Hi Y’all!
I am on the hunt for great champion and reserve champion prizes for our association this year and hoping to get some suggestions from CoTHers. 
The last thread I can find was pre-pandemic so I figured I’d hit up the wisdom of the crowd to see if there’s anything my team isn’t thinking of as we finalize purchases for the 2024 year.
If you were to receive year end awards - What would you like? What would you hate? All suggestions welcome!
I’d love any of the following:
Leather Halter
Saddle pad
Cooler
Gift certificate for the show photographer w/ a nice frame
Polo shirt or hoodie
Engraved leather bracelet with horses name on it
Nice Belt
Mocktail kit
Reusable Hand warmers
Gift card to local business for horse service
I personally hate an embroidered saddle pad - I see them going to consignment stores all of the time. Because they are always a cheap Smartpak/Dover/etc pad that is a too small for an adult saddle or shrinks in the wash and becomes a dog bed.
Love a cooler, a custom tumbler (Yeti, etc), leather halter, gift card, bottle of wine, etc.
The ability to “chose” an item on a prize table is a fantastic idea IMO. Plus if you don’t put years/dates on them they can be recycled for the next year.
I don’t think you can go wrong with a leather halter with engaved nameplate saying something along the lines of “2024 Series Champion” or a cooler/scrim/dress sheet embroidered with the same.
Gift cards are always good.
I thought I would enjoy an embroidered saddle pad. I won one a few years ago, and I like it, but I’ve never used it! I feel funny using it because I feel like I’m bragging about how great we are – ha ha. I can’t make myself use it. And I ride at home!!
These would be my top two!
Haha…that is a very appropriate meme! Love it. And I am right there with you.
My championship prize hate list includes:
Alcohol
Coffee
Chocolate
The pick your own from the prize table only works well if there are enough selections so that the people who are last to get to the table still have a choice other than the cheap plastic hoof pick.
Hoodie or a nice vest are always great, but they do require knowing sizes.
One of my favorite championship awards was actually a lap cooler. Just like a horse cooler but smaller. It was for a series that is for people riding lesson horses so most people do not have their own horse. The lap cooler is wool, big enough that I could toss it over a horse’s bum if a quick cover is needed, but perfect for sitting around at a horse show and keeping my legs warm.
Personalized director chair or folding camp chair is always useful.
A teammate recently won two state championship in eventing on two ponies and among the prizes were saddle pads and coolers for each pony that absolutely swamped them in size. So if you’re doing sized stuff, be aware…
Favorites I’ve Received:
Least Favorites I’ve Received:
laughing at myself.
I started reading this and my brain wondered why a cooler (fabric thing to keep warm) would need wheels. Then I realized this cooler was the type you put drink in.
WRT to gift cards:
I think the best ones are straight up gift cards to stores (tack stores) or local places and not ones for services.
I once won 50% off $2200 custom boots… which is a great deal, but still completely useless to me because I didn’t have $1100 to spend on boots.
A local show series gave away coupons for free lessons with a local trainer, which created a tiff when a competing local trainer won and acted poorly about it.
I’m sorry but…
My favorites:
Dislikes:
It’s so funny because these responses show that you can’t please a wide variety of people, for different reasons! 
I would caution against (pre-ordered) sized items. The few times I did actually win something, the sizes were always inappropriate for my horse so I never got to use them! That included a gorgeous cooler and a leather halter, both I ended up giving away because after 3 different horses I realized I’d never use them. 
Same goes for saddle pads - I used to always want to win one, but the irony is the one I did win doesn’t fit my horse. The cats like it as a bed, though!
My most recent swag bag had gift certificates to a local feed store (!!), gift certificate to a tack store, candy, and treats for my horse. I thought that was a great prize.
One of the events near me had gift certificates for a free BEMR session. I’m not sure I’d care for that, and agree with Texarkana that gift certificates where you have to buy in or spend $$$ to use them, are not for everyone.
I think a gift certificate to the photographer that does the show is a lovely idea.
I actually did this with several of my horse coolers. I took them to a local seamstress/tailor who cut them down to size and put a nice binding all around the edge. They looked nice either at the show over our laps in the bleachers or at home over the back of my sofa.
Okay, someone remind me if this story was first told here on COTH. But I remember it well and it bears repeating.
There was a riding club that was delegating jobs to volunteers for the year-end awards. The woman who was assigned to get awards was encouraged to obtain coolers and have the logo and name of the association added to the side.
Day comes to present the awards. Coolers arrive. They’re of decent quality, and they do indeed have the year and the club’s logo emblazoned on the side. But they’re coolers. Like, for beverages.
A voucher for a photo or two from the local show photographer would be lovely. I agree that gift certificates that either offer a discount or do not even cover the lowest-priced item available are essentially useless, though sponsors love offering them.
Some variety is good, since if you have competed in multiple divisions or have participated every year, you can end up with a bunch of the same items.
Yes, I have minis and just won a gift cert for some really nice stuff, but they don’t carry mini sizes or even pony. If they had pony at least I could’ve found something for my old coot.
I’m old school and really like trophies. A really nice leather lead with a name plate is nice too and size is not an issue.
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