Horses in the Hotel: 2018 IBHA Convention Was Somewhat “Unconventional”

By: Deanna O Keefe

The 2018 IBHA Convention started as usual with Committee Workshops to review proposed new rules, changes, and clarifications. Next, came the Committee Meetings where the committees accepted or rejected these proposals. Those accepted were sent to the IBHA Executive Committee for final approval.

New for 2019 is: An Adult Walk Trot division that will start with the following classes: Walk only Showmanship, Walk Trot Western Pleasure, and Walk Trot Horsemanship. The exhibitor must declare a walk trot membership and cannot show in performance under saddle classes unless the walk trot membership is renounced.

Saturday morning started off with a recap of the previous days accomplishments and went into the featured speakers for the day. First was Linda Kuczer, a certified Show Steward with AMHR, who taught members how to correctly measure the height of a miniature horse. After learning the proper technique, people got the opportunity to measure, hands on, with two miniature horses in the hotel foyer! Jamee Bornstein brought two miniature horses into the hotel and allowed members to stand up the horses the right way and use the measuring stick. While it was a lot of fun, it was also quite the unique learning experience.

Next up was Ashley Furst from the American Horse Council, who conveyed the importance of the council to the horse industry. They work hard to represent the needs and concerns of equine businesses and enthusiasts. She also spoke about the Unwanted Horse Coalition and the work that they do.

The final speaker was Dan Grunewald, who presented a powerpoint presentation on the Ranch Horse. Dan has judged the ARHA World Show and shared his knowledge with the IBHA members.

IBHA approved Ranch Horse classes will be offered for the first time in 2018.

The IBHA Youth Scholarship Auction started the evening festivities and raised over $3,000. IBHA is proud to have awarded over $220,000 over the years to many deserving youth members. The Hall of Fame Committee then made their presentation to Doug LaSota and his two horses, Leona Eclipse and Smooth Swen Miss. They are the 21^st, 22^nd and 23^rd inductees into the IBHA Hall Of Fame.

The 2017 Superior Event awards were then presented by IBHA President Mike Stadler and IBHA Queen Kate Memmen, along with the Honor Roll Awards and finally the All Around Awards. The Convention ended with celebrating the hard work and accomplishments of 2017!

Scroll below to view fun photos from the event.