Subscribe Today!
 Subscribe to Quarter Horse News.
Sign Up for the QHN Insider
|
|
Pat's Blog
|
The coveted NRHA Bronze is no longer bronze. It’s resin, or what those in the trade call “unprocessed plastic.” (I looked that up.) NRHA finally announced the change in the June NRHA's "The Reiner."
I first read about this change a few weeks ago on one of my favorite Facebook Groups, "Reining For Fun." That ticked me off. I should have read about it in "The Reiner" or on the NRHA Web site first. The Facebook thread was very negative. And I have to admit, the more comments I read the madder I got.
So what’s a person to do? I sat down and wrote a scathing blog for our Web site. It’s dangerous to give an old lady from New York a place to vent. Only problem, the blog ended up with more questions than answers. My good friend and co-worker Susan Morrison and I decided to get some answers then post my blog with her companion piece of explanations.
Susan called NRHA Executive Director Dan Wall. He did a good job of explaining how and why the board, with input from the affiliates, had decided to try a resin replica. Montana Silversmiths was assigned the task of providing samples.
Dan also told Susan that at a board meeting he put both the metal and resin trophies on display and asked board members to choose which ones looked better. He said it wasn’t unanimous, but the majority chose the resin. I’m thinking – yeah, right! I’m going to see for myself.
Bonnie Hippensteel is a friend and neighbor of mine here in Ocala. As a multiple NRHA World Champion, she has more bronzes than you can count. I knew she won a Lawson at the NRBC. I had occasion to visit and told her I wanted to see her new trophy. She said it was over there by the candles.
Well, there were lots of candles and lots of trophies. I walked by the resin twice – it looked just like the other bronzes. Aha, I thought: Another friend told me it was as light as a bag of chips, so of course I picked it up. Surprisingly, the trophy had some weight to it – wasn’t as heavy as the original, but respectable. I stood back, took a good look. Dan was right. The majority of people wouldn’t see a big difference.
Bonnie had also won a pewter at the NRBC. Actually it’s not a “pewter” but a mini bronze. She said she really liked it. I didn’t – and it was as light as a bag of chips. So there we stood – two longtime reiners – with a difference of opinion. Go figure.
Bonnie hasn’t added a new Morrison to her collection at that point. So I didn’t get to eye-ball that one. And I am really curious about how our specialty trophies like the Lawson Futurity, the Million Dollar Rider, the Freestyle, the Sire & Dam, the Score and the Hall of Fame bronzes will make the transition. Guess I’ll just have to wait and see for myself.
I hate change. Truth be told – Bob does too. That’s probably why we’ve been married for almost 45 years. I hate that the metal bronzes we love so dearly will no longer be available, especially for reiners who have never won one. It is the end of an era, the end of something special and unique. I really wanted to hate the resin replica – but I didn’t.
I haven’t shown a reining horse in a long time, so chances are slim to none that I’ll ever win a new Lawson. But if I did, I wouldn’t give it back. I’d be happy to display it alongside my originals. |
Add comment
|
Subscribe to Quarter Horse News Today!