Great Idea for Keeping Track of Horses and Ensuring Each Horse Has a Holder at IEA Shows

I had the pleasure of stewarding the Windward Farm IEA shows down in Tampa, Florida this weekend.  I love stewarding outside of my home state of Georgia because I get to see how other teams run their shows and often learn new ways to help IEA shows run more smoothly. This weekend was no exception.

At the Windward Farms shows, all horse holders were wearing name tags on a lanyard around their neck.

The front side of the name tag had the horse's name:

The front of this name tag says the horse's name, Breezy.
Also, my apologies for this blurriness of the photo
(I promise it wasn't like that on my phone!)

The back side of the name tag listed all of the classes that the horse was in or was an alternate for:

This back of the name tag lists the classes the horse is entered in
as well as the classes he is the alternate for.

Name tag rules:
As long as a rider is wearing a particular horse's name tag, she is responsible for holding that horse in the holding area, leading him to the show ring, and picking him up from the show ring after his class. If the rider needs to give up control of the horse to get dressed for her class, take a restroom break, etc. she must find another person to take the name tag first.

This system ensures that:

• There won't be any horses who come out of the show ring with no handler to take them,
• The horse provider knows when a horse has a long break between classes and could potentially go back to his stall for a water and bathroom break, and 
• A horse won't be taken back to the barn area and un-tacked/put away before he's done for the day. 

What a great idea!

I think if I were to expand on this, I would consider putting the name of the team that provided the horse on the front side and the horse's crop and spur information on the back side.

Thank you again Windward Farm for having me as your steward!

Amanda Garner is an Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA), Intercollegiate Horse Show Association (IHSA), and Georgia Hunter Jumper Association (GHJA) steward, schooling show judge, head coach of the University of North Georgia IHSA Equestrian Team, and owner of Epiphany Farm, LLC in Dahlonega, Georgia. She is also a member of the IEA Board of Directors and the author of "A Parent's Guide to the Interscholastic Equestrian Association."

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Thanks!  --Amanda