Hosting a showing show

[lauraxxx]

Has anyone ever organized a horse show, I'm thinking of a ridden showing show - what is needed insurance etc and anything I need to think of
I have some large equestrian centers near me where I would ask to hire their arena as they already hire it out for events

 

[SpotsandBays]

Can’t help but good luck! We’ve lost so many shows over the years so nice to see people still wanting to go for it.
I’d imagine if the venue hosts competitions then it would likely already have its own insurance set up. Maybe have a look at the venues and see if anyone else runs from them and can provide you with advice? (Maybe riding clubs etc)

 

[Midlifecrisis]

Ask the owners of the venue what is required, I ll bet they know. There used to be a poster on here TPO who ran a show, her biggest problem seemed to be finding reliable rosette suppliers!

 

[asmp]

Ask the owners of the venue what is required, I ll bet they know. There used to be a poster on here TPO who ran a show, her biggest problem seemed to be finding reliable rosette suppliers!

Nowadays the biggest problem is finding volunteers to help

 

[minesadouble]

I used to hold ridden showing at our farm.

Insurance is a must as is a qualified first aider.

We used Richardson Designs for our rosettes and they were fabulous, I couldn't fault them.
Good quality rosettes and nice sashes will draw people in.

Finding good judges who are available will probably be your biggest issue. We tried to get panel judges who were a little bit out of our area to avoid accusations of 'facey' judging.
Experienced Stewards will help your rings run smoothly and on time but are hard to find.

Choose your date carefully to make sure you don't clash with any other events.

In hand classes are always popular - often moreso than the ridden classes.

They are the main things that spring to mind.

Good Luck!

 

[honetpot]

I used to steward at county shows and help organise the local riding club shows and really the same amount of effort/H&S/work goes in to a small show as a big show.
I would start with something small like a dressage comp, or try piggy backing on to a RC show, or bigger local show,they will have insurance you will just have to comply, where you run your ring, get own sponsorship, judge steward etc.
It depends why you want to do it, some just cover costs and you do not want to lose money.

Our last independent village local show seems to be run by people over sixty with little interest in horses, and is for charity, most of the classes are sponsored and they have managed to run at a profit every year. They make sure that if you have a family pony there is a least three classes you can enter, and the dressage is an extra.
If you run a show where only three people turn up for one class and you entries on the whole are low it just not cost effective, and that is why over the past five years entries at even qualifying shows are low so they have stopped running them.
I am sorry if I sound glum but when my children were young we could go out every weekend and do something, now there are just a handful mostly RC or established event centres. I think the last time I looked to hire an area for a show it was about £800 for the day, and that was about ten years ago.
To give you a rough idea.

Equestrian Centre

cwa.ac.uk

 

[kathantoinette]

Yep, retired secretary of a pretty decent sized local show so feel free to ask questions but in the meantime here are a few things to think about;

First aid cover
Ring stewards/judges
Car park attendants
Entries secretary
And how you will pay the above people. If it’s for profit it’s unreasonable to ask for volunteers I.e these people need paying
Feeding all helpers
Toilets-unless you’re at a venue already set up

And then paperwork wise;

Risk assessment
Insurance
Accident reports

We ran approximately 55 horse classes and a dog show and got all horse classes sponsored by local businesses. Made about 5k each year but it all went to charity so our judges, stewards and helpers were all volunteers. Our land we held the show on was provided foc. IMO there’s not a lot in it when you start looking at costings based on a ‘for profit’ basis.