Some contestants do not appreciate the difference between Showmanship at Halter and Halter and it hurts their performance. These two classes need tobe approached differently.

In Showmanship it is the person that is being judged.  Fundamentally the winner of the class should be the person that does the best job of showing his or her horse at halter, however the class has evolved into much more than that.  Difficult patterns must be executed and traditional methods must be used to present the horse.  It is a great class to teach contestants discipline, patience, poise and professionalism as well as how to train and communicate with their horse.  This is because a lot of time has to be taken to train both the horse and the handler to do the pattern precisely and with extreme attention to detail.  Skills learned in showmanship are required in all of the riding disciplines, making the class great preparation for otherdisciplines.

Due to the endless variation in patterns and the amount of detail possible, different judges approach the class from different perspectives usually emphasizing different parts of the pattern. Take your time to learn the pattern precisely; the judge picked the pattern for a reason and there are points in the pattern where you must be particularly precise.Typically, important parts of the pattern are transitions at markers, correct and complete turns, and accurate backups.

The horse is being shown must be presented standing “four square” correctly, not spread out or camped under.  This is basic and fundamental horsemanship.  It takes a lot of time to teach a horse a horse to do this from the halter.  It is a must in Showmanship; I can tell if the time has been spent in training the horse at home. The contestant needs to show the horse, not just themselves. Pick the horses head up, get the ears forward and show the horse. Too often contestants seem to forget the horses and stand there just smiling at the judge.

We are looking for the best person in the class to fit,train and show a horse. Whatever it is that the pattern calls for, the judge is looking for precision and evidence that that you have taken the time with the horse to teach him to do it.

Showmanship is a traditional western event and the contestant needs to present themselves traditionally and professionally.  Someone with their hat on backwards and shaped liked they slept in it, is not someone that I want to have show myhorse. So I, as the judge, I am not going to reward them in the class.

In a Halter class the judge is looking for something totally different.  It is only the horse that is being judged. The judge is looking for the horse that best represents the breed. The criteria are very clearly laid out in the Association Rulebooks. TheAQHA rates the qualities of the horse as being; balance, followed by structural correctness, movement with appropriate breed and sex characteristics and adequate muscling. Variation in class results between different judges occurs because most all horses have numerous minor or major faults and the relative importance of these various faults need to be evaluated and ranked by thejudge.  Every judge will tell you that itis a simple matter to judge good horses, but a group of average horses takes a little more consideration and sometimes there is no clear winner.

In order to evaluate these characteristics the horse must be presented so that the judge can see them. First the horse has to be trained to stand still.  Like in Showmanship the horse has to stand four square so that the structure of the legs can be seen.The handler needs to stand in front of and to the side of the shoulder and staythere. Do not use the Showmanship Quarter System, it is not a Showmanship class.The contestant that confuses the two classes usually steps in front of thejudge just as the judge approaches the horse’s front view.  Usually this causes the horse to move and besides having to wait for the handler to get out of the way the horse is now not standing square and is difficult to evaluate the front legs.  Set up the horse and stay where you are.

Remember the judge needs to record your back number. In showmanship you never show the judge your back, but in halter we need to see your back to get the number, so when the judge walks around you don’t always bequick to jump around and face him, chances are he is trying to see you backnumber.

Halter and Showmanship at Halter are both good classes and important for our industry, the same horse can do both classes but remember to approach them differently.