AQHA Novice Championship Show
by Jennifer Walker Novice competitors have a whole new reason to
be excited about showing their Quarter Horses: a championship show just for them. This year marked the beginning of what promises to be an exciting and much sought-after event: the AQHA Novice Championships. The championships, designed specifically for the novice competitor, were held in two separate locations on the weekend of October 4- 7: The SmartPak West AQHA Novice Championships were held at South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas, and the Nutrena East AQHA Novice Championships were held at Tennessee Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, Tennessee. The idea for this new show has been a long time
in coming, and it finally came to fruition thanks to the AQHA Regional Championship Shows Task Force. "The concept of the show was born through a meeting of the minds to revitalize the regional cham- pionship shows," explains Patti Carter-Pratt, AQHA Executive Director of Shows. "Texas has had a novice championship show that was successful and PCQHA had one as well, and it was a success. At AQHA, we have been trying to reach that level of rider and enhance the showing experience for them, and the Blue Ribbon Task Force has been working to recognize them. We have had requests for a champi-
onship show for novices for several years on surveys we have conducted, so it's been on our radar but the time finally was right to do it this year." After conducting surveys to novice and profes-
sional riders gauging the interest level in a novice championship and their preferences on a variety of parameters, AQHA was overwhelmed with positive responses and the shows were born. Competitors had to qualify, either by placing in the top ten at their regional show or by getting a participation qualifica- tion by showing in 20 show numbers--meaning that a split/combined show with two numbers would count as two for participation qualification purposes. "Our goal was to reinvigorate the regional champi- onship shows, as well as horse shows in general," Carter-Pratt adds. "Entries at shows this year were up across the board, because people were working on getting their qualifications. We made it attainable, but they still had to qualify. The success we saw with the participation qualification led to this option being adopted for the AQHA World shows." The show offered a large selection of classes,
which garnered 1,995 entries from 450 horses and 460 exhibitors at the West show alone, while the East had 2,923 entries from 688 horses and 644 exhibitors. "The West show had six classes with over 100 entries in it," Carter-Pratt adds. "We were over- whelmed by the turnout; it really took us all by sur-
prise. I had a formula to calculate the possible num- ber of entries. We took 12-14% of all those showing at the novice level and predicted 350 people for the West show and 450 for the East, where more novice competitors are located, and the numbers far exceed- ed that. We're thinking it will be even bigger next year. It was very exciting that the show was so well received."
Although there were no cattle or over fences
classes this year, there is some possibility they will appear on the schedule in the future. "We are looking at possibly adding Hunter Hack next year," says Carter-Pratt. "We've had requests for cattle and over fences classes, but we want to make sure the shows are stabilized and running well before making dra- matic changes or expanding." While in the planning stages of the shows, task
force members considered aligning the Novice Championships with another big show, like Congress or Scottsdale. However, survey results showed that competitors would prefer to have their own separate event. The task force did, however, choose conven- ient dates and locations for those going to big shows. "In the East, people went to the Novice Championships on the way to Congress, and in the West they were on their way to Scottsdale," Carter-
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18 . November 2012 .
www.PacificCoastJournal.com
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