This message is from: SUSAN L GIARGIARI [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Hello Susan, List!
Our lovely snow is now being covered with freezing rain! I guess the
sleighing will be put on hold for awhile! When the horses haven't done
anything for awhile we have a forecart to hitch them to and work a bit or
we use the stoneboat, to which you can hook one or two. That can be fun on
the snow too! We haven't tried ski-joring yet but it looks like fun!
On how Equitana and Equine Affaire compare, the clinics are all by some of
the same people, and you pay one price for the day or whole time and get to
go to what ever you want to. The Equine Affaire in MA , I'm sure has some
bugs to work out. Doing our Breed Demo was on a cement floor with about 6
inches of dirt and it was in a small arena with a overhang garage door that
mechanically raised lowered! Fun! There was also a people door right next
to it into the arena(40' by 80') that we could use.Not for the ground-driven
team (foals hitched on either side) or the carts ! Then some one had to
stand in the opening stretching a rope or holding a plastic pipe to let the
horses see a gate, not to run out or think that it was time to leave! We
had to dramatically alter our Demo and the music cassettes got lost and it
was alot of running around! (Equine Affaire lost the tapes). Moral is:
Always carry a copy of tape in pocket! Ceacy had to run the whole length of
the grounds to get a spare copy that she brought at the last minute ! It was
the first time being held here so they have a lot of bugs to work out. I'm
sure that the one in Ohio , which has gone on for 4? years has all the bugs
,or most of them!, worked out. Bringing the horses in and out of the breed
pavilion, you were on your own, very dangerous, with alot of the public not
Horse knowledgable. The door people guards would not lead the way at all.
At Equitana Usa the door people had walky talkies and wore orange vests and
had loud booming voices and hollered Horse coming thru! and they always
walked you in and out.The people parted in waves to let the horses have a
good passage thru.
The private stabling area in MA was not private. People went through the
Promo-Stabling area and then continued thru the drapes, which were not
always closed, again, no door people, and came thru the private. We love
talking to people and of course we took the time but questions would be
asked and we were trying to hold meetings, get tacked up and be polite and
we didn't have literature out back. This was not helpful for us. It made
things get alittle more difficult. Equitana , you were all in similiar
stalls, outside, with roofs over the area in front of your stalls.
I do believe that more people do attend Equitana but I am not totally sure.
Maybe someone else can help with this fact. At Equitana the booth/stall
inside the building is , I think, $2500. People who pay the $200 to put
their literature out at the booth, it does get picked up. Whether it helps
you right away or not , I don't know, maybe anyone who has done this and
gotten results , could share that with us. The stall that will have the info
in it at Equine Affaire is an end stall and will be $175 for the whole 4
days. Anyone who would like their flyers out can give a $25 donation. We
have probably had maybe 10 to 12 farms advertise at each of these events.
(let me know if I'm off!)
Regarding attendance and entry into the different expos, for participating
at Equitana, we got armbands. Lindsay, did we have to pay ahead for these? (
I know you're out there lurking :-) !! ) At Equine Affaire, we only got 3
arm bands for each breed pavilion stall (we had 2- one stall/ 1 booth). So
we got 6 arm bands and could only get 3 more for $75 ahead of time. We had
more people riding/driving/booth help/heading than that so it was a pain to
have to run around and get tickets for everyone. Not fun. For being in the
breed demo (only one day) you got an arm band for that day and a free night
in the stall. That was confusing to figure in totalling up for stalls as
some were in both the demo and drill and some just in the drill or just the
demo.
At Equitana Usa, Sunday, the last day is a washout for the public. If you
paid just to come and watch the horses, alot of people packed up and left
the stabling areas, left and didn't do their demos or drills, as the time we
originally had to do ours kept being moved up and up in the day until it
went from 4 to 12 something.Other horse owners commented to us as we would
be heading out to something, with horses, Oh, we're all done! We're out
of here! I hope Equitana comes up with some kind of stop to this. I don't
think it is fair to the public, who pay to come and maybe can only come on
Sunday. At Equine Affaire, it is in the contract that you can not leave or
start taking down until 5, the closing time. Private areas can go when they
want, as some just come for a day to perform.
It is a good time when it all comes together and we'll do it as
