5th Circuit Summary

This year’s 5th Circuit success is credited to the volunteers that worked so hard to collaborate all the events and especially with the “boots on the ground” bringing it all together.  This year’s venues included the infamous DG Bar Ranch in Hanford, CA and the Kentucky Horse Park (KHP) in Lexington, KY.  While DG Bar Ranch is well known by all of us, the venue at the Kentucky Horse Park was chosen last year as a first-time venue for hosting the 5th Circuit inspections.

This is the 3rd year that FHANA has adopted the 5th Circuit inspections based on a movement in 2023 to provide an inspection opportunity to allow nursing mares to recover from stress of caring for foals and to allow for extended training opportunities.  It also opened the door to maximizing the logistical costs associated with bringing judges to North America.  By incorporating the 5th Circuit Inspection with the Stallion viewing and the Mare Shows has proven to be very successful for FHANA.

The planning of the 5th Circuit is coordinated, arranged and collaborated by a special committee that includes multiple disciplines and their respective representatives within FHANA.  The members of the committee include representatives from; the stallion committee, the inspection committee, the finance committee, the sponsorship and events committee, the marketing committee, the Circuit 5 site hosts and we’ve recently included the sports committee and the AGM committee.  The committee met every two weeks, working through logistics to bring you the 2025 events.

On Wednesday, Dec 3, the committee met again to discuss the 2025 Circuit 5 events.  An after-action meeting in a sense.  What did we learn from this year’s event and how can we improve to make the next one even better?  We did the same thing in 2023 after the Hoosier Horse Park venue in Indianapolis, IN.

West Show:

While the DG Bar Ranch facility has hosted several mare shows and inspections, the events went very well despite the 3 days of heavy rain.  Henk Sytsma and Annette Carpenter did an outstanding job site-hosting the inspection, mare show and stallion viewing.  They had plenty of volunteers and the attendance was spectacular.  Despite some logistical changes implemented by the judges at the last minute, they adjusted and conquered very well.

East Show:

Challenges facing the committee included the planning of an event at an unfamiliar venue like the KHP.  Back in early 2024 the FHANA leadership began negotiations with the KHP to bring the 5th Circuit to the home of FHANA.   The KHP offered to discount the costs to FHANA, and the venue was booked for 2025.  Unfamiliarity with a venue produces several surprises that are not recognized or thought of until they rear themselves at times of need.  In addition to the surprises, it rained throughout most of the events and with the lower-than-average temperatures, the weather created a bone chill deep within to all.  Katie Wenger and Tiffany Van der Kooi did an outstanding job hosting this event.

During the planning of the 5th Circuit at the KHP, the committee began coordinating and planning for the 5-day events in KY.  With the Circuit 5 inspection, Mare Show, Stallion Viewing, Horse Show and the AGM, the committee began embarking on a venue never pursued in the history of FHANA.  While both the events in the West at DG Bar Ranch and the East at the KHP should be considered a success, there are things we learned that we could do better.

The committee identified the following things that could be improved upon.   For example, when the Sponsorship Committee suggested using a special area within the arena at the KHP to promote sponsorship and generate revenue.   Identified as the VIP area within the arena, it needed a better plan.  More volunteers were needed to support the VIP section and other tasks related to the events.  FHANA Board members stepped up to man the entrance to the arena, manage the VIP section, man the show office and attend to general inspection tasks.  It was quite the undertaking.

Thank you to all of the volunteers that organized, worked and supported the 5th Circuit Inspections and events.  Thanks to the committee for organizing and collaborated this and a special thank you to the Horse Show team.  It was spectacular.

Moving forward:

The FHANA leadership is committed to providing our members with the means to succeed and be financially prudent to the needs of the organization.  The committee is currently seeking and in negotiations with the World Equestrian Center in Ohio.   agreed that the KHP was not the ideal place to have our 5th Circuit venue.  Together we agreed to try to relocate the venue to the World Equestrian Center in Ohio for 2026.   The 2026 5th Circuit is currently planned to kick off on November 6, 2026.  We look forward to seeing you there!