486-NR15p1F6-170anderson72

Happy New Year Everyone!

486-NR15p1F6-170anderson72

January is the month for resolutions. Mine usually starts the same, lose some weight and continue to be the best trainer I can be. As we roll through January the NRHA is having a judges school which I will be teaching and a membership meeting in Oklahoma City that is full of hot topics.

I cannot lie to you, I am perplexed by some of the decisions being made in our office especially regarding the NRHA futurity. We were informed our entry fees were going up yet our purse and added money is going down. In 2015 our added money was $515,000 in 2016 our added money is $472,500. In 2013 our futurity paid $165,000 this year 2015 it paid $150,000- the kicker is that they take the nomination money out and pay the nominator so the horse and rider actually only was paid $142,500.00.

I am perplexed by all of this as we as breeders now have to pay nomination fees for our foals. They sold this program to us promising increases in pay outs, however the proof is in the numbers, our entries are going up and our prize money is going down. One thing the office decided to do was to keep the futurity late fees and give them to show management instead of adding them back to our futurity purse. I know that number was around $150,000. That would surely take a chunk out. I know there are a lot of disgruntled members out there that are questioning these same issues. You need to write letters to the NRHA board and voice your opinions. Become involved and make your board be accountable. I know I have spent hours talking to other members and many of us cannot understand the decision making processes. I am told the increase is to balance the budget. I guess we will be better informed after the meeting next week. One thing is for sure our Futurity is going the wrong direction and I hope our board makes some changes immediately to address this issue.

About Craig

Reining horse professional Craig Schmersal is the fourth-leading rider of all-time, with earnings of more than $3.2 million. Over the last decade, Craig has won almost all of the major reining events, often taking all three of his entries into the finals.