2014 Horse Expo Events: Two Great Times for You to Shop!
By Gabrielle Sasse, Show Horse Today
Looking for something to do this weekend? Check out Horse Expo Pomona! This story is featured in our 2014 February issue of Show Horse Today magazine. Horse Expo Pomona runs February 7-9, and Western States Horse Expo is June 13-15.
In the world of horses there are always things to learn, and things to buy. Often times, we learn about more things we need to buy! What better place is there to do both than at a horse expo? And no better place to shop than at the Western States Horse Expo and Horse Expo Pomona in California.
We spoke to Miki Nelsen, President of Horse Expo Events, about what got her started in running two different horse expos, why she loves it, and what shoppers can find at the Western States Horse Expo and Horse Expo Pomona.
“Western States Horse Expo, located in Sacramento, began in 1999 and Pomona began in 2011,” Miki begins. “So I’ve been doing this for about 16-17 years. I was an Endurance rider, and one of the biggest things I learned when you ride Endurance is education. As important as a well-trained horse is, education is brutally important.” Endurance is a sport that requires riders to go anywhere from 20-100 miles in a race, stopping at vet checks along the way to ensure that the horses and riders are healthy enough to continue. “Nutrition, supplementation, soundness, saddle-fit… absolutely everything is important to know about. Endurance races need to be done on a conformationally correct horse, with proper training, and your horse needs to be sound and drug free. Some other competitive events have drugs and crutches that you can use, but in races like those, you better know some facts about horse care. That’s how this whole thing got started, and the basis of how we run our expos today: horses and education.”
Miki obviously understands not only the importance of having the education for the horse world, but in being able to purchase the right equipment for the job. “We bring high end education from universities all across the country, trainers that do different clinics, you name it. We usually have a lot of different clinicians that others don’t, and are constantly searching for new and interesting speakers. Of course, you need a place to put all that education to use: our trade show.”
Horse Expo, Inc has a vast variety of different retail spaces and vendors. In fact, 76.9% of visitors surveyed for Horse Expo Pomona say that they come for the shopping! “We have 450 companies coming to Sacramento and 350 to Pomona, but that show is still growing.” Miki explains. However, there will be more than just 350 booths at the event. “Saddles, equipment, tack, boutique clothing, boots, Wranglers… in fact, Macy’s is going to have a booth dedicated to jeans!” she laughs. “We’ll have English tack and Western tack, all kinds of farm equipment, manure spreaders, tractors, Kaboda and John Deere products, fencing, home décor, t-shirts, sweatshirts, jewelry… You think about it, we’ve got it.”
Read more about Horse Expo Pomona and Western States Horse Expo on page 74 of Show Horse Today!