Current Congress News

The Congress faces unique logistic challenges - continued
Camp Town
Camping is an additional challenge for Congress officials. The Ohio Expo Center holds approximately 250 full-time camp sites in the Korbel lot North of the 17th Avenue. Temporary electric and water are added throughout the grounds to accommodate an additional 1,000 camp sites. The Ohio Quarter Horse Association spent $30,000 in 2006 supplying portable water and electric lines for the show's campers, Hales said.

Camping has had a big impact on space at the Congress over the past few years. "If you look at old photos from the first year or two of the Congress, you'll see a small pick-up truck pulling a home-made, two-horse bumper pull trailer," said Hales. "Today, most horse show exhibitors pull a 30-40 foot gooseneck trailer with living quarters, and the large luxury buses are becoming much more common. With so many exhibitors here at the Congress, this creates an additional challenge because each one takes up so much more room. When you add to that the number of commercial trailer dealers who bring inventory to sell here at the Congress, you can quickly run out of space even on 360 acres."

Parking Particulars
With camp sites, commercial trailers and spectator parking all converging on the same space, there can come a time when too much is too much. "The state highway patrol has the power to close the Ohio Expo Center grounds if they determine we cannot safely accommodate an emergency. When he closes the grounds, no one can be admitted, regardless of whether they are a horse show exhibitor, judge, commercial exhibitor or spectator. It's a subjective judgement, and there is no hard, fast rule. In past years we have been shut down on some of the weekend days for several hours, which is frustrating for everyone."

To help alleviate some of the congestion, show officials have made adjustments to the show schedule to help spread out peak traffic and parking demands. "Last year we moved the judging contest to mid-week, which helped a great deal with traffic on Super Sale Saturday," Hales said. The youth team tournament is also held on a Monday. The result was just one day of forced closure, with just two to three hours down time.

Staffing Stats
Another area of challenge for Congress officials is finding workers for the three-week event. "When the Congress started, it was just three days long, so finding help was a lot easier," said Bob Geesaman, assistant show manager. "By the 1980's, the show had grown to two weeks, but we were able to manage with 34 workers. Today, the show is three weeks long and we have 280 workers. Since most people only have two weeks of vacation, we have "shifts" of workers that are able to work the Cutting/Reining week or the remaining two weeks of the show."

"It's not glamorous work," said Geesaman. "Congress workers work many hours and they work hard. We still have fun, but it's not all fun and games." It can be tough to find workers who have experience in the horse industry who are not already participating in the show or have the time to help work. "You really can't do both," Geesaman said.

The show management will begin planning for the 2008 Congress in November, when the Ohio Quarter Horse Association holds its first post-Congress meeting. "Unfortunately there is no manual for putting on the Congress," said Geesaman. "After 41 years, it's still a case of trial and error." Now where is that Easy Button?

by Connie Lechleitner

first page of article