I was wondering how the demos/performances were at WEG? I would like to know how these groups got selected, or were they like vendors? I know of one drill team that went and performed…have no idea why they were there, unless performers paid a fee to participate? I did see some clips of a Friesian quadrille that looked fabulous. Did these groups have a good audience?
I saw the Halfinger, Irish horse, and Andulasian/ Lusitano demonstrations.
I saw riding at the level that most of us ride at (by that I mean a range from getting the wrong lead to about high jumper rider and one Canadian dressage pro) so it was on par with what you would see at a show. The horses were a range from super nice (a couple of those Irish I WANTED!) to pretty darn nice.
What stood out for me was the amount of preparation (esp the Halfingers, doing Sound of Music on horseback) and enthusiasm that these people demonstrated. It was fun, it was a true celebration of horses and all we love about them. I thought it was great!
I did not see any of the clinic parts, mostly in fear that I might see Parelli (shudders.)
[QUOTE=jumpsnake;5148917]
I did not see any of the clinic parts, mostly in fear that I might see Parelli (shudders.)[/QUOTE]
Ha ha-- I saw him once eons ago at an Equine Expo, did not know who he was at the time, thank goodness! Maybe that is why he has the porn 'stache, so people will recognize him…gives them time to run the other way! ha ha
It is great there were some nice demos. I am sure the endeavor took a lot of expense and effort for participants.
It took us 3 days to even figure out where the demos WERE, and we had to look online, try to find a map, and match up other stuff to the WEG map. It was a bit of a disaster IMO.
But I did enjoy the demo I watched, and bought a pair of breeches at a bargain price from a vendor in that area.
Did anyone, particularly anyone who doesn’t do hunters, catch a hunter derby demo? Wondering how that plays in a demo format.
My buddy was slated to be part of the Spotted saddle horse drill team and they were selected roughly a year and a half ago. I can’t remember the particulars but I think the breed association was offered a spot, and then they had to put together a program and audition the program. I can remember him talking about it and discussing what they were going to wear, movements, music, and then telling me that they had made the cut. I DON’T think they got compensated in any way unless it was the breed org paying for outfits or something.
I did see part of the drill, sort of by accident as he told me the wrong time and we just were heading back from the indoor arena, the Wells Fargo Stagecoach was there on display so we detoured and there were the Spotteds riding to the oldies - the REAL oldies - Rock around the clock. One of the horses chose to get upset by the audience - the bleachers were full and lots of railbirds. Anyway they were not a professional group in any way, just amateur owners taking pride in their breed and showing it off. My buddy took two weeks off of work to participate.
[QUOTE=CBoylen;5149841]
Did anyone, particularly anyone who doesn’t do hunters, catch a hunter derby demo? Wondering how that plays in a demo format.[/QUOTE]
Well I do hunters but I did catch the derby demo twice. It actually ran quite well and drew a big crowd. Both times we watched it the stands were full and more people were standing all around. They had 4-5 horses do the derby course and then come back for a handy course and then all came back and did a little follow the leader over some of the fences and ended stopping along the fence to greet spectators. Personally I thought they did a great job organizing it to give people a basic idea of what hunters are and what a derby is. Definitely one of the better demos of the ones we saw.
