Re: ragging on show horses (was backyard stallions)

[CMKSAGEHIL@aol.com]

In a message dated 5/8/00 9:36:38 AM Pacific Daylight Time, 
michrowe@frontier.net writes:

<<  Is it really
 necessary to insult a broad range of horses (halter class horses) based on
 personal distaste for their discipline??!  >>

Michelle, I have NO distaste for their discipline.  I quite frankly started 
breeding Arabs back in the early '70's with dreams of the show winners of the 
50's and 60's etched in my mind.  I even showed some when I first got 
started.  I find the old style Park horses among the more breathtaking things 
in life.  There is very little more beautiful than a reasonably correct and 
charismatic Arabian standing stock still at attention in a complimentary, 
NATURAL pose the way halter horses used to be shown.  I still cling to the 
ideals that were pounded into me by mentors from that era who had GOOD horses 
and who believed in the Arab as the great generalist--and went out and DID IT 
ALL.  I would give my eye teeth to see the Arabian show ring go back to the 
sorts of standards that it used to have.  However, nearly 30 years in the 
"industry" has taught me that glitz and glitter has replaced quality, and 
that the breed "mainstream" has sadly become a caricature of the horse that I 
grew to love.  

Thank goodness there ARE still folks out there who stick to their standards 
and are brave enough to breed GOOD horses that do not fit the extremes of 
what is being shown and placed today.  We see those horses doing well in 
disciplines such as dressage, jumping, cutting, reining, and yes, endurance 
and CTR--not to mention just being fun to own and ride.  And on the trails 
and in the dressage courts, one still sees visions of the show horse of 
yesteryear.  He's alive and well, but you won't find him these days in the 
show ring--or at least not wearing ribbon at the end of the class, in most 
cases.

As Charlotte said, if you do your homework, you can likely hold your own at 
the Class A level--but that's about the extent of it.  And as Frank said, 
putting a horse through what is "normally" done these days for halter 
exhibition is detrimental to the horse's mental future as any sort of riding 
horse.

No, Michelle, I have no beef with the disciplines--only with the judges and 
trainers who have turned them into a three-ring caricature of what they 
really ought to be.

Heidi