Courtesy of Silver Dollar Circuit
The 2017 Las Vegas Silver Dollar Circuit was so fun and successful it has to be shared.
This year it was no secret that the Las Vegas Silver Dollar Circuit was a success! In and out of the arena, the accolades poured in from exhibitors on a well executed show. The stall numbers were in the seven hundreds and the entries near 11,000! Arenas finished early, results were efficient and the staff was accommodating. Wrap that up in a nice Vegas package and you have one heck of a horse show!
AQHA Professional Horseman Keith McDonough, owner of Palm Desert Quarter Horses, was one of many to applaud the schedule: “We like being able to focus on just the amateur, then just the open.”
Having the amateur and youth classes at the start of the show and the open at the end allowed his customers to come over the weekend and show, then gave Palm Desert Quarter Horses time to focus on the open classes after.
He continued, “There are the obvious benefits to being in Vegas and the weather doesn’t matter. There is no need to bear the effects of the heat or the rain when you can warm up, show, stall and sleep under one roof at the South Point.”
AQHA Professional Horsewoman Leslie Lange, the 2015 AQHA Most Valuable Professional, also had accolades for the show, mentioning, “My favorite thing about the show this year had to be the class sizes. We had great classes top to bottom: Halter, ranch riding and pleasure – everything was bigger. Last year, we had, I think, 100 runs in the western riding. This year we had 140, so significantly bigger. Yet, the horse show has managed to schedule the classes so that we are done at 6 or 7 at night so that we can go and enjoy the amenities of the South Point.”
AQHA Professional Horsewoman Karen Graham, owner of Graham Performance Horses, mirrored Leslie sentiments about the schedule and the class size, but added, “Everyone had a great time. I thought the demeanor of the whole show was fun!”
With more 165,000 page views from more 123 countries on the Silver Dollar live feed, those viewers may not have had the chance to catch the fun ambiance of the show but there were still big classes and world-class competition to keep them entertained.
Show director Jan Bruner sets a standard that the exhibitor comes first.
“Showing horses is discretionary, and our exhibitors are our customers,” Bruner said. “If we as show managers don’t make it fun and productive, people may give up showing horses and go buy a boat. If you’re looking for a great atmosphere with a plethora of accessible entertainment for everyone in the family, where you can have a ‘horse show vacation,’ make sure you carve out next year’s dates: February 23 through February 28. No one in the family will want to miss this one. It’s a well-known fact that this is the one horse show that show husbands, wives and families want to attend.”
This is one “secret” that Vegas doesn’t have to keep under wraps. In fact, remnants of their good time was seen all over the following week’s Arizona Sun Circuit, as exhibitors rode around on the mini motor bikes and Blue Ribbon saddles they won in Vegas and carried their drinks to the arena in their YETI coolers.
Silver Dollar seems to have wrapped up a year for the books. If you were there you understand. If you weren’t, we’re betting we’ll see you next year!