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Good or Bad Hands Final......

By Nealia McCracken

Update: I wrote the following article in support of the finals and the Penn National Horse show. Unfortunately as of this year the Good Hands nor the Saddlebreds will be at the Penn National and I do not expect the Saddlebreds will ever return. This needs to be and should be a wake up call to our breed and industry. For anyone reading this piece please try to do your part to support our horse shows and the breed that we love.

You have all heard it before. It’s is a hunter jumper show and the saddlebreds are second class citizens. I’ve heard this in fact. I’ve even said it at times.

When I relocated my barn to the East Coast the one show I heard this repeatedly about was the Penn National horse show in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. After a time I even caught myself saying this about the show, even though I had not been there yet. The scoop on the show was that it used to be a big saddlebred show, but now it has become a big hunter jumper show. I did have mixed emotions when I learned the Good hands Finals was to be held at the Penn National show.

On one hand I was glad that at least one national final was close to home as most of the other finals are all in the Midwest. On the other hand I said to myself well from the frying pan into the fire. From one big hunter jumper show at Madison Square Garden to another hunter jumper show in Pennsylvania. We went to Penn National in 2002 thinking we knew what to expect. The same treatment we had in New York for the Good Hands final the year before. At Madison Square Garden the stabling was in the back and the time allotted to work horses was very limited. The rest of the time it felt like we were expected to act like the good step children—not heard from and stays out of the way. We had to take whatever time was scheduled to work in the arena and be grateful, but most of all we shouldn’t make waves. (As for those of you who know me you can only imagine how hard that was for me.) Why should one of the oldest finals for the American Saddlebreds in the country have the exhibitors be stabled in back of the hunter jumpers in a corner with no tack stalls at huge stall prices? There was no comfortable tack room area for the riders to relax and prepare for this very important national final. Why should the finals be rushed? The overall feeling of this event was okay-show-get it over with-and get out as there is an important basketball game coming next. When you experience this a few times it really makes you gun shy about the type of show that would host the Good Hands final.

The decision to move the Good Hands to the Penn National show was a rushed one and there were a few snafus, but it was the finals that got me to the Penn National Show for the first time. I went with a small string of horses as we were told stabling was tight. So far everything was going great---NOT!!! When we got to the Farm Show Complex for the first time I was amazed at how large the facilities were and how un-farm like the place was. They were in the final phase of construction which is why the saddlebred stalls were limited for 2002. The stabling office was more than helpful and easy to deal with-so far so good. Where would we be stabled? In some far corner with bad stalls? No, we had a new section with great stalls and yes we were allowed to have tack stalls. Net stop was the office! What would they be like? Were they going to frown upon me because I had the nerve to have saddlebreds and not hunter jumpers? Surprise! The people in the office also do other saddlebred shows and I knew them. They have always been helpful as well as effective. Well my next question? I’m sure the answer is going to rile me up! When could I work my horses and where? Another surprise for the day. There was an outdoor arena open 24 hours and we had the main coliseum to work in after the last class until the wee morning hours. Feeling fairly brave I decided to venture into the main coliseum to see what it looked like.

While the coliseum is old and the stands look like they go straight up and the people would have to be strapped onto the walls to watch, it had a wonderful feeling about it. What was the feel? This arena felt and looked important. It looked like a national final should be held here. By this time I was really getting excited. I quickly figured out that they were on a time schedule, but they were not unfair to the exhibitors. I also learned the secret of getting into the ring first for each class thanks to Peter Doubleday. Peter learned that I didn’t slow down the show by being in the chute before the class began not still in the warm up ring so I was on the A list, not the normal S list I am on at the hunter jumper shows. While some people had problems in 2002 the real question is what would 2003 be like and would things improve? Fast forward to 2003.

We arrived at the Farm Complex and guess what? There was no construction. Everyone could bring as many ASB horses as they wanted. (Not everyone understood this however) Stalls were in no way limited. The next surprise. The show put all the ASB barns together in the main barn with the closest and easiest access to the main coliseum where we would show. We had wide aisles, large stalls and easy access to the warm up and main ring. Wow! I would have never guessed. How could this get better?

Well it did! The arena was for the use of the ASB’s to work in from about 10 pm to 1am and after Fran Crumpler worked her quiet magic (Kim doesn’t have a chance) the work crews did not clean the coliseum until after 1 am each night. Everyone had plenty of time to work their horses and the best part was there were no early classes so we could sleep in late!

The Good Hands final was split up on two separate days, Thursday and Saturday, so that horses and riders could have a chance to rest and re-group. The Penn ASHA provided wonderful gift bags for all the contestants in the Good Hands Finals and they provided plenty of information about the local area and its rich historical past (pre revolution, civil war at Gettysburg, Lancaster County, etc.). The finals were not rushed or hurried and with a group of 22 it was decided to split the class into 2 groups. This allowed for a better judged competition as it gives the judge a better chance to review each rider. When I asked my daughter how it felt in the ring to show, her answer was that it was awesome! She then asked me if I saw her name on the big scoreboard that the show used during the class. Actually they used it for the entire show. Very few show facilities are able to use a scoreboard. Believe me the kids noticed the extra thrill it added. As I looked at the kids showing in that class I saw the who’s who of equitation. All 22 riders were at the top of their game.

By the time we got around to the top 12 riders in the finals it was Saturday afternoon and the stands were quite full of spectators. Many of these people came back to the stables to look around and to check out our saddlebred horses. All I heard were positive comments and many people who had come back to the stable area earlier in the day went back to the show to cheer us on. I saw several in the stands waving and groups came back to the stables after the class just tell us how beautiful our horses and riders were. This might not have happened if we were not stabled right up front and easy for the spectators to get to. Even the hunter jumper exhibitors commented on the excellence of the riders and horses in the Good Hands Final during the class and pattern work. Many comments were about how aggressive the rail work was vs. how much control the riders had during their pattern work. These people made me feel proud of the American Saddlebred. It almost seemed surreal.

Everything about this national final event was, in my opinion, handled very well even to the uncomfortable part of pulling two riders from the top 12 to make the final 10. It was done quietly as to not draw attention to the 2 excused. The competitive level of the 22 riders was high and the difference among the final 10 riders appeared slight. It sometimes falls to only the small things that make up the difference as to the top 10 and the rest of the field of riders. All 22 riders represented the best in the nation. The top 2 riders were asked to come back for a special ceremony during the evening performance when the stands were filled! Talking about feeling like a national final!

The show was proud to have the final there and I know my daughter felt proud to show at the Penn National in the Good Hands Finals. As for next year I am going to bring a much larger show string and would encourage others to travel to the 2004 Penn National and help support bring back the saddlebred part of the horse show. The Farm Complex has a great coliseum, one of the biggest completely indoor facilities in the country, large stalls, wide aisles to work in and a horse show staff that works to make the saddlebred exhibitor feel welcome and wanted. What more could you want?