My Tentative Schedule for US Nationals

Finding someone showing at nationals can be a real trip so for those of you who were hoping to catch one or more of my classes on the live feed I thought I'd post the information I have about when I show. Before I get to that I also thought I'd explain a little about the quirks of the national show's schedule since I know how overwhelming that thing can be.

Any schedule published for the US National Arabian and Half-Arabian Horse Show is always tentative. Because they never know how many horses will enter or which classes they will show in it's a guess at best how many cuts will be necessary for each class......thus the tentative schedule so they have the ability to make changes according to entries.

It's best if you know the number of the class as well as the division of the classes you wish to see. The schedule is not run in numerical order (confusing, believe me I know!). The individual classes have the very same number each time they are run. Those numbers stay the same from year to year. it is where they are placed within the schedule that can change.......and it can change during the show. Daily changes are published in the show office and are available to be picked up each day. Exhibitors are responsible for keeping up with those changes. There are no allowances made for classes missed because of schedule changes.

The first day I am currently scheduled to show is Tuesday afternoon, October 27 in the Ford Truck Arena. That is class number 1662 Arabian Western Pleasure AAOTR 55 & over Championship which I'll be riding on Legs. The session begins at 1 PM and section A is the first class to be run in that session. In the schedule there is a section A and B. I saw online that 39 horses are already entered in that class so I suspect two sections will be sufficient. I will not know until I am at the show which section I will be riding in. That information will be posted in the show office.

If I understand this correctly, in these sections each judge will chose 7 horses to advance. For a rider to make the cut for the championship, he/she must appear on two of the three judges cards. All riders making the cut will be presented with the same color ribbon that signifies they are advancing to the next cut or championship. (Sections that run I, II, III advance to sections A, B. Sections A, B advance to the Championship.)

The next class a horse of mine will show in will be Wednesday afternoon, October 28 in the Pavilion. That is class number 977 the Arabian Futurity Filly Breeding Class. AHA shows 31 fillies entered in this class and it shows in the schedule as a Semi Final/Final (SF/F). The session begins at 1 and this is the second class of the session. Gypcy will be shown by Jesse Saldana in this class.

If I make the cut on Legs, the SF/F will be held Thursday morning October 29 in the Ford Truck Arena. Again that class will be numbered 1662 Arabian Western Pleasure AAOTR 55 & over Championship. This morning session will begin at 8 AM and the class is the tenth in the session. It is the next to last class of the morning.

The very next morning, October 30 will be Rhet's class held in the Pavilion. The class number is 972 Arabian Yearling Colt/Gelding Breeders Sweepstakes Jackpot. It is the only class currently scheduled in that session which will begin promptly at 8 AM. Rhet will be shown by Jesse Saldana. I will be waiting on the rail probably ready to puke. There are 31 colts showing in this class.

Now, like I said before this information is tentative. Whether or not I actually show at these particular times and places I will not know until 24 hours before. However, since this is a down year due to the recession, I suspect this will be pretty close if not totally right on.

As for the live feed, at the time I'm riding this I haven't been able to find the information on exactly who is carrying the live feed this year. Last year it was MyHorseCam.com and the year before it was IEquine.com. Since the Sport Horse Nationals was streamed this year, I suspect this event will be as well. The link should be available here when the show begins. That's how it was handled for SHN.