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.
You will find all kinds of interesting items for sale at the National Show trade show. For example, there’s the Louisiana Gumbo Man.
His name is Chris McCajun and he’s got box mixes of gumbo, ettoufee and gravy. He’s also got sample of all of them in crock pots and I tried them. They are good. I think I’m going back with a bowl!
I talked to Chris about his booth. He says these mixes can be made in less that 30 minutes. Besides his box products he’s also got a variety of t-shirts and caps available too.
The Riata Ranch Cowboy Girls are performing at the National Appaloosa Show for two nights. According to Executive Director, Jennifer Nicholson, they’ll be doing their choreographed lasso dance and acrobatic trick riding.
This morning I got to talk with them so in the interview you can hear from each of the girls here, ages 9 to 17, with Jennifer in the middle. Jennifer says they normally have about 15 to 20 girls a year who are in the program full time not counting others that participate in various clinics.
Post Update: The girls performed tonight at the show and you can watch some of their acrobatic trick riding in this video:
National Show Photo Album
Riata Ranch was created in 1957 and became a unique riding school for young people combining horsemanship and character development – a concept that was well ahead of its time. The program provides an opportunity to learn about our western heritage while gaining valuable life lessons. An interesting and fun atmosphere is created while maintaining discipline and direction for an effective learning environment. The quality of instruction is designed so that each student gains a positive set of values of which to guide them through the rest of their lives.
Our vision is to prepare young people for the world’s challenges in a manner that ensures their success & contributes to the happiness of everyone who are fortunate enough to meet them. The training will benefit the whole person, body & soul, through a balance of intellectual, physical, artistic & moral lessons. The ranch’s enduring principles will become so internalized that each rider will forever measure his or her choices against the Riata Ranch philosophy.
Hello once again from the National Appaloosa Show. This time in Jackson, MS. I’ll be your guest blogger for a couple of days, doing interviews and taking pictures to post here on Appaloosa Blog Spot. I got started this morning with Executive Director and master blogger himslef, Steve Taylor. Steve is pictured on the right of our morning ring announcer, Dave Branham.
We primarily talked about the move of the National Show to Jackson, MS. He says the plan to make the move started before he joined the organization 2 years ago. Some of the reasons for the move included making sure they’re getting the best bang for their buck and allowing some new people in a different part of the country to have an opportunity to participate that couldn’t before. He says that since the National Show is open to just about anyone, unlike the World Show, this will hopefully bring in some new faces.
Like any major decision he says that not everyone was in complete agreement with the move but the board made the decision after having lots of discussion on the pros and cons with members in various territories. He says the board had to look at economics and other realities, including getting exposure in another part of the country. He’d like members and exhibitors to know that the staff and vendors have worked on this for a couple of years and that the staff has been on site several times to make sure that the show is as organized as possible.
So far he thinks things have worked out very well with the new facilities. He’s had lots of positive comments from exhibitors. Steve also wanted to make special note of the Youth Show. He says the young people here can be stacked up well against any other breed association and he’s proud of them.
Steve says the move also allowed them to look at how they’re marketing the show. He says they’ve received very good coverage from local media and that the organizational members themselves have been doing a great job of word of mouth. The staff is making sure they personally invite community members to the show whenever they’re off site.
We had a comment/question about where to find class results on the web site. From the appaloosa.com home page, click on Show, then click on National Show, then click on Top Ten Class Results.
I included this photo from the World Championship Youth Show library because I really liked the seahorse and the overall image. The exhibitor is not listed in the program published in the Journal, so I’ll look her up tomorrow. Meanwhile, keep up with class results on the ApHC web site.
Special note: Blogger Guy Chuck Zimmerman is back in town and will be posting audio interviews and observations from the event in Jackson starting tomorrow (Friday). He’ll spend the weekend doing his professional thing to bring you a variety of information and entertainment. Stay tuned.
The Youth Most Colorful at Halter class this morning was neat to watch and a definite crowd pleaser. It’s always interesting to see how many different coat patterns there are in a class. This particular assignment has to be a challenge for the judges. Each has a personal preference, but each is also given basic guidelines about evaluating the class. Conformation does count, but the most obvious criterion is a pattern that pleases the eye and represents the breed in a positive way.
One of the bonus features at the World & National Shows in Jackson is the farmers market located on the fairgrounds. On Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday each week, you can find fresh fruits and vegetables, a variety of homemade products and a very good cafe with all the expected Southern treats such as cornbread, butter beans, black-eyed peas and gravy on whatever you want. I’ll keep testing the options and provide a full report on specific menu items.
This is Barn 23, where you can find some of our World Championship Youth Show and National Show sponsors. Stall decorations range from really nice to extra nice, not just here, but throughout the Mississippi State Fairgrounds barn areas. We really appreciate the effort and expense by exhibitors to dress up the show and provide this type of image enhancement for the breed.
All Posts
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.
Interview With Tim Zuidema (3 min MP3)
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 
You will find all kinds of interesting items for sale at the National Show trade show. For example, there’s the 
The 
Hello once again from the National Appaloosa Show. This time in Jackson, MS. I’ll be your guest blogger for a couple of days, doing interviews and taking pictures to post here on Appaloosa Blog Spot. I got started this morning with Executive Director and master blogger himslef, Steve Taylor. Steve is pictured on the right of our morning ring announcer, Dave Branham.
