Copyright WHR 2007

There is no question that, under the circumstances, the 2007 Celebration Spring Fun Show was a success. Quality horses were shown, including a number of World Champions, and classes were reasonable full until the final night. Over 200 horses were exhibited on each of the first two nights but only 147 answered the call on Saturday.

But from an historical perspective there are some disturbing numbers. Fannies in the seats were at an all time low as only 6, 302 people chose to come and watch the show. That is almost 2,500 less than last year and is the lowest number in Fun Show history. By contrast, the first show in 1971 drew 12,666 fans, more than double this year’s number.

The number of horses actually shown dropped from 600 last year to 544 in 2007, a decrease of 9.8% or 56 horses. In 1996, almost 800 horses were shown at the Fun Show.