Her fellow show commissioner, mickey Hegg, also remembers the days when other members of the community had little interest in the idea. “Lois Finch was the [the show’s] guiding light,” she says, citing the respected Arabian judge and advocate who died in 1998. “but there was skepticism from a lot of people. some thought it would be nothing more than a glorified 4-H show. but after three years of fighting for the show, it finally passed at convention in 1991, and we had our first show in 1993. in that first year, we were hoping for around 500 entries, so when we had over 750, it was a huge success.”
Mickey Hegg and Lollie Ames accepting Readers’ Choice Award for Show of the Year.
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As an indication of how far Youth nationals has come in 20 years, the event took home the 2011 Arabian Horse Times readers’ Choice Award for show of the Year. “it was quite the honor to win at the readers’ Choice Awards this year,” Hegg says. “it was the first time we’ve ever won, and we were very pleased about it. Last year was one of our best shows, and it was really great to be recognized for our efforts to make Youth nationals a great show.”