Bringing in new Blood on the five-day tour included Culbreth equine Training, brookville arabians, rae Dawn arabians, battaglia Farms, Witte stables, Cactus rose arabians, equine image Center, midwest station i, mcDonald arabians, arabian expressions, argent Farms, michael byatt arabians, north arabians, arabians international, stonewall Farm arabians, Terry Holmes arabians, midwest Training Centre and amurath arabians. The finale, held on sunday, january 2, was hosted by midwest Training Centre and combined the farm’s open house with raffle ticket sales and an auction to benefit Healing Hearts animal rescue and refuge. With the raffle tickets sold and donations received throughout the tour and auction proceeds, more than $70,000 was raised, with $30,000 going to Healing Hearts and $40,000, from one sale at argent Farms, to st. jude’s Children’s research Hospital. introducing a charitable organization into the mix is something Taryl Pearson, executive director of the scottsdale arabian Horse show, recommends as a marketing strategy as well. The scottsdale show has developed relationships with a number of local charitable organizations over the years, contributing hundreds of thousands of dollars and drawing new people to the show grounds. “Partnering with a charity helps get additional exposure,” she says. “The media also likes the fact that you are doing something good for the community and will often give you exposure for doing so. some ways to get a charity involved are by sharing gate income or a percentage of the
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ticket income of the event, or the charity may be looking for exposure as well, so you might allow them to do their own event in conjunction with the horse show. This might include a bazaar fundraiser on site to get people to the show. They will watch the horse show too!” Special Event Hosting Farms also are excellent sites to hold special events, both corporate and personal. at midwest, the bar has been set high for these types of functions, which have run the gamut from weddings to corporate parties to the annual “midwest Family Fair,” held during the scottsdale show, which drew hundreds of families to the farm. midwest also hosted an “introduction To The arabian Horse” at their elk river, minn., farm, attracting families by the busloads. at each of the events, in addition to presenting the horses, family-friendly entertainment such as clowns, face-painting and a petting zoo was also available. midwest’s David boggs is passionate about sharing his love of the breed with newcomers, welcoming literally tens of thousands of people to both the scottsdale and elk river facilities over the years. Phoenix Magazine and Phoenix Home & Garden have used midwest for their annual advertiser party since 2002, bringing in an entirely new group of people to the farm. according to sue adams, market share unlimited, who helps midwest with promotions, the party has become so popular that advertisers actually call to be sure they are included on the invitation list.