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Re: [RC] Letters to the World -- showing - Bette LamoreThere's been an awful lot of bashing of shows here-- At the risk of being flamed here-- there are many athletic Arabians competing in shows (and some also compete in competitive trail and endurance) --- most just don't win without a big name behind them. Yes halter classes are horrible!! I agree!! And no one knows better than I do-- started off with number 1 halter trainer (was told he was kind) and won everything. Discovered my mistake, switched to humane trainers with less "power" and went from Reserve Champion at Burbank to not even Top 10 a month later at Santa Barbara-- and there are many more worse tails I could tell.The classes that are not as yet corrupt (and they don't pay Sweepstakes money--- could there by chance be a correlation??? or merely a coincidence???) are Jumping (hard to be political on time and height and either you knock the poles down or you don't!) and the Sport Horse classes (which are a cross between the Warmblood halter classes and dressage in hand --- no ginger up the tail--- no wild eyed afraid babies.... just a look at correct conformation and it doesn't matter who is at the end of the lead line so long as they can run fast enough to show the horse at a trot (perhaps some of you ride-and-tiers should consider hiring yourself out to overweight sporthorse arabian owners ;-) ) and the dressage classes (which are small-- there is not much prestige in the Arabian shows for this so most owners of dressage Arabians show in open classes and compete against the "big boys", that is the Warmblood and T-bred owners.) Sooo there are still some classes that I enjoy seeing-- especially the amateur-owner to show classes. I liken dressage to a ballet and really enjoy those classes (especially the open shows when they beat those W horses (I thought of printing a t-shirt once that would have said "Arabian blood is warm enough for me!"). And the in-hand classes in the Sport Horse arenas are great and there is nothing so thrilling as a tough Jumping Championship (first time I'd seen Mark cry since my first born's birth-- Hal won, obviously-- no politics there-- the big farms and trainers stopped talking to us when we stopped hiring the "power" trainers) So when we are bashing, we have to be careful which classes we are bashing--- some are still great to watch! And my kids grew up at local shows, Santa Barbara, Burbank, and even Scottsdale shows--- gave them something to work for and they had a lot of fun--and they all turned out GREAT--- so let's work to improve them--- not eliminate them. I'd much rather hang out and have my kids hang out at a show than at a mall, a video arcade or a bar (and yes, trails are the best! :-) but I've seen an awful lot of people riding trails who could stand to have a few lessons-- for their horses' sakes-- seems like cruelty there-- bad equitation for 100 miles?--- could be worse on the horse than the show ring-- after all, a class doesn't last longer than 15 min---- MAX!) Bette and Bunny (who will be content to ride trails) Potato wrote: Subject: RE: [RC] Letters to the World -- showing -- Bette Lamore Whispering Oaks Arabians Home of Bunny and 16.2h TLA Halynov who lives on through his legacy Hal's Riverdance! http://www.arabiansporthorse.com Always remember: "Life is not measured by the number of breaths we take, but by the moments that take our breath away." (George Carlin) ============================================================ Every horse can be taught to walk faster than you think. It is one of the most important qualities of a good riding horse. Some have it naturally, others need to learn. On the other hand, if you are riding a tired horse, an easy jog is more efficient, covers more groumnd with less effort. (it's the rebound effect of the two beat trot) ~ Dot Wiggins ridecamp.net information: http://www.endurance.net/ridecamp/ ============================================================
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