Rodrock Candids from the Prairie Classic in Oklahoma City

Sudden Scoop

Cloning Update

AQHA Region Ten Wrapup

EHV-1 Hits Tennessee, Kentucky, Mississippi and Colorado

Drunk Driver Who Killed AQHA Judge's Daughter Gets Prison Term

WCHA News from Chairman Don Falcon

AQHA

HOME / AQHA

Rodrock Candids from the Prairie Classic in Oklahoma City

GoHorseShow.com

Published 02/19/2012 - 12:34 p.m. CDT

Rate This Article:

Sharnai Thompson took time out from Wake Forest University in North Carolina where she is getting her Masters Degree to show at the Prairie Classic. Pictured here with her mom, Tammy Dyer.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

GoHorseShow.com

Email:
Click To Contact Author

The Third Annual Prairie Classic was held on the Oklahoma City Fairgrounds, February 15-19. Many eyes were on this show as it was the pilot for AQHA's Leveling Program which according to AQHA, "Seeks to increase competition opportunities for horses and riders alike; it is currently scheduled for full implementation in 2013." Attending on behalf of AQHA was Patti Carter-Pratt, Alex Ross and Tom Persechino.

The show was approved by both the Oklahoma Quarter Horse and Kansas Quarter Horse Associations as well as AQHA. Class sizes were up from the previous year and helped contribute to a very successful show which saw exhibitors who traveled as far as Connecticut, Florida, South Carolina and California to attend.

There were four sets of points as well as a Special Event in Western Riding and Trail. The amateurs and youth found the schedule very exhibitor friendly as their classes were held on Saturday and Sunday with all of the Open classes on Thursday and Friday.

Judges for the 2012 Prairie Classic were:

Holly Hover, Dan Trein, Scott Neuman, Chris Jones, Dawn Clason, Doug Huls. Specialized Halter: Josh Larman Don Falcon

CLICK HERE to view candids from the show presented by Rodrock Ranches, home of Certain Potential, Only In The Moonlite, Huntin For Chocolate and A Scenic Impulse.

2 comments for this article

Reverse Comment Order

Added: February 21, 2012. 12:59 PM CDT

Please let show management know!

I would agree with the above statement.... and very well put... the theory behind having youth/ammy on the weekend is excellent...youth are in school and most ammy's work.... but the actuallity was really a nightmare for most of those going into different classes....in different pens all going around the same time...

I would say a letter writing campaigne would really be best in this situation... put it in writing... really.... there were many verbal complaints but not everyone who actually approves the scheduling ever really hear it them all.... putting it in writing will get it to ALL the people involved.....

Alert a moderator

Added: February 19, 2012. 09:53 PM CDT

Exhibitor-friendly schedule?

What exhibitors did you talk to that said the schedule was exhibitor-friendly? Because frankly, it was a huge mess. I give the show managers credit for trying to keep the youth/amateur classes on the weekend and trying to shift things around from last year, but this year the schedule was horrible. At one point the youth had classes going on in four pens at once and people were missing classes left and right because they couldn't do showmanship in one pen at the same time as horsemanship in the other. Not to mention that people doing both novice and youth/amateur had to go from pleasure to horsemanship to pleasure and back to horsemanship! UGH! And I saw someone (show staff) yell at a youth as she came out of the horsemanship class because she wasn't over at the trail pen. Well hello, she was kind of busy with a horsemanship class (especially since they made the stupid decision to make all 30 exhibitors sit in the pen during the class). Being rude to exhibitors is never a good idea. If they had opened up the trail blocks to all exhibitors it would've solved the problem, but expecting the youth to come show trail while horsemanship is going on is ridiculous. I was afraid that the leveling thing would make this show a mess but honestly none of the scheduling problems had anything to do with leveling, just poor planning! This show started out with a lot of promise but if they can't fix the schedule it's going to send people right back to Dixies.

Alert a moderator

Reverse Comment Order