Arabian Halter Horses

[wisteriafarms]

Can anyone recommend books or DVDs for teaching an amateur to train an Arabian horse for halter showing? I have looked everywhere and can't find anything, and I don't have access to someone who shows who can teach me in person. I am also trying to find information on proper show grooming for an Arabian.
It seems like everything I find is only Quarter Horses. I would like to find information that is specific to Arabians. I am getting very frustrated. There has to be something out there.

Thanks,
Julie

[windsweptarabians]

Bob Hart Jr. had a video out on halter training, it has been a number of years so I really don't know if it is still out there or not. You could try the Arabian Horse Association web page, they have the Discovery Farms Program, where you find an arabian farm near you where you can go and visit.

Shannan

[foxysilhouette]

I sent you a personal message

[bndranch]

Hey Julie!
It has been years since I showed my NSH filly but we showed her in 1/2 Arabian halter. I do know that in the past years the arabs have come into the show ring just high as kites, NOW they have to enter at a flat footed walk, once they cross the entry gate threshold HOLY COW HANG ONTO YOUR PONY!!!! They are so jazzed up its UNREAL! But Arabs are squared in the feet as with any stock breed BUT then they have to learn to stretch over the front feet and that of course is where you get the long neck. We would cheat when first teaching my mare to do this by either having grain, peppermint or a horse cookie. Bring it to her nose then draw it back so she would stretch for it. If she tried to step with her front feet she got a short yank on the lead which set her back and we would stretch again.
Now my friend had an arab stallion that she has used as a trail horse (US National top 10 trail stallion), working ranch horse, drives, english, western, you name it he has done it! She took him into a halter class one time and he was very quiet. He lost the halter class....WHY? Judge came up to her after the class and told her that the reason he didn't place her stud was because he was too quiet. He actually told her to take him out behind the barn and "whip him up some!" She looked at the judge and gave him an earful about she needs him quiet and that he had lost his mind. She has NEVER shown him halter again since then.
As far as grooming I didn't do anything really special with my NSH mare. We clipped her bridle path, her face, legs etc. Hoof blacked her (she was a bay tobiano pinto and had white legs), and show sheened her. I do know that many people willl also take the razor and shave the eye region along with the muzzle I did not do this so here I can't help you. The other thing is to keep their tail up since fake tails are not allowed in the arab world.
I tried to help lol I hope I did some!!
Brittany

[windsweptarabians]

Actually they have done away with the walking in the ring, I believe they changed that back to trotting in. At least that is what I have heard. I guess they were getting too many complaints from the exhibitors. I only show my young horses halter at the futurities, just to get them out in the show ring. I have given up on the Class A halter classes, they are too political even in the Amatuer classes. When I did show my half-arabian in halter, I used apple wafers in my gloves to get her to stretch, I still carried the whip, but it was pretty much for show. I always wanted my horses quiet but at the big shows they are getting them too fired up any more. When I did show my horse about 6 years ago we did quite well, we were Region 13 Champion AOTH and Reserve Champion Open- HA Mares Stock Hunter type. But now I can honestly say she wouldn't have a chance in the halter ring today.

The only big difference in the grooming is you can NOT use black hoof polish on halter horses now (This is National, Regional, Class A Rules). It has to be clear polish. I don't believe this applies to the performance classes. The only other real difference is the length of the bridle path. Arabs generally are twice as long as quarter/paints/appys etc. As far as clipping the head, I like to use what we call the show clip. Its hard to explain but I will try....facing the horse you move the forlock, starting where the forlock ends you make 1 line to each eye in a a diamond shape, you shave the whole front down to the cheek bones and the sides you stop at the jowls. I generally only use a 15 or a 10 blade on this. Like I said a little hard to explain. I do this for all my show horses.

If you plan on showing Class A level, then you need to follow the United States Equestrian Federation Rules (USEF), they tell you everything from what bits to use, how heavy the shoes can be, to what length of crops/whips can be used. Well I hoped I helped a little. They do a lot of rule changing so it is hard to keep up sometimes.

Shannan

[bndranch]

As of last year they still had the walk into the arena rule. I didn't show arab halter last year but did show Amatuer trail with my friends stallion. I did watch some of the halter though and they still were walking in the gate and then WHAM high as kites LOL. This was the region 5 show. I also know as of last year again LOL, we hoof blacked the studs feet for the trail class, but I honestly can't remember the halter horses.
Like Shannan said to show the regional shows you need to have a USEF card and follow their rules. Also to compete in Arabian shows you must hold a Arabian Member competition card which is different from just a normal member card. In APHA all we need is to be a memeber and if we want to hold a ammy card then we have to apply for that as well. But for arab you have to hold a competition card PLUS a USEF card.
Open shows is a whole lot easier and of course not as strict LOL.

[wisteriafarms]

Thanks guys, all of your advice is great . And thank you to those that PM'd me too.

The only halter shows I have attended (as a spectator of course) were at Scottsdale and the Egyptian Event. I plan on attending some of the community shows through AHA this summer just to watch, and I am really looking forward to it. I have always wanted to show my boy, he will be 9 this summer lol, so it is long overdue. I just feel like this year is the year for us to get into it, and I am really looking forward to it. I'm glad AHA has started the community shows so newbies like me don't have to feel so intimidated.
I work on an arabian farm, but it has probably been 12 years since they have shown. I did look on the AHA site, hoping they had something under merchandise that would help me. I was surprised that they didn't. I can understand them not promoting something from an individual trainer or farm, but I was surprised they didn't produce something themselves to help amateurs.
Shannan, I think I understand what you meant with clipping the head . I will give it a try. I was told that a good way to measure how long a bridlepath should be is to bend the ear back and make the bridlepath the same length as the reach of the ear. Does that sound right?

Thanks again guys!
Julie

[windsweptarabians]

My geldings is about twice that length...he has a really long neck. The ear length is a good place to start. Then have someone watch your horse while you are riding around, I like to be able to see the throatlatch clearly while their head is set.

Shannan

[foxysilhouette]

I went to the MI breeders futurity in 2006 and they still had us trotting into the ring there was no walking in. AHA shows are great fun and very relaxed but busy I will hopefully be there this year with my 9 year old half arab/pinto mare

[windsweptarabians]

Nice half arabian, great color. I am a board member of the MI Futurity. We look forward to seeing you there. Yes, last year we trotted into the ring, not sure if they changed it for the A Shows yet or not. I will have 4 babies (4yr old, 3 yr old, 2 yr old and weanling) going this year to the futurity (all half arabs). The 4th one is not born yet, that one should be either buckskin or palamino. Sire is Cupids Faded Gold, perlino tovero stallion. I am hoping for spots.

Shannan

[foxysilhouette]

I will not be going to futurity this year don't have anyone to show there and no foals on the way or nothing so I won't be there for a few years again unless I help someone or show someone elses horses like I have done in the past.

[traceyclydeowner]

i have a 3 yr old stallion named justa magnum.he went to nationals and took a top 10 in the yearling class.he was shown by gregg knowles and he was fired up every horse that came in was fired up david boggs even lost his horse they all come in barrelin thru..which makes no sense cause i was absolutely appalled so much so that my arab is currently for sale and i do not want to ever show with these people again. the rules it says to have your horse under control and some of these trainers i do not even want to tell ya the things i saw.the rules are clearly stated in the usef rule book and most everyone ignores completely..they get away with it.from illegal shoes and pads to to much make up and extreme whipping to make em hot and crazy.i was not showing but had my horse shown by a pro.i had decided after my 1st A shows i was done and kept the horse with trainers that showed him..i learned from Kim Potts video and was schooled by John Powers and after 2 years i decided that was it but one thing i learned is go in there with confidence lotsa attitude and have a Ball....cause i have seen terriffic horses with bad handling win or bad horses with great handling win..so believe in your self and most of all your horse..and have a great time..

[risingrainbow]

They have changed the rules about walking/trotting in a couple of times. I believe now it is up to the discretion of the call judge so you can see it either way.

I didn't see where anyone mentioned that "balding" is illegal now for halter horses. That means using a stright razor and taking off all of the hair. (usually done on muzzle and over eyes)

Bridle paths are changing in the halter arena. Some are still clipping them way back and others are leaving them much, much shorter. It really depends on the horse and how it is built. If there's no way to stand the horse up correctly without it's throatlatch being covered from the one side or a clear vision through on the other, it should be cut back to the point where that is possible.

I worked for Eric Krichten for a couple of years and before that for Jean Frieday and clipped national champions for both, neither had bridle paths cut way back. Eric prefers the bridle path shorter than Jean but neither went to the mid point of the neck. The farthest back I ever saw them want the bridle path is 1/3 back of the length of the neck from pole and that was on a horse that did have a nice shaped neck but it was thick and had lots of mane which made it look thicker than it really was. That horse the mane was pulled from the underneath to thin (was a mess when it grew out) and it was cut back as well.

Bob Hart Jr does still have a video or dvd whichever you prefer on halter. It is a good tool.

The important thing to know when teaching a horse to stand up for halter is don't push the neck stretching. That will come. It's more important to teach the horse to stay up high and use their neck. That means lifting up at the whithers (you teach them to raise up by using backing) When you raise your hand you want the horse to lift up high with it's head and "pull back at the base of the whithers. Bob Hart Jr has a special halter that he uses that teaches the horse to do this. Done properly it will create the pretty arch of the neck on high instead of dumped over. It's difficult to teach and starts out looking ugly but gets pretty. Once you've taught the horse to do this, it'll be glad to reach forward.