After Margaret and I had such a fun time at the fall hunter pace, we opted to go again this spring! This time, while I rode Rejoice again, Margaret rode her horse Jester and had a friend ride Ladyhawke. All Kennebec Morgans!! Jester and Rejoice have the same dam and Jester and Lady share the same sire. Unfortunately instead of a lovely late spring day, we had one of the first intensely hot and humid days of the year. It was definitely a bummer, but the ride was mostly in the shade of the woods and we had a great time! most of the fences were 3' coops but we found a small log and this hay to jump haha Until we didn't. 😑 We brought along a third friend who rode Margaret's older mare, Ladyhawke. She's a good rider but hasn't known Ladyhawke for very long and didn't realize how much of a cranky boss mare she could be at times. She kicked Jester right in the front leg just about halfway through the ride, and while the cut itself ended up not being a big deal in the...
Many moons ago (like fifteen years, give or take haha), I submitted open competition points to her national breed organization for my Morgan, Sparky, in carriage driving, dressage, and hunter under saddle. We never won a ribbon (they only place champion and reserve) but we did end up 9th in singles driving one year and 11th in hunter under saddle another year out of hundreds of horses. I was pretty proud of that and even though we never won any swag, I still thought it was fun to submit points.
When I registered Ellie, I saw they are still holding the open competition program. Of course, I immediately knew I wanted to submit points and try again with Ellie.
Interestingly enough, this weekend was the annual convention and awards banquet. After seeing some scuttle on Facebook, from what I understand, they never sent out any preliminary points standings for competitors to double check. Instead, they just posted final points this past Monday and then everyone left for the convention. Unfortunately, there were several mistakes, including horses left out of the placings all together, but because the registry office was shut down for the convention, there was no way to contact anyone at the office about the mistakes. For example, a friend here in Maine earned a 70% in both First and Second Level with her Morgan, yet they don't have her on there and the winner in both divisions are in the 60%s. So clearly, she would have won both. Also, this meant that because no one knew what they won until Monday, many people couldn't attend (the banquet is in KY, so it is not a quick drive from Maine).
I have no idea what the response is yet from the registry (notice I am trying hard not to call them out by name, but you know which one I am talking about obviously LOL). I saw folks on Facebook telling those who had their points messed up that it really didn't matter, because it didn't take away from the fact they still won once the mistakes are fixed.
Ummmmmmm no. It makes riders feel like all their hard work doesn't matter. What if it doesn't get fixed because they claim they "lost" the paperwork? I get that there was obviously a problem with the points somehow and it is hard to tell what it was. I get that those in this registry are busy with other things. I get that organizations can be understaffed. Maybe they don't have a person on staff that oversees the program any longer? Or maybe the person left and they haven't had a chance to fill the spot? I don't know.
But they have been doing this program for YEARS and YEARS. What happened this year? Why was no one notified of the preliminary placings at least a week back and given a chance to check for mistakes? Why was no one given the opportunity to decide to attend the awards banquet if they won something? This is just plain shoddy and I don't think there is an excuse for it. This makes me wonder if it is even worth the time to fill out the forms each time I show and submit them all.
To add to that, it makes those who show in open competition (most of which are sport horse Morgans) feel as though they don't matter. There is a lot of tension (that is putting it mildly) between the Saddlebred looking show Morgans and the foundation Justin Morgan type sport horses. I have said this before, but it really merits its own blog post, because I'd love to get the unbiased opinions of those not fully ensconced in the breed. Mistakes like this only serve to further divide Morgan owners and riders. I thought I was leaving behind stupid drama when I left the pleasure Standardbred world haha.
It should be interesting to see how the registry responds and owns up to their mistakes. I fully know this is a first world problem, and in the scheme of life, it really doesn't matter. But it matters to those riders who put in the time, money, and effort to train, show, and submit points. It matters to me, as someone who is always looking to save time and money, on how I should go forward this year. I was really excited to submit points in the open competition again, but now I wonder if it is even worth it.
Sparky was a blast to drive! |
Interestingly enough, this weekend was the annual convention and awards banquet. After seeing some scuttle on Facebook, from what I understand, they never sent out any preliminary points standings for competitors to double check. Instead, they just posted final points this past Monday and then everyone left for the convention. Unfortunately, there were several mistakes, including horses left out of the placings all together, but because the registry office was shut down for the convention, there was no way to contact anyone at the office about the mistakes. For example, a friend here in Maine earned a 70% in both First and Second Level with her Morgan, yet they don't have her on there and the winner in both divisions are in the 60%s. So clearly, she would have won both. Also, this meant that because no one knew what they won until Monday, many people couldn't attend (the banquet is in KY, so it is not a quick drive from Maine).
I have no idea what the response is yet from the registry (notice I am trying hard not to call them out by name, but you know which one I am talking about obviously LOL). I saw folks on Facebook telling those who had their points messed up that it really didn't matter, because it didn't take away from the fact they still won once the mistakes are fixed.
I never ended up buying her a real sleigh, but the little EZ entry cart had removable wheels you could replace with runners |
She LOVED the hazards portion of CDEs. It was like XC only with a carriage! |
Competing at Granite State Morgan in 2005 (I think?) I had a weakness of carrying my hands too low while driving LOL! |
It should be interesting to see how the registry responds and owns up to their mistakes. I fully know this is a first world problem, and in the scheme of life, it really doesn't matter. But it matters to those riders who put in the time, money, and effort to train, show, and submit points. It matters to me, as someone who is always looking to save time and money, on how I should go forward this year. I was really excited to submit points in the open competition again, but now I wonder if it is even worth it.
I once was part of the executive of a group when I began t have troubles with a fellow board member. I was worried that we would tear the organization apart (it was a small but mighty group) so I decided to leave. About 3 years later I had a call begging me to come back. Turns out that the person I was having trouble with ran the group into the ground financially and never had any records. We rebuilt and then I left again. I only share this because what you describes sounds like a some internal difficulties and in small organization that could be tied to one person. Like you said, how they deal with it will tell the story.
ReplyDeleteThat sucks! Being a part of horse organizations is not easy, and I too know firsthand like you do. But even worse, this is the national breed registry! They have paid positions within this organization; it is not a volunteer thing! I hope they sort it out well and soon!
DeleteI would be extremely upset and certainly demanding that the mistakes be remedied--awards sorted out and sent to the correct people and all. You're paying membership dues, and you're paying the money to show to accrue these points. I would want something to show for that.
ReplyDeleteExactly! Glad I am not the only one who feels this way (and it doesn't even affect me personally this year). It blows my mind this is the national breed registry!
DeleteThat sounds supremely frustrating :(
ReplyDeleteAgreed. I am frustrated for them all and it doesn't even affect me this year LOL!
DeleteThat’s a lot of ball dropping going on there part. I’d be super pissed at not only the error but not having the opportunity to even show up to the banquet.
ReplyDeleteYeah, that seems pretty crappy to literally post the winners (and errors) just one day before the convention began.
DeleteThat really sucks! I used to volunteer for my region doing points one year and while it was a bit of a headache it wasn't that hard to keep the region apprised of their points.
ReplyDeleteOh, definitely it sucks to tally points and all that. But even worse, this isn't even volunteers, it is the national breed registry!!
DeleteHow frustrating! I hope it gets sorted. The old photos throughout your post are so lovely though!
ReplyDeleteThank you! I figured old pics of my first Morgan would be fun! ;-)
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