The SHOW HIO will continue its trial phase of the Steward Program throughout the remainder of the 2009 show season. The program kicked off its inaugural weekend on a trial basis at the horse shows in Dickson, Lewisburg and Pulaski, Tenn. The program continued this past weekend at the Belfast and Wartace horse shows in Tennessee. The program, headed by Spencer Benedict, is being implemented to assure the positive image of the show horse.

The program will continue on a trial basis and will include increased videoing in both the warm up ring and the show ring. Benedict commented, “We are committed to the continued improvement of the Steward Program and making sure it accomplishes the goals of the SHOW HIO. It is in the infant stage and we will continue to make changes and listen to suggestions as we shoot for a program to implement long term.”

The program has included monitoring of the warm-up ring and videoing of horses. These videos will be monitored and reviewed as the SHOW HIO continues to define the characteristics of a “bad image” horse. “As with any new program we learned some things that worked and some things that needed to be modified,” said Benedict.

“Our goal is to establish the guidelines for the positive image of our horse so that everyone has a clear understanding of what is acceptable and what is not. We want this to be a team effort so that we can continue to improve and be able to present a horse that all of us are proud of,” concluded Benedict.