Comments From The Publisher Publisher Lara Ames Managing Editor Charlene Deyle Advertising Account Executive Tony Bergren Multimedia Director and Photojournalist Riyan Rivero Creative Director Jeff Wallace Contributing Writer Anne Stratton Production Manager Jody Thompson Senior Designer Marketing Director Wayne Anderson Art Director IT Support Specialist Tony Ferguson Print & Web Design/Support Melissa Pasicznyk Sales Assistant Rachel Ginter Maria Burger AHT Abroad Representative Mieke Opsteyn Office Manager/ Accounts Payable Sara Thomas Accounts Receivable Deb Trebesch
© Copyright AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times. All rights reserved. Reproduction in whole or in part without permission is prohibited. Articles or opinions published by the AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times are not necessarily the expressed views of the AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times. AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times is not responsible for the accuracy of advertising content or manipulation of images that are provided by the advertiser. ARABIAN HORSE TIMES (ISSN 0279-8125) Volume 47, No. 4, September 2016, is published monthly by AHT, Inc. dba Arabian Horse Times, 20276 Delaware Avenue, Jordan, Minnesota 55352. Periodical postage paid at Jordan, Minnesota 55352 and at additional entry offices. Single copies in U.S. and Canada $22.50. Subscription in U.S. $80 per year, $140 two years, $200 three years. Canada $130 one year, $250 two years, $340 three years, U.S. funds. Foreign Subscriptions: $190 one year, $320 two years, $380 three years, payable in advance, U.S. funds. Sorry, no refunds on subscription orders. For subscription and change of address, please send old address as printed on last label. Please allow four to six weeks for your first subscription to be shipped. Occasionally ARABIAN HORSE TIMES makes its mailing list available to other organizations. If you prefer not to receive these mailings, please write to ARABIAN HORSE TIMES, Editorial Offices, 20276 Delaware Avenue, Jordan, MN 55352. The publisher is not responsible for unsolicited manuscripts or photographic materials. Printed in U.S.A. • POSTMASTER: Please send returns to Arabian Horse Times, 20276 Delaware Avenue, Jordan, MN 55352; and address changes to Arabian Horse Times, P.O. Box 15816, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5816. For subscription information, call 1-855-240-4637 (in the U.S.A.) or 952-492-3213 (for outside of the U.S.A.) Arabian Horse Times • P.O. Box 15816, North Hollywood, CA 91615-5816 • Tel: 952-492-3213 • Fax: 952-492-3228 1-800-AHTIMES • www.ahtimes.com
The U.S. Nationals: For Me, It’s Number One It’s hard for me to believe that I’ve seen more than half of the U.S. National shows (the ones in my lifetime; I’m not counting the various events that appeared here and there in the 1930s). The first stand-alone U.S. Nationals Show was held in 1967, but the first Nationals classes of the modern era date to 1958, at the Estes Park, Colo., show. So, you can say that we are coming up on our 49th renewal, and boy, have they grown! We’ve gone from two classes in that first competition to nearly 250 now. I attended my first Nationals in 1980, and I’ll never forget it. *Muscat, one of the most famous of the Russian imports, was named U.S. National Champion Stallion, and Fa Halima, a straight Egyptian, was U.S. National Champion Mare. How times have changed since then! For the past 25 years at least, most of the champions in halter have had pedigrees with many different influences. What I most notice now, though, is the wild explosion of classes available for us to show in that we didn’t have back then. There was no hunter and no country, no age splits for adults, no select classes, and no designed junior exhibitor division (young riders competed as AOTR 17 & Under). To get to the finals, you had to survive a lot of cuts—and because of that, if you could win a top ten, it meant a whole lot. To be in the top ten in the country in your discipline was huge. Also back then, the U.S. Nationals had two arenas, but most of the main ring classes took place in either Freedom Hall, if we were in Louisville, or Tingley Coliseum, in Albuquerque. Now we have three arenas and most of the divisions show in all of them. When I think of the U.S. Nationals, I think of all the historic moments over the years, the good and the bad, and some of the horses and people I saw are now regarded as legends. Sadly, many of the horses and people are gone now, but some are still with us, and many of them have become legends themselves. I’m proud to be able to say that I saw them in action, I saw them at their best. There are many wonderful shows in the world and I love seeing them all. But for me personally, the U.S. Nationals is the granddaddy of them all.
Lara Ames Lara Ames Publisher
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