Prices for so many things have gone up. No one gets rich holding a live show - at best, a show will pay its expenses and we’re really impressed if a show can raise a modest amount of money for a charity.

Halls are getting more expensive both in raw and total cost. Showholders take a risk that they will sink significant amounts of money in on top of the many hours of work.

When I am budgeting a show, I’m looking at total estimated cost, which includes travel, hotel, rental car, and transport which well dwarf the entry fees on even the most local show I attend. (Gas alone is more than my entry fee to the nearest show to me.) At times, I also consider if there’s a possibility for sales (or judging perks) to offset those costs.

Do you consider the total cost when you’re planning? Will you attend a more expensive show if for example a more expensive hall makes your other travel expenses more affordable?

  • PixelperfectstablesEnglish
    2·
    3 months ago

    I don’t mind prices being a bit higher, as long as the classlist is decently sized. For a smaller intimate show, particularly if at someone’s home or very cozy venue (think like less than 15 people attending including show staff) I might be curious if the price was high (what factors led to this? Awards, judges, etc?) But certainly, as a host myself, I’m familiar enough with the difficulties that I am more favorable towards costs than people who may not be familiar with what goes into hosting.

    Travel is definitely important too, most shows I’ve attended in the last few years have been within reasonable distance to either go home in the evening or stay with a relative. The catch for me is, usually if a show is worth driving far enough to stay over, and especially if it’s a two day show; I need to take a minimum of a half-day off work, up to 2 full days, and that can be difficult to plan far enough ahead for. (This is why I’ve never attended the Syracuse NY-area Pumpkins & Ponies, despite being a well-renowned show in my region and it offering desirable divisions for me.)

    I would say that a class list is really the largest driver for me in terms of interest (as long as a show is within my typical travel range including an overnight stay). I’m not going to push myself too hard for a standard class list that I’ve been to many times over the years and most likely, will show up in one of the more local options anyway. Personally what excites me the most lately include:

    • OFP collectibility based shows that are well split out and include a wide variety of levels (from common to rare and different brands isolated, etc.)
    • OFP Mini shows that either have a deeper classlist/further split to be ok with double judging, or have separate collectibility that doesn’t just feel tacked on. But, I’d also appreciate a Mini Breed based show if it was more extensive than what we usually see or offered additional split categories by brand, scale etc.
    • Any show offering OFP that presents new or unusual ways of organizing classes (Color-based independent of collectibility, double-judged but Collectibility is the primary category instead of secondary, splitting Breyers up by decade of mold release to encourage “not old but not new” molds/models to have an opportunity, schooling shows [instructing by doing with a small group], anything innovative!) I don’t dislike showing artisan or breakables but I have fewer of those categories in my collection, so I really only enter those if I’m traveling for a show with OFP as my main focus, I’m judging something, or the show is hyper-local to me (within an hour’s drive).
    • elaineOPMAEnglish
      2·
      3 months ago

      I think it’s really interesting to have classlists that change, and it’s something a showholder can do to freshen up a show that might otherwise feel ‘routine’ for zero cost.

      When shows start to feel routine, I think some entrants take them for granted… it will be just like the last show, there will always be another.

      Not every show has to offer every class or every division, and giving people a reason to bring out horses they don’t usually bring can be a way to increase engagement. I love the idea of offering era divisions for OF Plastic or really any division; customs and resins benefit from them too. Most of us have pieces in our collections that are either not competitive or are too much trouble to bring, but a class just for them changes the calculation.

      And sharing the old pieces can be really fun! That oldest custom you have in your collection, or a horse that won everything back when it was new, and suddenly you can bring him out for everyone to see again. I loved bringing out my very first custom, a running mare repainted bay appaloosa in Testor’s enamels, to the Jennifer Show, with her story.

      I love seeing people have fun with performance classlists too! Candyland Live with its Everything Pink class, that’s just delightful. It’s fun to come up with an entry and so fun to see what other people will do.