Part of the joy of Saddleseat is the tradition, and there are few finals where that’s as true as in the NHS “Good Hands” Finals, held annually at the MidAmerica Mane Event Horse Show. The “Good Hands” Final began in 1883 in Madison Square Garden, billed as ‘America’s Oldest Indoor Horse Show’.  In the 131 years since, a lot has changed. When that first final took place, football still didn’t have a forward pass and basketball didn’t exist yet. But I’m sure if you had watched the competitors in that first final, they probably looked pretty similar to the equitation riders we saw at this year’s final:

The fact that an event like this has endured the test of time, shows that, as an industry, we must be doing a lot of things right. Tradition is one of the most important characteristics of equitation, and equestrianism on the whole. Yet, while it’s important to be respectful of over a century of tradition and success, it’s also important to innovate, and make sure that our sport stays relevant. Staying current keeps our breeds, our barns, and our methods visible in the non-equestrian world, but more importantly: it helps them grow.

And as an industry, we need to grow. In the video above, many of the seats in the coliseum are empty. You can view this as a sign of an industry that is struggling, stagnating, or even declining. Or alternatively, you can view these empty seats as room for us to grow.

Riders like those highlighted in the video have spent hours, weeks, months, and years perfecting their form and the partnerships they have with their horse (a partnership any equestrian can relate to).  In fact, the first horse and rider pictured only had weeks to become an in-sync duo because of the unfortunate loss of the competitor, Courtney McGinnis’ partner and friend, Ch-Eq Kiss of the Zodiac; which only further emphasizes the horsemanship required to make it through these finals with the best of the best

But why does any of that matter? How do we intend to help grow the event, the industry, the breed? To us, the future of the industry lies with the riders themselves.  With incredible displays of horsemanship, athleticism and grace like the ones seen in the above video, how can we, as participants in equestrianism keep such a sport quiet? We can’t!  It’s too beautiful not to share - and the NHS “Good Hands” committee hopes to serve as a platform so the riders can help promote themselves and what it is they do.

The riders are natural ambassadors for the sport, they’re natural leaders, and they’re socially connected. Much like the industry leaders in other equestrian disciplines (for example, the amazing Charlotte Dujardin - renowned dressage rider), Saddleseat is slowly finding its social ambassadors, those with the athletic prowess that more inexperienced riders can aspire to emulate. With younger generations becoming heavy influencers of how the industry itself functions, it’s easy to see why the Saddleseat Equitation division has found its way to the forefront of the Saddlebred industry.

So while the NHS “Good Hands” Final may have been deemed “America’s Oldest Indoor Horse Show”, it, like the Saddleseat industry itself, has a bright future.