LOUISVILLE, Ky. — The Kentucky Derby may be the fastest two minutes in sports, but the World's Championship Horse Show is the one time each year for horses and their riders to really show off grace and talent.
"This is the Super Bowl of our sport," Jackie Hale said.
Hale has been a rider and a trainer at the Saddlebred show.
Now she is a founding co-director of the Equine Sports Council (ESC).
"I've run a 300 horse, horse show, which is a pretty significant sized horse show these days," Hale pointed out. "So it's not like my first rodeo."
Maybe so, but this year's horse show is the first one her organization is governing.
The ESC took over that role after the Kentucky State Fair Board dropped the United States Equestrian Federation (USEF).
Officials of the Kentucky State Fair & World's Championship Horse Show shared with FOCUS that "among many things, the prior governing group (the USEF) violated our mutual agreement dating back to 1995 by supporting shows considered in competition with our event, and a lack of on-site enforcement made our decision to part ways evident."
Considering the horse show can attract upwards of 2,000 horses, critics within the American Saddlebred Horse and Breeders Association (ASHBA) protest the decision to switch to the ESC and question whether the new sanctioning body is capable to effectively handle such a big event.
"We're doing it, we're doing it," Hale said.
This after a horse had to be put down after the shaft of the "bike" or cart the horse was pulling got stuck in the rail enclosing the competition ring at Freedom Hall.
That caused an extremely abrupt stop, gravely injuring the horse.
Hale said the young rider was unhurt, and she called it an accident.
"Our heart goes out to the young lady who lost her equine partner and her family and her barn family," she said. "We can't control things that are beyond our control, but we can control how we react to that. And the State Fair and the horse show management team did an impeccable job of handling that tragedy and handled the horse with compassion and expeditiously got it out of the ring, examined, it was unfortunately later euthanized, but I can't say how proud I was personally of the way that was handled."
Although there are many members of ASHBA, those most critical of the change to the ESC, who are considered to be some of the top competitors, decided to boycott this year's competition.
That's raised concern the quality of competition at the horse show, as well as its prestige, have been diminished.
"I don't think so," Hale said. "Nobody's complaining, no one that's here is complaining, so I don't think more (competitors) will leave."
Randy Stoess Stables of Shelbyville certainly isn't leaving.
"This horse show has gone on just as well, if not better," owner Randy Stoess said.
He said any complaints have been addressed and the temporary tents for stalls have been set up better than they were last year.
He and his team also said outside wires have been run much safer around and through the tents, easing big concerns about electrocution.
As far as the horse show's future goes, Stoess isn't worried. "This horse show will go on, and might even grow."
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