by Katie Navarra
Buckskins, duns and grullas of all shades gathered at the Schaghticoke Fairgrounds Oct. 3-4 for The Fall Color Spectacular horse show. The event marked the first approved International Buckskin Horse Association (IBHA) event at the Rensselaer County, New York facility.
Exhibitors had an opportunity to earn nearly $1,000 in payouts in halter, showmanship, hunter under saddle, over fences, reining and other events. IBHA carded judges, Mike Bednarek, Ron Bartholomew and Michelle Nyberg judged the events allowing IBHA members the opportunity to earn three sets of points.
“The halter classes in particular were a big draw. We had enough entries in the buckskin classes that we were able to award points,” said Carly Reyna, fair manager.
Prior to 2015, the North Atlantic Buckskin Horse Association was an IBHA chartered club and hosted shows in the northeast. When the club ceased to exist at the beginning of this year, exhibitors and registered horses were left without local pointed shows to compete in.
“We’re super excited to have in IBHA show in the northeast, the next closest show is in Ohio,” said Tracey Staniak of Tin Filly Farm in Mechanicville, NY.
In addition to a wide variety of IBHA pointed classes, the two-day event included open and green horse classes, which any breed of horse was eligible to compete in. “In general, there are not enough cross-over events for color horses in this area,” Wanda Lounder, an AQHA Professional Horseman, trainer and owner of Double L Stable in Hancock, Maine. “Having IBHA events encourages double-registration and increases participation,” she added.
Ranch horse classes included in Sunday’s line-up generated a lot of interest among exhibitors. “The ranch horse turnout was higher than expected. We’re really pleased with the number of people who showed up and entered the division,” Reyna said.
Threats of a hurricane headed for the east coast and cold weather dampened the overall turnout for the weekend. “The weather really hurt us. We had a lot of people back out at the last minute,” Reyna said, “but with that being said we were pleased to have the turnout that we did for the first time event.”
Based on the success of this inaugural show, Reyna hopes the facility is approved to offer more shows in 2016. “The halter classes were full on Saturday and we’ve had people haul from as far as nine hours to be here this weekend,” she said, “it would be nice to host another show, potentially even a series, in 2016.”
The International Buckskin Horse Association was incorporated in 1971 to register, preserve the pedigree and promote the activity of buckskin, dun, red dun and grulla horses. The association is located in Indiana and offers club charters across the United States. Membership categories include open, youth, amateur and amateur select. For more information about the association, visit www.internationalbuckskin.com.
