prizes, Prizes, PRIZES!

By Brandy Von Holten

Prizes for an equine competition allow you to connect with your competitors, acknowledge their accomplishments, have fun, and promote your event!  Prizes can range in price, size, and usefulness.  With my husband and I hosting for several different organizations at our equine facility in Missouri, I have come to understand some tricks of the trade when purchasing prizes.  It will depend upon which organization, the number of competitors, the cost of the entry fee, and any written or unwritten rules by each association.

Money

You have to be careful with giving money as a prize.  You do not want to make a competitor ineligible in a different association from winning a few dollars at your competition.  Make sure you understand the rules and have an alternative prize.  Some associations do not allow their novice riders to win money, but will allow them to win gift certificates.  Do some homework.  Your competitors will appreciate that you are looking out for them!

Judge’s Picks/Shout Outs

In addition to prizes, I would highly recommend “judge’s picks or shout outs”.  Acknowledging the new competitors, giving someone praise for hitting the ground but getting back on their equine, saying thank you to supportive spouses, or having humor about when things go wrong are all great ways to build a relationship with your competitors.  If someone finally wins a ribbon, acknowledge it!  If someone is riding a 3 year old instead of their seasoned competition horse, acknowledge it!  These prizes do not need to be expensive:  candy bars, pack of gum, rubber duck, plastic horse, koozie, pop, or a lanyard, etc.

Keep Doing the Basics

Feed buckets, bronc halters, and spur straps are pretty common prizes.  Keep buying them.  There are new competitors that have not yet won those prizes and it would mean the world to them!  I still use a bronc halter that I won as a novice rider and I think about it every time I use that halter.

Useful Prizes

Salt block on a rope, fly sprays, feed scoops, hoof picks, wound dressing, hoof supplements, and do not forget the treats!  People love their horses and mules and love receiving prizes for them!  I recently started buying dog treats and prizes, because most people that have a horse/mule also have a dog.

Prize Table vs Assigned Prizes

If you have assigned prizes, you should announce the competition results from lowest to highest.  If you have a prize table, you need to announce the competition results from highest to lowest.  If you have several competitions in one weekend, make sure and rotate the division you announce first to let different levels of riders get to select from the prize table first.  There are perks to each way.  Sometimes competitors that place higher up will actually leave the better prizes and prefer something less expensive.

Show Some Enthusiasm!

In all honesty, people are probably going to be happy with whatever the prize is because it acknowledges they have achieved a goal.  The more energy you can put into the awards presentation, the more excited the recipient will be.  You would be floored with how many times I have to remind someone to pick up their prize after they received their ribbon.  The prize is just icing on the cake!

I place more thought into our prizes than money.  There are deals, specials, bulk orders, and close outs waiting on you to make them a deal!  Get creative and have fun!

The Importance of Ribbons

By Brandy Von Holten

Ribbons can motivate people and become a joyous reminder of achieving a sought after goal.  Ribbons do not get enough credit for what they do for a person’s sense of pride.  Through owning a trail riding facility that hosts numerous events throughout the year in everything ranging from horse shows, speed events, dressage, cooking competitions, and obstacles competitions, the way to a person’s heart is sometimes through something as simple as a ribbon.  Join me as we discuss the unsung hero, the ribbon!

Participation Ribbons

Participation ribbons have to be strategically used in situations.  If your event is geared towards young children, it is important for everyone to obtain a ribbon.  However, once that child is around the age of seven, you do not need to spend your money on a participation ribbon.  Now, do not get me wrong, people still have great pride in having something such as a keychain, coffee cup, water bottle, bumper sticker, etc., to show they qualified/attended an event, but the participation ribbons need to stay in the younger children divisions.

Rosettes

The rosette of a ribbon is typically pleated or folded fabric around the button of a ribbon.  If you have the funds available, I would highly recommend having a rosette on your ribbons.  If you are struggling to make the event have a profit, see if you can at least make first place have a rosette.  This will help your event appear more prestigious and will make competitors want to return.

Places and Colors

By my husband and I owning Von Holten Ranch which is an equine competition center and trail riding facility, it important to not put the event name on the ribbon.  This helps keep the ribbons universal and useable for a variety of events.  If this is an option for you, I would recommend not putting a specific year on the ribbon, either.  You might end up with 30 extra 6^th place ribbons that you will be able to use next year and cut down the cost of a future event.  Make sure you use traditional colors for the main middle streamer and have the place on the ribbon.

Write on the Back

If you are awarding ribbons you should write information about the event on the back of the ribbon.  This is often overlooked or purposely skipped, but when someone takes the time to write on the back of a ribbon it is appreciated more than you’ll ever know.  I would highly recommend writing the date and the division.  If you have time, write the person’s name.  Please be extra cautious that you spell their name correctly.  If you are trying to solidify relationships and loyalty to your facility and/or event, go the extra mile!

Be Creative

People love specialty ribbons!  Talk to your ribbon provider/manufacturer and see if they have any ideas to really add some flash and flare to your event.  They do this for a living and are able to draw upon a wealth of knowledge.  I use www.horseshowribbons.com as our ribbon vendor.

Life After the Competition

Ribbons have such a lasting impression that people find ways to keep them in their life.  Some people make new items with them such as pillows or blankets.  Some people take all the rosettes off and place them in shadow boxes or glue them to vases.  Some people place them in trophy rooms.  In my office I have two ribbons hanging, a green 6^th place ribbon and a yellow 3^rd place ribbon.  I have so much pride associated with those two ribbons.  It does not matter that the ribbons are not blue!

If you ever thought a ribbon was not important, please reconsider.  Countless hours and expenses went into winning that ribbon.  Winning a ribbon really is a big deal!