Articles

An Amateur Point of View:

Interview - Arabian Horse Newspaper/Bob Battaglia
January 2, 2003

Q.  Do you think that there should be a separate Nationals for purebreds and half-Arabians?

A.   I am absolutely against giving the purebreds and the half-Arabians separate national shows.  Our business is already very fragmented and dividing our already limited audience even further makes no sense.  However, purebred Arabians and half-Arabians are two different types of horses and showing them in proximity (i.e. purebred English classes followed by half-Arabian English classes) simply confuses the public.  We definately need to showcase the purebreds and help feature them once again to the general public.  Perhaps the last two nights of the national show could be dedicated exclusively to the purebred.  Regardless, what we need is more new people discovering the Arabian horse.  To do that we need to advertise agressively outside of our industry and to do everything possible to make our shows exciting and help people rediscover enjoying the Arabian horse. 

Q.  What about separating the show with half-Arabians at the beginning and purebreds at the end of the show?

A.  Most likely that would be a scheduling nightmare.  With some thought we should be able to obtain our objectives without splitting the show in half.

Q.  Do you think it would help the marketability of the purebred to be separate?

A.  No.  Marketing the purebred Arabian horse is going to improve based on venues like new advertising, fairs and seminars.  These are programs that must be implemented by our new association.  Advertising in other breed publications does little for the Arabian horse as regards the general public.  Advertising the Arabian horse to outsiders within our own breed publications accomplishes nothing.  We need to advertise our horse "outside of the box" in publications like Harpers Bazaar and Town and Country.  There was a time when the Arabian horse was promoted in publications like these, as well as on television.  Granted, it's very expensive but it could be worked out.  There is renewed interest in Arabian Fairs and free clinics and educational seminars.  These forms of promotion are proven.  They work, but not overnight.  It takes time for them to be effective.  These are the types of things we need to do, we need our new association to lead us and we need to begin immediately.

Q.   Do you think that it's up to our Association or to the individuals to do this?

A.   It's up to everyone.  If we want our breed to prosper, all of us: professionals, association governance, horsemen, breeders and owners, will have to stop the arguing and work hard together as a team.


Q.  Do you see a lot of separation between the professional trainers and the breeders?

A.   There are always new voices arriving with what they think are new ideas.  Unfortunately, many of the ideas have been tried unsuccessfully or with limited success in the past.  "If we cannot learn from our history, then we are doomed to repeat our failures."  If we can work together, taking advantage of our tremendous, accumulative experience, we can move forward instead of spinning our wheels and going nowhere.

Q.   Do you think new people should seek advice from some of the people who have been in the industry a long time?

A.   That's a given.  No intelligent person approaches a major investment of time, energy and finances without some serious consultation with experts in the field. 

Q.   Do you think our judges could do a better job of judging if there were separate national shows for purebreds and half-Arabians?

A.   No.  Separating the nationals would not affect the judging.  Today's judges are better educated than ever.  Our judges' school does a great job.  Unfortunately, it has become widely popular among our judges to utilize their own opinions at the expense of the rules.  The rules are very specific.  In a specific class, if there is emphasis placed on manners, the rules make that very clear.  For the judge to then pin a horse who makes one great pass at the trot, but has poor manners in general and perhaps blows his canter lead, is a great disservice to the other exhibitors in that class.  Perhaps this relates to inexperience among the judges.  Their excuse is generally ". . . it was the best horse in the class".  Well, no.  If it didn't complete the class according to the rules, and another horse did a better overall job, then it WAS NOT the best horse in the class, no matter what sort of a final pass it made.  This sort of indefensible judging has become common place in our show rings and it needs to be addressed.  

Regarding the halter classes, we are going to have to present our horses in a more conservative manner with less obvious contrivance and abuse.  It simply offends everyone; especially the visitors and newcomers.  It drives people away.  For myself, I would prefer the European system of judging.  It's not a comparison system; each horse is judged on its individual merits, with separate points given for type, conformation, legs, movement, etc.  Unfortunately, when it was tried here, people in this country were shocked when horses got low marks for legs or conformation.  Well, halter is a breeding class.  Bad breeding faults are transmissible.  Judging decisions made in a breeding class ultimately affect our breed overall.  Horses in breeding class don't deserve to win if they have bad breeding faults.  It boils down to - no standards: no breed.  Once again, too much individual opinion on the part of our judges and not enough attention to the rules.

Because our judging is based primarily on opinion and not the rules, people coming into our breed have no idea what we are judging or how to compete successfully.  When our judgements don't reflect the rules, this ultimately discourages new people and they don't stay with the breed.

Q.   Can you think of a way to change halter presentation for the better?

A.   We need to change the way in which the horses are presented to a quieter and more natural approach.  Also, judging our horses based more on their conformation and on their motion would be a good beginning.

Q.   Do you think that the trainers can fix this?

A.   Working together - trainers, breeders, exhibitors and handlers - can fix this problem.
Once again, a method of judging based on opinion and not on the rules, makes it impossible for the spectator to understand the judging, makes the classes boring, and ultimately drives everyone away.

Q.   What do you think would make the Nationals more enjoyable and less tedious for the observer?

A.   Two things would be of immediate help: elimination of some classes and proper scheduling of classes.  Here again is an example of our apparent inability to learn from our past mistakes.  Several years ago we decided we didn't want so many horses at the Nationals, so we raised the qualifications.  Then, fewer horses came and there was less money, so we lowered the qualifications.  Now, there are too many horses again, and we are discussing a different point system as a solution.  Twenty years ago there were approximately forty-five classes total at the national level.  Now there are over two hundred classes.  No wonder we have scheduling problems and boring sessions.    

There are probably a number of classes we could eliminate.  Certainly we don't need to add any - especially not something like a Novice division.  Novices by definition do not belong at a National show.  Here is one suggestion.  We have a Stress Committee in place that has done nothing regarding the effect of stress on our yearlings at the National show.  It's obviously a problem.  What if we eliminated yearlings, two-year-olds, and perhaps even three-year-olds from the National show?  It would eliminate about fifteen classes from the overall schedule.  I realize that this would be an unpopular decision with many people.  These classes have built up over the years and have significant entries.  But these classes were initiated to motivate people to breed Arabian horses.  I don't believe they have accomplished anything but to add show entries and create terrific stress in the lives of some very young horses.

If we could manage to limit the number of classes at the Nationals to, say, four or five on the final Friday and Saturday nights we could initiate "corporate nights" and fill the extra time with a nice party for our sponsors.  They could bring friends and associates and meet the horse people - have a good time.  We ignor our commercial people at our own risk.  Certainly they make money at our show, but beyond that they are often completely ignored or even treated rudely, as though they were irrelevant or unimportant.  If our show only lasted for a few hours on a given night, we could provide them with a party; some entertainment.  What a concept.  We need to be more open and friendly to all of our spectators and supporters.  The only way to do that is to have fewer horses and classes at the Nationals.  How would we make up the deficit?  Perhaps at the box office with tickets purchased by people anxious to attend an entertaining and exciting horse show.       

****Note: Joanna -

Edited for Bob Battaglia
by Christy Egan.  Call if you have
questions at (303) 258-3336