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SHOWING THE ARABIAN SPORT HORSE

A LITTLE STROLL TOWARDS THE TRIANGLE

The new Sport Horse in-hand classes are enjoying much success and growth. It's hard to say that the growth is too rapid. We can see that this is a desired area for so many, and enthusiasm is high. Shows have been adding Sport Horse classes in many areas of the USA and Canada.

Here are a few basics to keep in mind to assure success in showing the Sport Horse in-hand classes.

WHAT IS SPORT HORSE IN-HAND?

Sport Horse in-hand is a series (divided into classes appropriate for age and gender) of horse show classes.

Type of horse. The type of horse shown in Sport Horse in-hand classes are horses suitable to become a competitor and/or breeding stock for the Sport Horse Division. The Sport Horse Division includes a large number of disciplines. Some are: hunters and jumpers, dressage, combined training (three-day event homes), competitive driving horses, cross-country homes (endurance, competitive trail ride).

On the Sport Horse in-hand Score Sheet (available on the AHA website under Forms), there is a box at the top which asks for the 'intended use' of the home. The judge asks this question of each exhibitor. One of the disciplines above would be a correct response to this question asked by the judge.

Although your horse may have been shown in the Western Division, 'western' is not a correct response to the question. Western (and English, halter and etc) are different Divisions. We have seemed to reach an age of specialization for the Arabian Horse, and are fortunate to have a great many choices for showing our horses. The best success will come if the horse and handler are properly prepared for the Division, discipline, and class they intend to show.

If you are intending to enter Sport Horse in-hand classes, you have decided that your particular horse will perform well in that area.

Consider that Sport Horse in-hand classes stress form to function as related to sport horse performance.
Also consider that the judges are AHSA licensed hunter breeding, dressage breeding, working hunter, jumper, or dressage level judges, who have many years of expertise in the various sport horse disciplines. Their eye will seek the sport horse potential of the home. Such potential is determined by the judge in FOUR aspects:
1. Conformation (40%), 2. Movement (40%), 3. Expression, willingness and manners (10%), 4. Overall, quality, balance and harmony, suitability as a sport horse (10%).

THE HANDLER

The handler is a very necessary part of the winning equation.

The Sport Horse judges will not be familiar with the various particular handlers, so who you are takes a back seat to what and HOW you show.

How you show. To win in any discipline, the most important single ingredient is practice, practice, and practice.

The handler ideally will virtually be neither seen nor heard. The top grade handler will wear inconspicuous clothing (such as khaki or black pants, a well-fitting light Colored shirt - sweaters, vests or jackets if weather dictates).

The top grade handler will have worked with the horse at home to achieve a good stance readily, so as not to waste the judge's time.

HORSE ATTIRE

(Complete specifications in USEF Rule Book, Article 1649C, 3. Appointments). Bridles are optional on two-year-olds, mandatory on horses three years old and older.  A bridle shall be a dressage or hunter type with snaffle bit with or without cheeks, keepers allowed, reins and headstall with throatlatch.  Noseband is optional.  A split or single chain may be used with/or instead of reins.  Horses under the age of two must be shown in plain leather stable halters.

It is good preparation to practice at home in the exact bridle and bit you intend to use for the show.  A good stance is defined as: the horse stands with all four legs visible to the judge, neck in a natural position, with the handler standing away from the horse with a LOOSE lead line.

Again, the importance of practice at home must be emphasized. It is very hard to achieve the above seemingly simple instructions without practice and more practice. The handler must either be able to stop his horse in the exact correct position, or be able to adjust to the correct position in a short period of time. Whether the handler steps the horse forward or back is of no importance. To achieve the result quickly, and to then be able to step back with a loose lead line is of paramount importance to success in showing your sport horse. Common mistakes in stance include:
1. The horse's legs spread out.
2. The head carriage is too high.
3. The handler is obstructing the judge's vision.
4. The horse will not stand still on a loose lead line.

After the above correct stance is produced for the judge, the handler and horse must then proceed to walk and trot on the triangle. We will go into detail on showing the movement portion of your class in the next column.

Let me just leave you with these thoughts as related to the movement portion of your presentation. As the horse 3 or over wears a bridle in these classes rather than a halter, an improperly prepared handler may try to 'jerk' on the horse to make the horse stop. This maneuver has three disastrous results:
1. The horse will not stop well, or have his feet in the correct position. Instead, the horse will resist the 'jerking' on the bit which hits the bars of his mouth, and instead of stopping quietly with a correct leg position, he will repeatedly 'dance', and/or stop crooked with a poor expression in face and body (10% for expression down the drain).
2. And/or the repeated jerking canl cause the horse to refuse forward movement at the walk and trot (a possible 40% for movement down the drain). At a recent show, a judge gave 0 out of a possible 20 points on trot, as the horse absolutely refused to trot. In my opinion, this horse was confused. The handler (by jerks on the bit) had repeatedly told the horse to STOP. The horse, being a good soul, was trying to comply.
3. 'Jerking' will also affect your conformation score. The horse will react by raising his head and neck (remember we want a natural head and neck position). As he raises his head and neck, his back will hollow. Down go the points for conformation! (40% possible for conformation).

The Arabian Sport Horse rules state that if a whip is carried, it may be used to guide the horse. Shaking the whip or threatening the horse with the whip is not considered guiding, and the judge will not appreciate these actions with the whip on the part of the handler.  The judge does want to see a light, relaxed, responsive horse that is well mannered and well schooled.

Practice can make perfect. In any case, you will have had a nice practice session with your horse at home, and achieved a higher level of communication with him. That's the fun part, isn't it? The blue ribbon will be icing on the cake .......

We surely hope so, and look forward to seeing you show down the road.
All the best of luck, Molly Stanley

THE TRIANGLE

STARTING AND FINISHING THE NATURALLY BALANCED SHOW HORSE
By Jim Porcher

        For about three years now I have been rethinking my training philosophy and the results have been so positive that I am ready to share them with others. My horses have never worked better. They are happy, willing and look forward to their training sessions. That would be gratification enough, but the phenomenal thing is they are performing at a level, which I had never been able to reach before.
       The training technique is based on communicating with the horse in a language that the horse understands. It is about keeping things simple. It is also about creating impulsion, feeding that impulsion into your hands, restricting the forward motion with your aids so that you put the horse into a show horse frame, but one that is comfortable and natural for the horse.
       I have discovered that “natural” riders often do things when starting a green horse to help that green horse understand what they want, but then somewhere along the line the communication breaks down as they begin to finish the horse. It is almost like they start out talking horse but then they start talking human and that is when the problems begin to arise. My new style is to try to continue in the same language from start to finish; to begin with a clean slate and end with a finished product that is sound, happy, and naturally balanced.
       The idea is based on supporting your horse with your outside rein, not forgetting that you have an outside leg, teaching your horse to listen to your inside leg and, most importantly, learning to quit doing all of your riding off your inside rein.  The most common mistake I see in riders is that all their energy goes into that inside rein.  What I try to get the rider to understand is:  (1) balancing the horse on their outside rein, (2) keeping the horse going forward in a straight line, (3) always building forward impulsion, (4) using the inside rein solely as a breathing “activator” and (5) that while the inside leg is vital to all activities (6) we must not forget the outside leg.
       This methodology works for the green horse and speeds their training along, but the most exciting or most radical changes are in the older show horses that just weren’t quite there. They are getting more supple, their frame is more natural, but at the same time, more extreme. And, as we all know, in the show ring, extreme wins.

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