The UPHA Herman Miles Horse Show Manager of the Year Award Scarlett Mattson
Friday, January 18, 2002
Editor's note: The following speech was read by Lonnie Lavery on Friday, Jan. 11, 2002 at the UPHA/AHHS Convention in Lexington, Ky. The award I am about to present is one that carries with it the highest of accolades that the UPHA can bestow. Think about it…a group of professional horsemen, attempting to agree on who is the best horse show manager.
This year, I am proud to say, there was no dissension and our honoree will proudly join a very select group of people who have so very capable demonstrated their great talents for running a successful horse show. These talents include the ability to function with little sleep and appear calm when the lights or sound system go off. The ability to use a number 2 pencil to score the MOS System when the computer fails. The skills to convince an exhibitor his stalls are the best because they are far, far, far away from all that commotion near the ring, and additionally, the horse will get much more air out there in the tents.
A great show manager must have extensive knowledge to have ring footing that would please both Tom Moore and Redd Crabtree. They must learn how to calmly answer the irate exhibitor who demands to know where the cards are posted, even though there is just one judge!
Tonight’s honoree can do all of this and much, much more. Our Honoree is not new to the world of horses. Many of you will not know that our honoree has ridden horses since the age of two, having grown up on a Kentucky farm. Our honoree has trained American Saddlebreds and showed on the Kentucky county fair circuit. Our honoree was a student of the late Helen Crabtree and also a student of the University of Kentucky, with a degree in education. Our honoree has three children, two sons and a daughter, is an AHSA steward and officiates or manages eight to 10 shows per year.
Since 1978, when then Kentucky State Fair Horse show manager Bill Munford appointed our honoree as show secretary, she has been an integral part of our World’s Championship Horse Show. Ladies and gentlemen, please allow me to introduce this year’s Herman J. Miles Horse Show Manager of The Year Award recipient, the manager of the Kentucky State Fair Horse Show. We honor you because frankly, my dear Scarlett, we give a damn!
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