If you’re planning on traveling with a horse then you might want to check into the advice and help of some experts. The experts at Horse Travel Network. This is a new venture which was just announced at the National Appaloosa Show.
Mark Hardy is the President of Horse Travel Network. This morning he and I sat down and wound up talking far longer than I think we planned but he’s an interesting guy and this new venture sounds like it’s got some great potential. One of the things I find most interesting is how they’re totally internet based and have already got over 700 people signed up and it’s brand new! Word of mouth is working for them big time. The site will include advice, forums, blogs and of course, listings. It’s going to take advantage of some social networking applications which are really popular today.
The Horse Travel Network is a new sponsor of the Appaloosa Horse Club and offering their members a special deal right now of a free membership. All you have to do is use the code czc10 when logging in.
I’ve been asked quite a few times if pictures I’m taking are available anywhere and the answer is, yes. Feel free to visit my online photo album with the link below where you can look at them individually or as a slide show. They’re easy to download too.
I’m only here for a couple of days helping Steve with his blog but I’ve been trying to get a good representative sample of the activities here at the National Appaloosa Show. Copies of all my photos will be provided to the ApHC office where you can contact them for a higher resolution copy if you need it.
The Appaloosa Show version of musical chairs is the Rope Race.
We had six horses compete last night at the end of the Coliseum program. Basically, you’ve got six horses on one end of the ring and five ropes hanging at the other end. They have to race to the ropes and grab one and hold on to it. The person who doesn’t get one is excused from the ring. Then it continues in the same manner until there’s only one on a rope.
If you haven’t seen one, then you can watch the first heat of last night’s race here:
During the Callaway concert last night, one young man had a song dedicated just to him. Callaway called him down to the stage and provided him with a very special moment.
He’s Justin Ainsworth and if you’ve been here at the show then you’ll have seen him working hard in the rings. Justin says he’s been working cattle, opening gates, setting up poles and doing just about anything asked of him. He says it’s hard work but good work and a little tiring.
He’s been around horses since he was 5 and feels like he knows what he’s doing. I asked him about Callaway and he says he’s known her for a long time but was surprised when she called him up on stage and sang a song to him. He likes to hear her sing and says that someday she’ll, “Make George Strait level.”
Last night Callaway performed her benefit concert for support of Appaloosa Youth Association activities. She was a big hit with the young audience.
She played a full set of songs with her band and showed why she’s an up and coming star.
The ring was opened up so that everyone could come down out of the stands and get up close and personal. It took a little coaxing but once Callaway got started most of the crowd moved on down.
You can watch Callaway perform one of her songs in this video:
I know Savannah Scott’s family didn’t bring an extra truck but they’ve got a Featherlite Trailer to take home and use for a year. Savannah received numerous awards. In fact, you need to listen to her list them off in our interview. Besides the trailer she’s taking home 2 saddles, 2 belt buckles and a laptop computer.
I spoke to Savannah, along with her Mom and trainer, after the youth awards yesterday. She says that this is a once in lifetime achievement and she wants to just enjoy the moment. When I asked her if she had to put in a lot of work to be so good she said, “Perfect practice makes perfect.”
She’s going to continue competing and said she may show a couple of horses still before leaving.
While I was out in the ring earlier this afternoon I met Terry Thompson who is a trainer. He’s been in the appaloosa business since he was a teen and to date has had about 250 world and national champions. He says his specialty is fitting and training people and horses, especially masters.
Terry says he was originally against the move to Jackson but the security has been better than he expected. He says the show has been consistent and everyone has been nice and that he’s enjoyed himself. He’s interested to see how things come out financially.
From a business standpoint he says the economy has been a problem and also fuel costs. But he says the breed has survived a lot of years. He wants to see the board and members think about things, get together and not be selfish about decisions.
Tim Zuidema is a dedicated western pleasure horse trainer. He says he’s been showing Appaloosas all his life. His main interest is young horses.
I interviewed him in the ring while he was mounted and he says that business is good. He thinks the ApHC has been doing some good things like moving the show to Jackson and starting the slot futurity. Although they didn’t sell all the slots in year one he says it helps increase the purses for pleasure horses here. Tim also commented that morale seems to be high and that he’s pleased with Jackson.
One of the ApHC board members here at the National Show is Jim Jirkovsky from Kearney, NE where he trains horses with his wife. He says they train all around horses. He thinks these horses can do more than one thing.
He’s enjoying Jackson and thinks the facilities are nice and the town is friendly. He says the security has been good and that he’ll come back.
I asked him what he thinks about the horse industry and he says it’s down right now but that things go in cycles and that it will come back. He says we’ll turn things around. He’d like to see the board make current members happy since they’ll be the ones to go out and get new ones.
Twin Cities Featherlite Trailers has been a supporter of the Appaloosa Horse Club for a long time and according to Gary Raak, they will continue to be. He did admit that it’s a little further than he normally drives his trailers to a show but he brought plenty to see. The company is based out of Minneapolis, MN and Gary says that with current diesel prices it cost about 60 cents/mile for each truck/trailer he brought.
He thinks the facilities here in Jackson have been good. So if you’re looking for a good trailer he’d like to see you over in the Trade Show Center. I don’t know if you can tell from the picture but this live-in trailer he’s standing in front of has a fire place (not needed here right now) and nice tv. There’s more out on the lot too.
One of the main show buildings here at the Mississippi Fair Grounds is the Kirk Fordice Equine Center. Named after a former Governor of the state, the building is managed by Billy Williams.
I sat down with Billy and asked him about the facility. He says he’s been managing it for about 6 years. The facility holds 2,500 people and there are 1,000 stalls on the grounds. Besides the fair, he says most of the events held here are equine events.
The National Appaloosa Show will have a first time event with singing artist, Callaway, performing. She’s on the left in case you didn’t figure that out.
Callaway will be performing a benefit concert for the Appaloosa Youth Association programs. She’s from Madison, MS but lives now in Nashville. Callaway is 16 years old and has been touring with the legendary Sam Moore.
I asked her if she liked horses and she loves them. She’s impressed with how kind the people are she’s met here and good at what they do.
Friday night’s performance at the National Show had a VIP visitor. Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture, Lester Spell, (in blue shirt), came out to watch the activities.
The Commissioner thinks this is a great event. He says they worked on bringing the show here for several years and he’s proud to have the National Appaloosa Show here in Jackson. He says “We love horses attitudes here.”
He says they have lots of major equine events here in Mississippi and thinks the National Show is a great economic opportunity for the state.
The staff of the Appaloosa Horse Club are working around the clock to make sure the National Show runs as smooth as possible.
Two of them were spotted in their “Road Rage” machine yesterday. They are Karisa Saywers (left) and Eliana Thompson. They have melted the pavement between venues at the fairgrounds.
I think I would stay out of the way if I saw this red machine coming.
The people of Jackson, MS have been going out of their way to make the Appaloosa Horse Club welcome at the National Show. None more than Watson Quality Ford, represented by Greg Kinard.
The folks at Watson Quality Ford have a very strong interest in the equine industry and showed it by becoming platinum sponsors of the National Show with a 3 year commitment. Greg says the company is the #1 fleet company in a seven state region and #1 with Super Duty trucks. He believes that the more they can bring to Jackson and help the horse business, the more it helps them.
Besides their sponsorship the company is also cooking Saturday night for kids and then next Tuesday, they’re doing a fish fry. They’ve got 50 vehicles on site here and Greg says they’re ready to make a deal on them. He also says they’re helping exhibitors who need truck service.
All Posts
If you’re planning on traveling with a horse then you might want to check into the advice and help of some experts. The experts at Horse Travel Network. This is a new venture which was just announced at the National Appaloosa Show. 
Interview With Mark Hardy (8 min MP3)
I’ve been asked quite a few times if pictures I’m taking are available anywhere and the answer is, yes. Feel free to visit my online photo album with the link below where you can look at them individually or as a slide show. They’re easy to download too.
The Appaloosa Show version of musical chairs is the Rope Race.
During the Callaway concert last night, one young man had a song dedicated just to him. Callaway called him down to the stage and provided him with a very special moment.
Last night Callaway performed her benefit concert for support of Appaloosa Youth Association activities. She was a big hit with the young audience.
I know Savannah Scott’s family didn’t bring an extra truck but they’ve got a Featherlite Trailer to take home and use for a year. Savannah received numerous awards. In fact, you need to listen to her list them off in our interview. Besides the trailer she’s taking home 2 saddles, 2 belt buckles and a laptop computer.
While I was out in the ring earlier this afternoon I met Terry Thompson who is a trainer. He’s been in the appaloosa business since he was a teen and to date has had about 250 world and national champions. He says his specialty is fitting and training people and horses, especially masters.
Tim Zuidema is a dedicated western pleasure horse trainer. He says he’s been showing Appaloosas all his life. His main interest is young horses.
One of the ApHC board members here at the National Show is Jim Jirkovsky from Kearney, NE where he trains horses with his wife. He says they train all around horses. He thinks these horses can do more than one thing.
One of the main show buildings here at the Mississippi Fair Grounds is the Kirk Fordice Equine Center. Named after a former Governor of the state, the building is managed by Billy Williams.
The National Appaloosa Show will have a first time event with singing artist, 
Friday night’s performance at the National Show had a VIP visitor. Mississippi Commissioner of Agriculture, Lester Spell, (in blue shirt), came out to watch the activities.
The staff of the Appaloosa Horse Club are working around the clock to make sure the National Show runs as smooth as possible.
The people of Jackson, MS have been going out of their way to make the Appaloosa Horse Club welcome at the National Show. None more than