Show pics!

[ayla]

I headed up to Michigan for a horse show, and I have returned with pictures! I, uh, did not pay for these, but in my defense, prints cost $50 and for a girl who didn't even take her own horse to the show because hauling was more than board, that's a little steep.



The only under saddle class I did; the AHA Hunt Seat Medal Not To Jump Junior To Ride. The horse is a purebred Arabian stallion; for those not familiar with Arabs, we are proud to be one of the few breeds that allows juniors to ride studs. It's because our stallions think with the right head. I placed second in this class, behind a girl who's been to Regionals and had a great pattern.



My friend riding my trainer's mare in Arabian Native Costume Amateur To Ride. She (the mare) was broken out as a country horse but didn't have the movement or the neck for it, so she's a hunter and dressage horse now. I, personally, am not a fan of the mare, because she's so light on your hands and legs that she'll weave down the rail if you're not totally centered.



The horse I was fawning over the whole weekend I don't know his name, I don't know where he's from, but he's got a gorgeous head and neck and his movement is to die for. Only fault: he's a Morgan.

There should be pictures for showmanship too, but the photographer hasn't posted them yet. I will as soon as he does.

[Cheyenne]

Really pretty! I've always wanted to show an arab, I fell in love with three ex-national champions (I THINK) boarded at my neighbors barn. They had two purebreds and a half arab. One mare was beautiful dark bay with white lacing all down her back. She was BEAUTIFUL! But she was psycho, unfortunately (Mostly due to the fact that she was fed a very hot diet and had minimal turn out). None of them were ever broke, just halter horses.

[megan]

Wow! They look great!

[ayla]

Cheyenne, that's (in my opinion) the problem with the Arabian breed. The big money is in halter, so horses never get broke out to do anything but stand there and look pretty. A lot of them are unsafe to be ridden, not because of what they're fed or how much they get out. These horses are literally trained to be psycho, all the time. The judges reward the every muscle tensed, ready to run look. We've got an ex-halter horse in our barn that is fine under saddle (he does hunt and sidesaddle) until people cheer for him, or he sees a long whip, or there's a plastic bag. Then he goes into halter mode and will not calm down.

That behavior is not typical, or even the norm in the Arab world. It's just the big-time halter horses. Horses that do halter as a sideshow are prone to falling asleep in classes, because (one) they're bored and (two) halter classes are usually first thing in the morning and they're still mostly asleep.

Wow. tl;dr much? I'm kind of aggressive about my opinions, aren't I

And thanks, Megan!

[Cheyenne]

Hahaha yes. I know what you mean about teaching them to be psycho. I show miniatures and the posing is close to arabs. I used to work with a mini trainer who was one of the top trainers in the area. The things she did to those little horses just so they would look "good" in the show ring....

She used cattle prodes and lip chains to teach them the tense, eyes popping outta the head look. She literally made those horses so crazy that even tieing them up was a panic for them, grooming them wasn't much better. Lik you said, halter was all they were good for. She did have a pshyco gelding that she broke to drive but he was off like a bullet as soon as someone sat down and he would NEVER chill out. And she sold him to a 4her, pretty unsafe I think even for a little horse.