The Southern Regional 4-H Horse Championship is the only regional 4-H competition left in existence (I've been told), which makes this event not only unique, but it also means that the event itself holds a special place of preserving a since of camaraderie and tradition.  This event combines a multi-disciplined horse show with a full fledged educational contest complete with Horse Bowl, Hippology, Horse Judging, Public Speaking, Team Presentation, and Individual Presentations.  With competitors representing the 13 states that comprise the southern region, is is an opportunity or bring people together, to learn and to celebrate.  

When I first started working in extension in 2011, the Southern Regional Horse Show was confusing and inconsistent.   The location changed every year, and the organizational structure was to have what ever state was hosting that particular year, run, manage, and staff the entire event.  This was a huge undertaking to add onto a person's normal job responsibilities.  It also meant that there were severe inconsistencies from year to year that varied with the different management and personnel, and facilities changing each year. It also meant that state specialist would show up to the event that were not from the host state and have virtually nothing to do the entire week.  

It became apparent that this was not a way to run a high caliber competition, which was evident with frequent complaints from competitors and growing frustration among committee members.  It was proposed that our organizational structure change.  We moved to a committee system where members of the planning committee which was made up of specialists and associates from each university would join one or two discipline committees or educational contest committees.  Each committee would be responsible for the rules, hiring judges, renting equipment, and planning the classes and schedules.  This would take the pressure off of the host specialist which had been in charge of the entire event.  In addition to the committee format, we had accumulated enough revenue over the years to hire a show manager.  We were able to pay a person to coordinate entries and entry forms, send out judges contracts and book hotels, order awards, manage the website, and take care of printing.  Finally, we decided to keep the show at a single location.  We realized that some of the appeal of going to new states and facilities would be missing, but we would gain continuity, an understanding of the facility and how to schedule the most efficiently, and a guarantee that the facility had enough rings, arenas and stalls to accommodate everyone. 

This major change in leadership has proven to be an abundantly positive decision.  Now, people who are experienced in each discipline are the ones making decisions, the specialists have jobs during the show, and the responsibility of the entire show is not resting on one person's shoulders.  We have been able to increase our revenue from the show, which has allowed us to hire top quality judges and offer excellent awards.  The complaints have been significantly reduced, and there is much more cohesiveness among committee members.  This has turned into a joy to serve on this committee and has allowed us to serve our clientele betters.  The initiative to change our organizational structure has turned a burden of an event into a valuable competition where people are eager to participate, and organizers are happy to return year after year.