oklahoma City and Amarillo.
Award Recognition Concepts has produced the World Show trophies for the past two years. In order to keep up with inventory, the company maintains a two-year supply of all components on hand.
“Including the assembly, unpacking, polishing, and placing the medallion, the overall process for each individual trophy can take up to 30 minutes,” Stoddard says. “We build them on an as-needed basis for each show. We don’t start the assembly process until we have the order from AQHA, which in most cases is about a month before the show date.”
“All trophies are assembled at the ARC location by ARC employees. The materials are purchased from a wide variety of vendors that supply us with the wood bases and metal components that make up each trophy.”
How will the 114 globes make it from the ARC factory to Oklahoma City this year? The company has developed a special rack system that eliminates the need to pack each globe individually.
“Trophies are shipped on a system developed by ARC that allows us to take the trophies to the show site ready to go into the arena,” Stoddard says. “That eliminates the need for boxes, which helps reduce the cost and reduces waste and packing materials. The racks are loaded onto one of AQHA’s trailers and then delivered to the show site by AQHA employees.”
In addition to making the World Show trophies, ARC provides other awards such as Level 2, 13 and under, and Super-Select awards and medallion boxes for competitors placing second through tenth. Also, all awards for the AQHA Level 1 (Novice) Championships are created by ARC. For more information on all the services provide by ARC, contact them at 806-345-4ARC (4272) or Aford@ARCtrophy.com.
To all of the competitors hoping to earn one of these beautiful globes over the course of next week’s competition, The Equine Chronicle wishes you the very best of luck!
