Championships Report
July 2014
The subcommittee for the Australian Championships is chaired by Board representative Clint
Bilson. Also representing the Board are Selina Ahel and Gudrun Martini. The committee is
further made up with Katherine McMahon, Kay Edward & Olivia Cleary. Several meetings so
far have been held and preparations are well under way for the Championships to be held at
Werribee Park in Victoria 2015.
An event of this calibre takes a great deal of planning and the move too have the groups run
the show in conjunction with the Board of the AHSA means that a lot of what we are doing is
from scratch. The Board have developed a template for which the appointed group can use
in aiding with the running of the show. We have been able to negotiate a fair price from
WPNEC including the massive cost of portable stable hire.
The Purebred halter program this year is unaltered. The Derivative program has changed
slightly and hopefully it works, please note that in order for classes to run without the risk of
combining them we need at least 5 horses entered in each class. This decision was based
on finances as well as time constraints.
We wish to advise this subcommittee was not involved in the selection or allocation of judges
to avoid any conflict of interest.
There has been the inclusion of a new class this year, The Half Arabian Jackpot class. To be
eligible all horses entered must have at least one 100% purebred parent. These classes are
very popular overseas and will be interesting to see if they get supported here. There is cash
involved for the winners and placegetters so that it will be a very enticing class.
The dressage component of this show will be tendered to a dressage club to ensure a very
well run and organised program.
Olivia has worked tirelessly to get a sponsorship package up and its now ready to go.
Katherine, also one for getting the job done has developed the trade stand proposal and it
also is ready to go. Financial support is most important as figures would indicate that the
expected income from entries do not come close to covering the cost of the show.
To assist the funding of the show we have been able to secure a custom made horse float
valued at $22K from Pegasus Floats. The Country Club have donated a weekend package
as second prize. These tickets will be limited and I am very sure they won’t last long. Please
contact myself or Katherine McMahon to pre order tickets or raffle book. This will be drawn
on the final day of the show. VAHA has also raised just over $8K to kick start the show.
Unlike previous years the program, preliminary timetable, entry forms and relevant insurance
forms are normally printed in the September AHN. Due to the amount of pages involved it
was not prudent to have this option. All information will be available on the AHSA website.
We will further publicise the event using other options.
There still is a huge amount of work to undertake and we will be busy making sure we can
bring you the best show we can. Looking forward to seeing everyone out an about and
please if you can offer any assistance in any way or have any concerns please do not
hesitate to contact me.
Cheers Clint.