Hi Everyone and welcome to the very first CMHA Virtual Foal Futurity

Important News!
Due Date for the Weanling Futurity DVD is September 30th.

To do your submission for the Futurity you will tape your foal as if it were in a regular In Hand class at a show. The camera is to be used as the eye of the judge in the class and is to run as a regular In hand class

The foal will enter the ring at a trot and trot around the perimeter of the ring. As in a regular in hand class, you can have one handler OR a handler and a tailer. The tailer is there to help but should make sure he/she does not block the view of the foal at any time.

The handler and the tailer can have a whip no longer than 6 ft in length with NO ribbons or extras added to the whip.

After trotting around the ring, the exhibitor will stop along the rail across from you, the judge, and set up their foal. The exhibitor will then walk the foal over to the judge, turn broadside, stop and set up the foal

Once the foal is set up, position the camera to give a nice clean broadside view. The judge will take a good look at the left side, then walk around the foal stopping to look at the legs, front and back, and the foals foals right side view and over all appearance.

Remember, you can zoom in on the head and neck briefly, whatever you feel shows the foal to it’s best advantage, but we do need to see both broadside views and front and back leg shots.

The judge will then position behind the foal and the exhibitor will be asked to trot off in a straight line and trot around the ring again. When the exhibitor is across from the judge, the foal will once again be set up

Remember to position yourself with the camera to show the foal to it’s best advantage – a nice clean broadside view Make sure you have good lighting, so we get a good look at your foal.

If you don’t have a ring to video in, make sure you have nice even ground and can give an un-obstructed view of the foal at all times. The video can be no longer than 5 minutes from start to finish – any longer and the video will be dis-allowed.

The sound must be on the video as we have to make sure there are no extra, over the top noises to excite the foal. Sounds you would hear in a show ring are alright, such as clapping or cheering. The video must be continuous, with no breaks or editing. Any of these would be cause for disqualification !

Remember, you can do more than one take of the video and send the very best but only one video per foal will be accepted. Have fun, and we look forward to seeing your foals in the Futurity !

Good luck everyone !!

Lyle Dietz, Chairman

Update on the CMHA Stallion Service Auction for 2010

It’s a well known fact that timing is everything, and if the time isn’t right, it’s better to take a step back and wait for the right time.That is the case with the CMHA Stallion Service Auction.We had a terrific line up of stallions donated for the 2009 Auction,and some great bidding by mare owners taking advantage of the Quality of stallions offered.

Nobody knew at the time when we were planning the Stallion Service Auction that the economy would take such an incredible down turn, and Breeders would be cutting back on their breeding to the degree that they are. Having said that, we have heard from the Stallion Owners as well as Mare owners who are opting to cut back on their breeding until such time as the economy picks up and the Horse Market re-bounds from the bad economy.

It isn’t fair to ask Stallion Owners to donate a breeding from their Stallions if the bidders aren’t out there and the bids won’t do their stallions justice. With this in mind, we have decided not to run a Stallion Service Auction in 2010. We will still be running the Weanling Futurity competition from the foals resulting from the 2009 SSA and are looking forward to receiving the entries and crowning our first Futurity Champions later this year!

We do hope that the economy will come around quickly, and breeding will be more viable in the near future and have every intention of re-instating the Stallion Service Auction and Foal Futurity at that time. We thank you for your understanding and appreciate all the comments and participation we have received for this program

Lyle Dietz

Stallion Service Auction Chairman