In January I was honored to receive the Emerson Burr Trophy for being voted the year\’s leading hunter rider at the Pegasus Awards Dinner during the USA Equestrian convention in Lexington, Ky. (see Jan. 31, p.

10). Much to my surprise, this was one of the best banquets I have ever attended, and we all know how many boring, drawn-out banquets we\’ve all been to.

Alan Balch, the USAEq president, and his crew (of many, I\’m sure), deserve a standing ovation for all of the hard work and time they put into the production of the dinner and the show that goes with it.

And what a production it was, as there were two (not just one) big screens to watch the photographic parts of the show, next to what was a beautiful stage with all the trophies.

As each trophy recipient was called up to the stage to receive his or her award, a bigger-than-life-sized picture\’with their horses or depicting their lives\’was displayed up on the big screens. Then it seemed to be one great speech after another. It was a fabulous way to receive an award.

The night was full of surprises for me as I saw the most amazing documentaries on Harry de Leyer and Charles Crabtree. And, of course, the tribute to Ned and Nina Bonnie as the winners of the USAEq Lifetime Achievement Award was spectacular.

My hat goes off to you, Alan. What a night!

Unfortunately, Peter Wylde, who was the co-winner (with David O\’Connor) of the William C. Steinkraus Award as the year\’s top rider in the Olympic disciplines, couldn\’t attend the festivities because he was showing in Europe. But let me assure you that he was there in spirit. Peter sent a message that his good friend, Joe Dotoli, read for him.

I\’m sure his message hit home with most of the people who were present. His message was about the rule-change proposal to allow junior hunters to show without braids because it\’s so expensive to pay a braider to do the job\’a rule that, fortunately, didn\’t pass. Peter\’s point was, I believe, very important. He recalled that when he grew up showing with Joe and his wife, Fran, they had to groom and braid all their horses for every show. And he still braids his own horses, even for the World Championships!

“I feel very fortunate to have been expected to take care of our horses when I was younger,” Peter said, and it was nice to have a story like this to keep things in perspective.

And that brings me to my next topic: horse shows and their awards. I\’ve been in California showing at the HITS Desert Circuit in Indio. (Wow! What great weather!) And I\’ve been talking with a few of my friends about what we could do to make the awards a better feature at our horse shows.

Obviously, I got inspired after being at that great Pegasus Awards dinner. Someone here in Indio must be thinking along the same lines, since the championship trophies and coolers are definitely a big step up this year. Still, we need to work on the first-placed trophies at most horse shows. For all the money people spend to show at them, I think it would be great if the show managers put a little more thought or energy into these awards. The power of suggestion goes a long way, and we exhibitors need to speak up about it.

I\’m sure that you, like me, have come home from many shows, opened your trunks, and found a lot of ugly, unwanted trophies inside (if you\’d even been awarded a trophy for winning). I know that a lot of people don\’t visit other disciplines in the horse world, but I do. And I can tell you we need to take a page from their books.

We need to make some changes, and it\’s up to us to help the horse show managers with some ideas. I\’ve shown in both Quarter Horse and gaited horse shows, and let me assure you that at their national horse shows, they are leaps and bounds ahead of us as far as awards go.

How great would it be to leave the horse show with a new horse trailer or a new car? To do that, it\’s time for us to incorporate an idea that other disciplines have been using for years, namely, corporate sponsorships. Instead of getting money from a car company or a car dealer, get them to donate one of their cars or trailers. Sometimes it\’s much better advertising for them than giving money and just having their name on the arena wall.

I think one thing that seems to get lost in all of our awards is remembering that this is a sport. In any other sport, being the world champion or winning a similar title is something special. In our sport, it seems to be forgotten as soon as it happens. We need to keep these honors alive, and really special awards would help.

While I was talking to some friends at the horse shows, we came up with a few ideas. Instead of just repeating the same boring phrases when a rider enters the ring, maybe the announcer could take a few seconds to mention a few facts about the horse and rider, as they already do in classics and grand prix events. If a horse is by or out of a world champion, he or she should get recognized as such. If a rider has won a major title, he should be recognized as well.

It\’s all a matter of marketing our sport to sponsors and fans, and of making the shows we ride in feel really special.