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Posted:
Tuesday, February 12, 2002
Amateur vs. Pro: Which One Are You?
By Cindy Hale
When a show rider reaches the age of eighteen, they leave the junior ranks and move into either the adult amateur division or declare themselves a professional. Those who cling to their amateur status often end up struggling financially to make ends meet because the demands of college, a new career or family don't leave much money for shows or riding lessons. There's always that lure to earn extra money by giving lessons or schooling horses. But then that ruins their amateur status. So, what exactly is an amateur versus a professional? And what are the choices left?
The spirit behind the amateur rule is a simple one: An amateur, in the strictest sense, competes for the love of the sport, not for financial gain or notoriety. Years ago it was distilled down to the idea that if you earned a living outside of equestrian pursuits, you were an amateur. But if your main source of income came from your riding skills, you were a professional. Yet that merely led to a glut of riders snidely referred to as "shamateurs". They assisted their trainers at home in a variety of ways for extra show bucks or reduced fees, yet competed in the amateur classes. This didn't sit well with the true amateurs, those who worked outside of the horse industry and juggled time just to ride a couple of times a week. To help better define just what an amateur is or is not, the major horse show and breed associations decided to formulate strict rules for behavior and compensation.
The amateur rules vary slightly from association to association. For example, USA Equestrian (formerly the AHSA) allows amateurs to hold a judge's card and officiate at rated shows, but the AQHA does not. However, both make it clear that an amateur cannot function as a trainer, instructor or riding assistant and still compete as an amateur. A few situations don't seem to fall directly under any ruling, though, and require some interpretation. For example, what about the amateur who occasionally helps out their trainer on a hectic Saturday morning by giving some walk/trot lessons on the lunge line? Are they now a professional if the trainer repays them with a free lesson? A strict interpretation of the rule would be, "Yes." Although is that person really a threat to the so-called true amateurs out there? Does the fact that they possess enough experience and skill to teach a beginner how to post the trot qualify them to compete against seasoned professionals? Perhaps the answer is that the line must be drawn somewhere. If exhibitors continue to allow exceptions to the rule, they'll eventually lose the level playing field that comes from segregating the amateurs from the professionals.
Of course, reporting someone who is cheating with regards to their amateur status is a sticky situation. Who wants to be seen as a rat? And what if the informant is wrong? It's been said that the only riders who ever have their amateur status called into question are the winning ones, and that seems to be true. Yet that then reflects on the whole ideal of sportsmanship. The rules shouldn't be applied only to those prominent riders who win blue ribbons. Everyone should be held equally accountable.
With horse show costs continuing to rise, amateurs ultimately have to decide if they're going to keep their ammy status or venture into a professional setting. The gamble is that if they can't make it as a trainer or instructor, they're left in a sort of limbo, unable to show as an amateur, yet not possessing a horse of the quality to go head to head with the pros. There are ways, however, of making money in the horse world that doesn't tarnish the amateur rule. While a rider won't get rich, they can stuff extra pennies into the horse show piggy bank by braiding or banding manes, grooming, doing the bookkeeping for a stable, transporting horses or (everyone's favorite) mucking stalls. Though these aren't glamorous jobs, they do involve working around horses and don't affect someone's amateur status. With some determination and willpower, a rider can be an amateur and afford to show, too.
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