OPEA-Amateur Association

Amateur Association

A letter from Cynthia Cox, Amateur President:

May 9, 2006

All of the members of our association are bound together for the love of our horses. We all want to see this association grow and our shows grow. I would like to see everyone have a chance to have a great show season regardless of what type of horse (halter/performance) they show and have fun in the process.

Our spring show with Arkansas was a great success. There were a few things added. There were many comments on the presentation of the flags and how people thought that it was a nice touch. There was a large cooler filled with soda and water for the workers, judges, and exhibitors which was donated by Ridgeview QH, along with the homemade cookies. The change in the format of entries forms was a joint project between the show office and Cristin Murphy to streamline the entry process. There were many positive comments made throughout the weekend. The giveaways that were done did not cost us anything. They were items we had left over from previous years. And the pizza party Saturday night was a hit! Out of 20 large pizzas there were only 2 pizzas that did not get eaten and it was a great chance for everyone to relax and network. The Maders generously donated the entertainment for the evening. Minor additions that were well received. As Bob Mader and I discussed this weekend, we have lost some people, but there were also people there that did not show with us at all last year. This being the first show since we added the youth novice classes, I was not sure if we would have any there. We ended up with 3 youth novice showing up; making everyone of those classes a point class! And believe it or not we had 6 leadliners on Sunday! Also for our spring show there were 12 in youth geldings. I truly believe the addition of the saddles for year end awards has helped increase our youth entries. We also had some amateurs back that we have not seen in awhile. There were 10 in the Amateur Pleasure. Hopefully as the sponsorship base grows, we can add saddles next year for the Amateurs. As the cost of hauling to shows increases, especially with the rise in gas prices alone, people need a goal and a benefit. Some may not believe saddles are the answer, but after the money and time one invests in showing and qualifying for year end awards, they want something substantial. This encourage others to haul in. Ours are open to anyone who is a member of OPEA, regardless of residency, as long as they qualify with the number of shows, work segments and points. This also helps with class points. We, as an organization, are investing in our future.