This message is from: "Ron & Sherrie Dayton" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Hi all,
One thing that no one has touched on is that this is a very young system.
As more horses are Evaluated there will be a larger pool of Evaluated horses
to choose from. I don't recall that anyone has advocated that only
Evaluated horses be bred. Yes there has been talk about breeding the best
to the best, but that's always the way it should be. Personally I think
that having a horse one on one with a couple of Evaluators for 10 or 15
minutes is a far better system anything else out there.
Virtual Evaluations might be a useful tool for young stock. Young horses
change so much in their first 3 years. I still think that fully mature
horses need the hands on type of Evaluation that we have now. We need more
trained Evaluators and regionally, trained people that can help organize and
put on the Evaluations.
PNGPG also does clinic's on how to present your horse for Evaluation, they're
usually done at the Spring Meeting which gives everyone five to six months
to prepare their horses and themselves. I know that Brian and Ursula have
video's from past Evaluations that show the patterns and what needs to be
done to present your horse as well as some examples of not "doing your horse
a favor", it does your horse no good to take him or her out of the pasture a
month before an Evaluation and take 50 pounds off them and then try and have
them Evaluated. The horse needs to be worked and conditioned before hand as
well as the handler needs to be in shape. The handler needs to be able to
jog the horse at a good pace so the Evaluators can see the movement. I've
seen the Evaluators ask and re-ask a handler to trot and re-trot a horse
because they want to really get a good eye view of how that horse moves.
They move around, they squat down at ground level to see how the hooves hit
the ground, they really try and give every horse the benefit of the doubt,
all of that would be lost with virtual evaluations. At the end of the day
when they make their comments I've heard any number of times the Evaluator
say "we just couldn't see the movement and so couldn't score them
accordingly" or something like that. It wasn't for lack of trying on the
Evaluators part. They do everything that they can do to have that horse
presented in the very best light. The Evaluators comments at the end of
the day would all be lost if we went to virtual Evaluations. The only
person that would have those comments would be the horse owner. These
comments are extremely educational to those that are present. A lot of
first time Fjord owners can learn a lot by listening to the Evaluators at
the end of the day. Evaluations are not just about having horses evaluated
but EDUCATION as well. We would loose all the education that comes from the
Evaluators comments as they are now done if we switched to virtual
evaluations.
I do think that an instructional DVD or Video by NFHR on Evaluations and how
to prepare for them would be a good idea. It could be purchased by the
clubs or individuals and then the clubs or groups that want to sponsor an
Evaluation could have a meeting or get together and watch and learn from the
DVD. If further info is needed then have a clinic with someone like Brian &
Ursula, or Gayle or Anne or who every else in your area does clinics. It
will cost a little but in the long run you and your horse will be better
prepared and your horse will be Evaluated at his or her best, and that's the
bottom line. IF I remember correctly the last time that Brian and Ursula
did a clinic for PNFPG it only cost about 30.00 per person for an all day
classroom clinic with the video and lots of questions and answers as well as
handouts to take with you. It was well worth the dollars that I spent.
As I stated earlier, this is a young system but I think that it is still the
best thing going and it will continue to change and evolve as we go. Our
Registry is only 25 years old! The Evaluation system is even younger.
Give it time.
Since we're on the subject of Evaluations, all of you in the west or anyone
planning on being in the west in September, we are planning an Evaluation at
Libby in conjunction with the Libby 20th Anniversary show. The dates would
be the 6th and 7th and the show would be the 8th thru the 10th. If you're
interested please let me know.
Thanks,
Sherrie
