Featured Article (August 2002)

Fall Horse Show Preview

The Fall Schedule Heats Up at The Virginia Horse Center

Perhaps the best place to view the diversity of Virginia’s horse community is at the Virginia Horse Center in Lexington, VA. The center hosts a wide variety of local, regional, national and world class competition in it’s first-class facility. With twenty-eight events scheduled during the nineteen weeks remaining on the Virginia Horse Center’s 2002 events calendar, fall will be a busy time at the Center. August opens with the United States Pony Club National Championships (July 30-August 4) followed by the A-rated Lexington National Horse Show (August 7-11), the Old Dominion Futurity Benefit Horse Show (August 13), the National Barrel Horse Association’s Colonial Nationals (August 15-18), the Eastern Region Andalusian and Lusitano Horse Show, (August 22-25) and the Blue Ridge Quarter Horse Association Horse Show (August 22-25). As summer draws to a close, the Virginia Quarter Horse Association Futurity (August 30-September 2) and the Old Dominion Morgan Horse Show (August 30-September 1).

New to the Center this fall will be the exciting World Percheron Congress America, to be held October 23-27, 2002. The Virginia Horse Center worked for two years and competed against facilities in East Lansing, Michigan and Columbus, Ohio to secure its bid to serve as the show venue for the Percheron Horse Association’s world show. With six hundred Percheron draft horses competing for world championship honors during the five-day show, this year’s World Percheron Congress America promises to be the largest and most diverse display of Percheron draft horses ever held.

In addition to seeing the big horses “up close and personal” and visiting with Percheron breeders and owners, spectators will enjoy Percheron draft horses working during plowing, log skidding, obstacle course, and amateur horse pull classes; Percheron hitches including carts, teams, unicorns, carriages, fours, sixes and eights; Western and English Percheron under saddle classes; youth classes including showmanship, decorating, junior driving, carts and teams; Percherons shown at halter; and crossbred classes. The show will also include a consignment auction during which forty to fifty Percheron horses will be offered for sale. World Percheron Congress America classes will begin Wednesday, October 23 at 8:00 a.m. with halter classes. In addition to team walking plowing, wagon rides and field working demonstrations, there will be costume, driving, western pleasure, junior team, and four abreast mares, stallions and geldings classes during the afternoon session. Thursday’s show includes halter classes for mares . Team sulky plowing will begin in the outside fields at 10:00 a.m. followed by wagon rides and field demonstrations.

The team obstacle course class opens the show on Friday, October 25 at 8:00 a.m. It will be followed by the horse sale preview at 12:00 noon and the consignment horse sale at 1:00 p.m..
On Saturday, October 26, youth showmanship, decorating, and judging classes start the day at 8:00 a.m. Team log skidding will be held at 10:00 a.m. At 11:00 a.m., horses with ½ to ¾ Percheron blood will be shown in eleven crossbred classes. The 2002 World Percheron Congress America wraps up on Saturday evening with an amateur horse pull at 8:00 p.m. featuring lightweight and heavy weight teams. The world champion and reserve farm team class will follow the horse pull.

Other shows featured this fall are the National Walking Horse Show (September 19-21), the Shenandoah Blue Ridge Appaloosa Association (September 21-22), Central Virginia Paint Horse Association, (September 21-22), American Saddlebred Horse Association of Virginia (September 25-28), and the Autumn Arabian Classic (October 4-6).

The Center’s fall schedule also includes top hunter/jumper shows like the House Mountain Horse Show (October 12-13), and the Southwest Virginia Hunter/Jumper Association Finals (November 8-10), and Virginia Horse Shows Association Championships (November 15-17), and dressage shows such as the Virginia Dressage Association Finals and Bengt Ljungquist Memorial Championships (October 17-20).

Numerous other event-specific shows are scheduled including the Virginia Starter Horse Trials (September 7-8) and the Eastern Pennsylvania Reining Horse Association’s The Tradition Reining Horse Show (September 5-8), the Virginia Horse Trials (November 1-3), and the Mideastern Team Roping Association Finals and East Coast Team Penning Association Show (December 7-8).

Other events scheduled at the Center this fall include the 4-H State Horse and Pony Show (September 11-15), the Therapeutic Riding Association of Virginia Fall Horse Show (October 5-6), and the Southeast Bull Riding Association Finals (November 30-December 1).

Though a few of the events scheduled at the Virginia Horse Center charge an admission fee, the vast majority of shows and events are free to spectators. With such a wide array of events and shows this fall, there is sure to be something on the calendar that appeals to everyone.

The Virginia Horse Center’s fall 2002 schedule is available at www.horsecenter.org or by calling 540-464-2950. Dates are subject to change.