We just returned from the 2016 Midwest Horse Fair, which
marked the second year with the spiffy new pavilions at the Alliant Energy Center
in Madison, Wisconsin. Put on by the Wisconsin Horse Council, this event comes
up in mid-April each year, drawing hundreds of horses, equine experts, and
commercial exhibitors. Oh, and tens of thousands of horse lovers.
The Midwest Horse
Fair people know how to put on an exciting and popular equestrian event,
marketed as the “one of the largest three-day horse fairs in the country.”
They do a lot of things well – attracting big-name
clinicians, drawing and managing crowds, and representing the unofficial start
to the warm-weather (read: outdoor) equestrian season in the Midwest. This
year, the wonderful weather actually arrived in time and was a big bonus. Record-breaking attendance
totals are anticipated. (UPDATE: Attendance was 62,000+ and did break previous records.)
In light of the many pluses, it may be easy to forget about
some potential areas for improvement. But we noticed a few. Here are a dozen
notes we’d love to offer for next year’s Midwest Horse Fair, which happens to
be themed “Wonder Horse.” We think
these changes might make the equine event more wonderful than ever.
1. Folks are craving
more horse/human interaction – In years past (before the new pavilions),
fairgoers walked through the various horse barns, ducking past and petting
horses of all kinds. The new layout keeps equines and non-exhibitors separate,
with horses banned from the center aisles of the two pavilions. Exhibitors must
deliberately lead their horses well out of the way of attendees to get to the
performance arenas.
That means non-horsey people who go to the horse fair to
interact up close with horses may be disappointed. Most only get to see horses
through stall bars and while the beautiful animals perform in the various
arenas. Sure, the new way may be safer, keeping baby strollers out from under
cross-tied horses, but it sure feels sterile. It would be nice to find ways to
encourage safe, but authentic, friendly horse-human interaction.
2. Please label the
pavilion aisles – Sure, breed/discipline group stall assignments are listed
in the printed program, as are the showcased stallions. But who wants to walk
around the Midwest Horse Fair with his or her nose buried in the program book?
Why not make it super-simple for exhibitors and attendees to find their desired
group?
During the horse fair, a sign with stall numbers hangs above
each end of every aisle in the two pavilions. How about adding an index to each
sign, listing which groups may be found in that aisle? If we want to find the Buckskin,
Friesian, or Rocky Mountain group, that would be so much easier!
3. We’d love to have
meet-and-greets with equestrian exhibitors – How cool would it be, if horse
fair attendees had the opportunity to slip outside after a breed/discipline demo
and introduce themselves to those who had performed? Why not set up a corral or
tent and encourage riders to linger for 15-20 minutes with their horses?
Clearly, several participants are somewhat rushed, if they
are slated to show in multiple clinics and demos. But that idea may merit
revisiting as well, as a means of encouraging more exhibitors to join the
weekend lineup.
4. Let’s mix it up
with some missing horse breeds – Can you say, “Belgian, Holsteiner, Icelandic,
Missouri Fox Trotter and … wait for it … Thoroughbred?” If the Midwest Horse
Fair staff took a survey of all who attended, don’t you wonder what percentage
might say they currently or once had off-the-track Thoroughbreds? What a missing
piece this has long been at the horse fair, even if rumor
has it a group may be on-deck for 2017. We’ve been asking for years, and
now our old OTTB (who did a peppy Liberty jaunt and a training clinic there several
years ago) is retired, so we’ll miss the chance.
Sure, the Paints, Pintos (Nope, they’re not the same
thing.), and Quarter Horses are popular and fun to watch in breed/discipline
demos, liberty performances, and stallion showcases. We adore the Arabians and
the Morgans and even the Morabs. Can we make room for some additional (or even
exotic) equine breeds?
By the way, we became immediate fans of Ben Hur De
Bernaville, the Boulonnais stallion. What a fabulous horse and interesting breed!
Let’s celebrate this diversity of horses we love.
 |
| Ben Hur De Bernaville |
5. We wish you’d put
the top clinicians back in the Expo Center atrium – Maybe it’s a marketing
strategy to lure horse fair attendees to venture into the massive and crowded
expo hall. This year, the clinicians with booths seemed to be scattered
throughout the miscellaneous sales exhibits. Frankly, we never even found a few
of the key folks we had hoped to see, and we walked every single aisle.
In years past, many of the top draws had spacious booths in
the main hallway, where horse fair attendees could interact more freely with
these expert horsemen and horsewomen. Photo ops and informal Q and A chats were
frequent – not to mention a certain big-name horseman’s unique form of altar
call. (He wasn’t there this year. Last year, it was almost a religious
experience – at least for his disciples.)
6. Please add a
trailer loading workshop – We aren’t even gonna mention the wiffle bat
incident from a few years back (Oops, guess we mentioned it. Not our story, but you can see the 2012 news report here.). Let’s just say
we’ve seen so many non-violent, but frustrating, loading struggles (including certain equestrian professionals,
whom we won’t name) that we think this might be a successful session all
around.
7. Why not group
vendor booths categorically? – This ranks high on our wish list, even if
the seemingly random booth assignments may be intended to draw attendees to view
more merchandise displays, while searching for their favorite spots. Wouldn’t
it be handy to visit feed vendors, horse health experts, tack sellers, barn
builders, souvenir shops, and other marketers by topical group?
8. Can you call back one
of the entertaining team hitches? – In recent years, these have included
the Express Clydesdales, the Smokin’ 6, Wells Fargo, and Percheron Thunder (our
own favorite, in part because rock-star horseman Jason Goodman saved our horse’s
life during a horse fair load-out mishap a few years back). Jason’s been at the
Madison event plenty, but when he and his team race into the coliseum, it’s
standing room only, gang.
9. Two words: Mustang
Challenge. ‘Nuff said. We love this crowd favorite, and it’s an important
effort.
10. Keep signing up favorite
clinicians – This year, the Midwest Horse Fair did an especially good job
with this, bringing a bunch of fresh or not-recently-seen talent (such as Patrick
King, John and Josh Lyons, and Stacy Westfall) and some returning favorites (like
Guy McLean, Steffen Peters, and Aaron Ralston). Dan James was missed, but he
was busy getting married that weekend and breaking the hearts of 20-something
horsewomen everywhere. (Seriously, his bride is a gem.)
Keep the great talent coming, Midwest Horse Fair. How about
catching Buck Brannaman, while he’s in Madison this fall, and locking him in for next
year’s roster? Please get Julie Goodnight, Cal Middleton, Monty Roberts, and
Warwick Schiller on the line. And hello, Tommie Turvey? (It’s been awhile.)
11. We dream that you’ll
bring back the evening extravaganza shows – Sure, the PRCA rodeos sell out.
But folks still complain about missing the pull-out-all-the-stops night
performances, when the top clinicians and popular trainers and talented
amateurs showed their best stuff. Do we really need two nights of rodeo,
especially when we can likely catch the same action at our local county fairs
each summer?
12. Someone’s gotta fix
the dangerous stall setup – OK, this is an Alliant Energy Center
issue, rather than a Midwest Horse Fair concern, but it bears mention.
Apparently, a fix is in the works, but it
comes after this year’s horse fair. About a month prior a fabulous show
horse (owned by a personal friend of ours) was euthanized after tearing his leg
open and severing a tendon on the top of one of the new stalls. Sure, it was a freak accident. But it was
tragic.
The stall
top was apparently sharp, as that’s where the statuesque Saddlebred was
injured. In addition, the stall design features an open-rail design. One has to
wonder if a horse might trap a hoof between the rails. And how many horse
owners want their equines rubbing noses and sharing unblocked airspace with unfamiliar
equines on several sides, particularly in light of perennial EHV-1 concerns?
When the Midwest Horse Fair opened (a month after the
Saddlebred’s demise), many of the exhibitors had no idea about the potential horse
injury hazard (or the sad incident) in the show stalls at the Alliant Energy Center until several saw
a TV news report the night before the event opened. (This would be after they had already settled
their own horses into their stalls at the show grounds). Some followed the
Saddlebred group’s example and adapted their horse fair stalls for safety.
Others seemed unaware.
We wish to assume the stall safety situation will be remedied before the next horse show at that venue - which will be long before the 2017 horse fair.
We wish to assume the stall safety situation will be remedied before the next horse show at that venue - which will be long before the 2017 horse fair.
That’s a wrap – our 12 things we’d like to see at next year’s
event.
Looking forward to
the 2017 Midwest Horse Fair!
We’ll be back. We might even bring a horse again. (We’ve
skipped a year or two.)
The Midwest Horse Fair may not accept or implement all of
these suggestions. Hey, they may not even read them. Still, for what it’s worth,
this is our wish list for next year.
Got anything to add?
Image/s
Midwest Horse Fair promo photos
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