Sounds very cool! What fun. 
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Money. Ideally first place receives enough to at least cover the cost of the class. The money classes always fill up.
When I was a kid there was a local show series (4-H I think) that had a parent/adult leadline class. Limited to adults who had never ridden in a horse show before or not for x number of years, led by a junior exhibitor. It was fun to talk adults into entering. My Momâs childhood best friend had ridden and shown as a teen, but hadnât shown or had a horse for many years though she was still a pretty decent rider. She sometimes came to watch us show. She was eligible because her experience was more than x years ago and she was so thrilled when she won the class. My Dad was reluctant, his usual role being write checks and drive the trailer, but my younger sister talked him into it by telling him if he did it once he wouldnât be eligible again for x years and we would leave him alone about it. I donât remember whether he got a ribbon but probably not. I think x was 10 or 15, but am not sure.
Other ideas:
Costume classes are also fun. I remember one horse show that had a dog costume class.
A stick horse class for kids 6 and under or thereabouts. Even better if stick horses can be made or decorated during the morning at a station set up for the purpose, class held at lunch.
A carrot eating contest for the horses. Each horse given the same amount of carrots in a feed tub on the ground. First one with carrots gone wins. Usually won by a feisty pony or grade horse that hasnât won anything else.
All of the above could be done during lunch break using a judge other than the ârealâ judge. A neutral person, ideally an elder statesman of the local horse community.
The county fair where the horses stayed for several days in stalls had a group stall area decorating contest between the various clubs. Neatness and cleanliness counted, and was judged throughout the show. SO much aisle sweeping! And kids straightening their own and each otherâs equipment. And older kids telling younger ones EXACTYLY what the standards were.
There was also an evening water balloon fight (outside, not in the barn) one evening, and a barn aisle sleepover another night. The highlight of fair for many kids.
There was also a group âgroom and cleanâ class where a team of I believe 3 kids worked together to groom a horse that the organizing committee covered with mud which was allowed to dry before the class. They had I think 20 or 30 minutes and standard grooming tools. There was a scoring system that included correct grooming technique, safety practices, teamwork, etc. in addition to results. This was a big deal. Eventually there were age group divisions and each club could enter a team for each age group.
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Such great ideas here!
You can also have a model horse show or even just toy horse show (stuffed animals included). You pick the winner based on how much the child can tell you about their horse. Kids spouting names and breeds of their worn out stuffed animals is probably one of the cutest things Iâve seen.
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Do you have email addresses for the people that have come to you shows in the past?
Maybe do an email blast asking people what things they would like to see at your shows.
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Additional information on how to do a Model Horse Show can be found at 4H sites
in the 1990s I was on an advisory committee working with the Department of Agriculture regarding their concerns about the 4H programs not reaching into the cities. We devised the model horse program for inner city children.
Much of the 4H horse program was updated at the same time using the Morgan Horse Youth program as a guide (at the time I was a regional Morgan Youth advisory that is how I was asked to work with the USDA on the 4H program).
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@Long_Time_Lurker I love that grooming class you did.
We did something similar for a local dressage show. You could sign up to âshow groomâ a juniors horse. You worked on a team, clipping (if possible), braiding, maybe bang the tail, and just putting a shine on a kids horse. We did that at two shows early in the season. My friend and I had a scruffy, scurfy large pony that we made look like a field hunter. My friend is aces at grooming, I just followed her directions. That kid was so surprised and happy to see her pony looking like a million bucks. She helped by polishing hooves and brushing teeth. 
(and she oiled under the tail dock)
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As someone who started out doing a lot of saddle club/fun show type shows, the presence of speed events alone would keep me away these days. I like to use small, inexpensive shows as places to introduce a youngster to showing, and speed event exhibitors/horses are not conducive to a positive first show experience for babies. My suggestion would be to have the non-speed classes in the morning and the speed events in the evening, so that the two groups of exhibitors donât have to be present at the same time unless they are showing in both types of classes.
Safe footing is critical, as is easy access/parking, at least a rudimentary concession stand, and polite show/office staff.
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Oh yes. This is a good point. Easy in and out trailer parking. Which requires someone very organized to run the parking area, typically.
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I went to a dressage show last year, and where they wanted us to park was full of big piles of horse manure. Like where they dumped manure. That was horrible. I wonât show there anymore. Plus the footing was harder than I like.
Agree 
about easy parking and good footing. Iâll add to that list easy access to water for the horses. While I do bring my own jugs of water, itâs still nice to have the option of refilling them without hiking half a mile.
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