We are planning a Weanling Claiming Halter Futurity to be held at the 2008 NCDBA Fall Classic show (held in Northern CA).  This show has always held open/all breed weanling futurities and classes along with PHBA and IBHA classes.  It will still hold those futurities but a new Claiming Futurity Class will be added to the list.  The claiming amount has not been officially set but we are exploring the range of $3,500 to $5,000.

The claiming idea, as it will apply to our futurity, will work like this:
Any horse is eligible to enter the claiming class if the owner agrees to sell the horse for the set claiming amount prior to the start of the class.  This is the best way, we think, to level the playing field.  So for example, if we set the claiming price at $3,500 then any horse entered can be purchased, prior to the start of the class, for that amount.  So the idea would be that only horses valued around that amount would be entered.  We are hoping this encourages the person would may have otherwise been reluctant to show against higher valued horses.
 

The goals for this futurity are as follows:

1.  Offer a class where like-valued horses can compete and at a value level that would include most hobby breeders/average weekend show people.

2.  Provide a showcase for the middle market weanling.

3.  Offer a single place where buyers and sellers could meet and where buyers would have the opportunity to view several individuals in their price range.