The weekend of March 7-8 -09.
I travelled to Royal Bathurst Show (for a look) just 2 hours from Sydney over the mountains due west of Sydney.
There were approximately 10 showjumpers attending.
There were 4 horses in the 1.20m, why is this happening to our ag shows?
Bathurst have had good C Designers for the past few years and revamped their program, but no -one is going.
The entries closed 6 weeks prior to the show,that might be one factor.
It is different for the big Royals as the classes are restricted, but Bathurst has 80cm classes.
Possibly stabling should be booked but entries 6 weeks out for a 1m class don't think so.
With a bit of tweaking these shows would be be better off,but who is going to help, we know volunteers are hard to find.
Some show societies are not easy to help either.
CD's and Judges work hard and pay for their accreditation and should be paid for their efforts.They spend some very long days in the field without much attention to their needs sometimes.
The showjumping fraternity needs to address the basic needs for both sides in the sport and we can grow again.