Getting Started | Qualifying | WSHCEF Futurity | Road Warrior Awards | Sanctioning Shows | Sanctioned Show Listings | Show Bill | Show Committee Cost | Sponsorships | Why Sanction?
The Wisconsin State Horse Council (WSHC) is again offering an opportunity for people who enjoy showing their horses—specifically, those who enter open shows.
We've decided to slightly modify the way the program works based on the feedback we received, so please take the time to read through this. This is the second year of the program, and we've continued to do some fine tuning. We will be collecting input from participants at this year's championship show so that we can make the program even better for the 2009 show season.
How do you get started? Under the program, competitors do need to be a Level I member of WHSC in order to participate. The membership cost is $20. This helps provide a portion of the funding to run this exciting program and provides you with all the benefits of WSHC membership, including your own subscription to our newsletter, The CounciLetter.
Competitors nominate themselves and their horse to qualify for the opportunity to compete in the statewide Championship show, to be held September 27, 2008 at Heartland Stables in Custer, WI, by submitting the class nomination form and the nomination fees to our office in Columbus.
Each class nomination costs $2, and multiple nominations are accepted. The nomination fees are a one-time charge unless you choose to add additional class nominations at a later time. You may add additional class nominations at any time, provided payment is included with the form and the envelope is postmarked 1 day prior to attending a sanctioned open show you want to use as a qualifying show.
You may attend as many sanctioned open shows held from April 15 through September 8, 2008 as you wish, even after you've qualified to compete in the statewide Championship show.
How exactly do you qualify? For each class you nominate in to, you need to win either (2) First places or (2) Second Places or a combination of the two in a WSHC sanctioned show, and under two different Judges.
For example, say you are nominated in the following classifications, Sr. Hunter Under Saddle; Sr. Huntseat Equitation; Sr. Western Pleasure; and Sr. Western Horsemanship. You would need to qualify in each of the four classifications in order to compete in those classes at the statewide Championship show on Sept. 29th. You will ride that day against the others in the state who have qualified to ride in those classes too. It will be the competition of the best of the best!
Once you have qualified in your nominated class you need to send the 2008 WSHC Championship Challenge Qualifying Placings Reporting Form in to the office. This form can be found here on our website and in the May and June issues of Wisconsin Horseman's News.
Remember that the fee to nominate into a class is only $2 per class. That isn't very much money--burgers cost more at most restaurants these days!
We realize that open show opportunities are sometimes rather limited for ponies, long-ears, draft and gaited horses, and saddle seat riders. We hope that this program will help encourage show committees to include classes that will provide more opportunity for these groups to participate. We also encourage the owners, riders, and drivers to support the shows that put classes in for you by actively participating in them.
The other thing to remember is that we will know from your nomination form that you are riding a pony, gaited, draft, etc. For example, when we get a show results form and see that Jane Doe took a 1st place in western halter on her horse "My Comfort" at the Phenom Show on May 5th, we'll be cross referencing the results form to your nomination form. "My Comfort" was nominated for AQHA Halter and since the show only offered western halter we'll automatically apply that win toward qualification on your AQHA Halter nomination, provided that is what we have on file for you. Questions? Contact us and ask!
What about the WSHCEF Open All-Breed Weanling Futurity? WSHC Championship Challenge and the WSHC Equine Foundation are partnering to bring you this exciting event in 2008. Although the WSHCEF Futurity is in its 4th year, this is the first year that it will be combined with the WSHC Championship Challenge.
The WSHCEF Futurity pays back $500 plus 80% of entry fees. While you do not have to qualify for the WSHCEF Futurity, you must pre-register - and the sooner you do so, the less it will cost you! The payment fee is listed on the Registration Form and you can contact Diane Sackett for more information.
What is a Road Warrior Award? Why would you want to keep competing once you've qualified? Because we are also introducing the Road Warrior Awards, to be given to those program participants who have exhibited at the most sanctioned open shows--regardless of their placings at those shows! Just have the show secretary sign the showbill, mark your exhibitor number on the showbill, put it in an envelope marked "Road Warrior Awards" and send it in to our office at PO Box 72, Columbus, WI 53925.
This fun perk is included in your nomination fee, so there is no additional cost. Recognition will be given to all participants in The CounciLetter. Awards will be based on where the exhibitor lives--WSHC District 1, 2, 3, 4, or 5. The sanctioned shows you attended may be from anywhere in the state of Wisconsin. For example, that means if you live in District 1, you will only be competing for a Road Warrior Award against others who live in District 1. It doesn't matter where your horse lives, or where the sanctioned shows you attended are. Please have all showbills in to the WSHC office by September 12, 2008.
You do not have to qualify before you begin working toward the Road Warrior Awards! If you've sent in your nominations, you are ready to begin sending your signed show bills toward a Road Warrior Award.
How do you sanction your show? For show organizers and committees who have already finalized your 2008 show bills, it is easy to become a WSHC sanctioned show! WSHC will sanction any Wisconsin open horse show on the request of the Show Committee. It is not necessary to change any classes on your show bill at all, and you may advertise your show as a sanctioned event.
Ready to be a sanctioned show? Call our office, 920-623-0393, or email your show bill to us at info@WisconsinStateHorseCouncil.org. We'll list your show on the Sanctioned Show List at no cost to you.
How much will this cost the Show Committee? Worried about the cost to sanction your show? All it takes is one .41 stamp, an envelope, and the commitment from one of your show committee members to complete and submit the simple Show Results Report Form along with a copy of your show bill. The form collects the name of the horses/riders who won 1st and 2nd places in the actual classes at your show. No need to put them into the categories of nomination classes for the WSHC program, we'll take care of that for you. Read the FAQ's for Show Committees for full details.
Why sanction? How will this benefit our show? Adding "WSHC Sanctioned" to your show bill, and participating by sending in your show results to the WSHC program administrator in Columbus, should draw more exhibitors to your show. Program participants need to win at sanctioned shows to make it to the statewide Championship show; they're going to want to go to where they can do that! Those who are after a Road Warrior Award are going to look for the sanctioned shows too! Why wouldn't you want to have a sanctioned show when it is so easy for you to do?
For more information about the Championship Challenge Program, please contact the Program Chairperson or Wisconsin State Horse Council, 121 S Ludington St, PO Box 72, Columbus, WI 53925, telephone 920-623-0393, or email info@WisconsinStateHorseCouncil.org.
