16.06.08
On Wednesday, June 7, we put 7 horses into a shipping van (5 of which had never been off of Hampton Green Farm where they were born) and started the six-hour drive south to Wilmington, Ohio for the inaugural Fiesta Midwest PRE Breed Show. Several cars carrying our team went ahead. The night before, tornados had been sited in the area of the show and the winds and rain had pummeled the show grounds. We went through one of the storms on the way down, but by the time we arrived, it was sunny, hot and steamy. Wilmington Ohio is a picture post-card Midwestern town, with rolling fields, white fences, and Victorian farmhouses. Our thought when considering the Spanish delegation that was coming was: How perfect Wilimington is as an example of a Heartland American town. The Robertson Showgrounds is much prettier than its website portrays, with stabling and arenas conveniently located together and a large indoor air-conditioned exhibition hall. The rain and bad weather did not deter the owners of close to 100 horses who made the trip. Our horses settled in with no problems and the three-day show kicked-off on Thursday morning. Three barns were filled to the brim with beautiful Spanish horses and the warm-up arenas were humming with activity. A few of our friends from Michigan attended who are "dressage people", and this was their first PRE breed show. We explained to them how presenting a horse in hand is a skill and art in itself. Additionally, unlike the USEF or USDF Breed Shows, Spanish-style presentation features all three gaits--walk, trot, and canter. There were many wonderful handlers working for those three days and much was to be learned by watching them in action. The young horses were fit and groomed to a sheen, and our first-time friends were so impressed with how many quality horses they saw.
The first two days of the show were judged according to the rules of the Spanish show system, and a judge was flown in from Spain. Even the small classes were difficult to judge as the quality was often very close, and our Spanish judge gave considerable time to each horse. A morphology (conformation) show is distinct in that conformation is given the larger part of the score, with movement/athleticism as a smaller part of the equation. This seemed odd initially to all of the dressage riders who attended the show--but they came to understand that the conformation standards are what makes this horse unique and must be maintained with discipline by those breeders who are continuing the PRE tradition here in the States. But this is not to say that there wasn't much to look at in terms of movement--there were some awesome movers at the show and one comment was "I saw very few horses that couldn't do a respectable dressage test at some level." The third day was open to all Pure Spanish Horses (with either Spanish or US papers) and was judged by a USEF judge. There were both conformation/movement classes as well as performance classes.
The show committee--Gabi Baker, Pam Geniac, Kimberly David, and others (including some pretty hard-working husbands!)--kept the show moving and provided many opportunities for learning, socializing, and, of course, shopping. There were seminars on registration, selection of a PRE, exhibition and performance, even how to effectively photograph your horse. A nationally-renown equine photographer did private sessions for several days there. The riding exhibition/party on Friday night was packed.
A highlight of the show was the attendance of the Spanish delegation from ANCCE. The President of ANCCE, D. Javier Conde, reiterated his commitment to US breeders in both private and public forums. The first batch of Cartas were hand-delivered to the US ANCCE Representative Alex Zilo, and the new system of Owners Cards were explained in a meeting with breeders. The Spanish agree that the Midwest represented a surprising number of new breeders and quality stock, and all signs are that Fiesta Midwest has the potential to grow into the country's biggest PRE breed show.
As for HGF results--we were very pleased with our horses. We finished with 5 Best Movement Awards; one Gold Medal, three Silvers and two Bronzes. We were so proud of our young horses and also their handler Tom Reed and rider Maria Lithander! Thanks to Frederic and Ron for the excellent tail-gate lunches every day and paella on Friday, and in general for sticking it out for another horse show! Many thanks to our support team and fans, and especially to all the people who worked for so many months to put on the show. We will be back next year!