Southern Saddlebred Spring Fling joins ESC

April 22-25 will mark the 9^th year for Southern Saddlebred horse shows and Spring Fling will be the organization’s 17^th competition at the TN Miller Coliseum in Murfreesboro, TN.  What was born as an auction business has grown, instead, into one of the strongest shows for American Saddlebreds, Hackney and Roadsters in the Southeast.  “We’ve tried to ‘answer the call’ for whatever the industry has asked of us,” said Jackie Hale, “and being involved with Equine Sports Council is another way of meeting a need.”

Event: Southern Saddlebred Spring Fling
Location: TN Miller Coliseum | Murfreesboro, TN
Date: April 22-25, 2020
Associations: ASHA Star, Monarch Series, Equine Sports Council

Southern Saddlebred shows have operated as Open shows, being ASHA affiliated so that they qualified for the World’s Championship Horse Show, but having no affiliation with any governing organization, such as USEF.  “It’s kind of frightening, as a show organizer, not to have written rules about how the horse show should be run and not having a larger organization to back you up in the event of a dispute or problem,” said Jackie.  Southern Saddlebred hosted one of the first Joint Leadership Council forums at the Spring Fling horse show last year, which was followed by numerous JLC and Town Hall meetings across the country.  At all of these meetings the overwhelming majority of people indicated the need for “an alternative” governing body to support the 78% of horse shows that have chosen to remain open/unrated.  “It seemed that everyone was looking at each other like, ‘Who’s gonna do this?’ and when no one else did, a small group of people formed Equine Sports Council to fill this need. I am honored to be a member of that group of volunteers,” Jackie stated.

She goes on to explain, “We’ve had a couple of instances at our shows over the years when I wished that I’d had a rule book where I could point to a rule violation, have the authority to enforce it, and know that I had an organization standing behind me when I did.  Some issues were as simple as the definition of a Novice or Limit horse or rider, and other things more serious, such as a horse welfare concern.  Now open shows have a new governance option that was specifically built to serve the grassroots horse shows that are so vital to our industry.”

Equine Sports Council provides General Rules – things like definitions, guidelines, roles and regulations for officials, show conduct, and horse and human welfare – as well as the same class specifications and judging standards that we have always had.  ESC hopes to bring structure and knowledge to middle market and grassroots shows, providing an opportunity for those new to the industry to compete and learn in a constructive environment, and giving experienced exhibitors the confidence that shows in the Network will be well run.  With the assistance of Dr. Scott Bennet, ESC is developing a Drug and Medication policy that will be tested this year and be available as an optional service in 2021.

Southern Saddlebred Spring Fling will again be affiliated with ASHA as part of their Star program, qualifying entries for the World’s Championship Horse Show.  And new this year, Southern Saddlebred horse shows will be part of the Monarch Series, qualifying entries for the Monarch National Championship, and offering several Single Bit classes.  

Darrell Case of Simpsonville, KY will mark the cards in the performance division and his wife, Katie, will judge the academy division. For more information about the Spring Fling show, visit www.SouthernSaddlebred.com