Meet a Horse??? Barn Tours??

There have been several emails with questions about what is Meet a Horse and the Barn Tours. Check out the slideshow for a visual explanation.  I'll try it in words, too.

TIMES:  During the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show the activities run from Saturday to Saturday.  Meet a Horse starts at 10:30 AM, and Tours are start at 12 Noon.

MEET A HORSE:  This is one of the Amateur Committee's  first breed promotion activities. We started doing it about 4 years ago.  Clancy, the initial star of Meet a Horse has had over 1000 + people mount him and have a picture taken.  The ages range from 8 months to 80.   It's great.  Clancy is Mary Lou Houge's retired reining horse.  Lois's Rosie, a most excellent trail and parade horse,  now pitches in and has star billing with Clancy.  People come back each year to see them.  The photographs are free thanks to the support of Tempe Camera.  

It takes 6 people and one of those "wild" Arabians for us to pull it off.  It starts with the horse and handler plus two people to help "riders" mount.  We use a mounting block and are very careful.  We need a photographer and someone to print the photographs.  Crowd control is important so we need a gate person to organize the people who are waiting.  I counted 30 "riders" in line last year at Scottsdale.  An extra person is always appreciated.

BARN TOURS: Four years and still going!  The Barn Tour's objective is to give folks  an opportunity to see what goes on in the show barns.  It takes a barn willing to have 50 to 100 people come visit. The barn spokesperson pulls out a horse and talks about the horse, what the barn does, the tack, the grooming,  the riders. . . anything horse or show related.    The tour groups loves the up close and personal encounter with the horses and riders.

The hard part for the Committee is to find barns that will let us come visit.  Many thanks to Bill Flood, Bob Hart, Battaglia Stables, Rio Estancia, and Wolf Springs for welcoming us.  There are seven time slots to fill this year.

To pull off a tour we need a knowledgeable horse person who can talk about what the group sees and answer questions.  Two or three folks are needed to help shepard the group as they walk to the barn, and be able to answer questions and explain, also.  This is important for our big groups during the Scottsdale Show.

CONTACT:  If you are interested in helping us out contact Eloisa at ahaa.az@gmail.com 

Scottsdale Show 2009 - Volunteers Wanted!

This is the fifth year the Amateur Committee is participating in activities during the Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show.  We are at it again with the Photo Contest, Meet a Horse, Behind the Scenes Barns Tours, and raffle ticket sales.  Why we are successful is a reflection of why the show itself is successful, VOLUNTEERS.

Take a look at the what the Amateur Committee does by viewing the slide show at the top of the blog. 

The Amateur Committee needs volunteers to make Meet a Horse, and the Barn Tours successful.  Meet a Horse (10:30 -11:30 AM,) and Behind the Scenes Tours ( 12:00 - 1 PM) are February 14th to February 21, Saturday to Saturday.   If you are interested in being part of the fun, and it is fun, email ahaa-ac@cox.net .  

If those times don't work there are other volunteer opportunities during the entire show.  Check out the Volunteer Job Descriptions on the AHAA website.  Links are located there for a Volunteer Application, and other contact information.  Mary Lou will really appreciate it.

There are advantages to volunteering.  Free admission to all the show sessions is top on my list.

Wow! What a meeting!

The Amateur Committee met last night, Wednesday, January 14th.  There was a full agenda, but we got through everything by 8 PM.   Pizza, beverages and brownies helped fuel us.  Here are some highlights.

Trail Rides:  Planning a ride in April.  We move from the Ho, Ho, Ho Christmas Ride to the Ha, Ha, Ha - April Fools Ride.  We will keep you posted on dates, time and location.  There was discussion of holding it some place other that the McDowell Mountains.  If any one has suggestions send them on to us, or make a comment on the blog.  

Parades:  No plans to ride in any parades this spring.  We've found the Cave Creek parade a little scary with the traffic situation, and the Ostrich Festival was judged by the riders to not be horse friendly.  Count on us for Gilbert Days next year, and we'll keep plugging away to see if we can be accepted for the Fiesta Bowl.  People groan when I mention the Rose Bowl.  Gotta have dreams, right?  

The Parade Group will be leading of the March of Dimes March for Babies April 9th in Phoenix.

Thanks to Donna Vollmer for all her time, energy and effort.

Education:  Focus is on the Educational Seminars during the Scottsdale Show.  Check out the link for more information.  The time for Meet a Horse is incorrect.  It is 10:30 everyday.  

Website:  Thanks to Scott Woods for keeping the Amateur Page on the AHAA website updated.  We talked about linking this blog to our Amateur Page as a way to keep information flowing.  It was decided to give it a try. 

Treasury / Budget:  We have one, and we are with in it!  And, we need to sell, sell, sell those Raffle tickets to keep it that way.  I smell a volunteer opportunity. 

All for now, except more info about our Scottsdale Show plans.  It is a different story.

Photo Contest

I hope everyone had great holidays.   December has flown for me.  Instead of sugar plum fairies dancing in my head I am keep thinking about all of the Amateur Committee activities we do during the Scottsdale Arabian Show, the Photo Contest,  Behind the Scene Tours, and the ever popular Meet a Horse.  PLUS we will be selling raffle tickets to help out the Youth Group.  Yikes.  

Take a look at the Photo Contest slide show for the past winners.  Get the word out about the contest, or better yet enter it yourself.  We've tossed around the idea of having an audience favorite;  I think this will be the year for it to happen.

Take a look at the slide show at the top of the blog.

Follow the link for rules and entry forms.   http://www.scottsdaleshow.com/contests/index.html