# Halter Class?



## kim_angel

So what exactly do you and your horse have to do at a Halter Class show? What do the judges base their scores on?


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## Angel_Leaguer

halter is mostly based on the conformation of the horse... The horse only has a halter on (the type depends on the breed), the handler will enter the arena towards the judge at a walk and then at the direction will trot a line away to the line-up. In the line-up the horses are stood head to butt (if that makes sense) and the judge will do a closer evaluation, sometimes they will look at the teeth as well. The horse is to be standing square for stock breeds and then standing stretched out for light breeds...

The juge will then sometimes make a line-up from first place to the last place...

The horse is to be cleaned and cliped according to breed. The scoring is mostly based on conformation but the really clean fit horse will take the class over a dirty horse (if the conformation is close on both of them)


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## Midwest Paint

Along with what Angel said, the preparation work for Halter Showing is where most of the work comes from! It is based on confirmation and breed standards. 

I will spend alot of intense time preparing for my halter shows. Generally a couple weeks prior to the show, mine get another body clipping. Along with the clipping and bathing, I also have to "cook" after clipping which is messy and a task in itself. As I start all the preparation, there is still the lead training going on. I have a farrier come out as well to give a nice cut to prepare the hooves. The day before and day of the show is where it gets pretty stressing. Along with a prep bath, a thorough final trimming of the body and ears are done, hooves are painted, whites are treated and the mane gets banded and trimmed. The day of the show, touch ups are done and anything that came out of place is fixed. The show halters are alos oiled a day or two before as well as shined.

Its always amazing to me how much has to be done when its near that time, and there is always something that can be fixed or touched up.


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## Angel_Leaguer

^^^^^ good point....

I dont show "halter" horses but instead WP and driving so I dont full body clip or anything but I now those big time halter horses are amazing..they are almost more fit looking then your typical all-around performance horse. Thanks for adding in to the thread


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## kim_angel

my horse Toby comes from a line of Halter Class Champions, and he is really good on lead, trots easy on lead, stops immediately and has the foundation Quarter Horse build. So I was thinking about showing him Halter. My only dilemma is... I dont have a barn and he is white.  I cant imagine how to get him clean and keep him clean. Yesterday I gave him a bath since it was so nice out and as I was walking him up and down a dirt road to dry him out before returning him to pasture... well, he dropped to the ground and rolled right there as I was walking him!!! *gasp* at that point, he was one giant mud horse. *cry*


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## Angel_Leaguer

I guess if you dont have a barn you could always wash the morning of the show and not let him roll.


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## shermanismybaby3006

Yea either that or you could hall in to a nearby barn the night before you haul in and clean him up. Thats what i do before a show. That way I also have an arena to work in the night before. and they have a stall to stay in and plus you have a washrack.idk just an idea


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## PaintHorseMares

kim_angel said:


> my horse Toby comes from a line of Halter Class Champions, and he is really good on lead, trots easy on lead, stops immediately and has the foundation Quarter Horse build. So I was thinking about showing him Halter. My only dilemma is... I dont have a barn and he is white.  I cant imagine how to get him clean and keep him clean. Yesterday I gave him a bath since it was so nice out and as I was walking him up and down a dirt road to dry him out before returning him to pasture... well, he dropped to the ground and rolled right there as I was walking him!!! *gasp* at that point, he was one giant mud horse. *cry*


I can sympathize. Our lady is a big muscled, stocky Paint w/Impressive bloodline, but mainly white, too, and I think she LIKES to be dirty.

Pretty much cleaned up, nice and white....and what she normally looks like.


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## Midwest Paint

*Maybe this might give you an idea..*

Here are some pics of my last Weanling Halter Futurity show I competed in..









Some more of the line up..









The lead off









My absolute favorite.. Passing out while waiting for the judges to approach!









As you can see in some of the photo's.. Everything down to even the hooves being painted, the show cut, and so on, halter classes hardest part is the preparation!


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## Blkjimni

Hey I want to add my two bits! I halter show Arabians and it is sorta the same as QH or Paint but they want the horse to realy show off, Snort and blow. They like to see the arabian turn it on in the ring but when it comes to standing them they should realy show with tone and respect. If they are trained well they will give there neck to show the judge the length. the rules are you can't black the hooves at all, no fake tails at all. now drugs of any kind can be used either. You can put shine on their coat and baby oil on their nose and eye lids. The horse is judged on condition and conformation. Attitude and classic arab type. I show at Class A and regional levels and it is a blast.
It takes a lot of training and 60 to 90 days conditoning just for a class A level about 6 months for regional and National level. I have black Arabians and they have to be treated like Vampires. No sun in spring or summer. Sounds mean but they get a lot of turn out time. during the fall and winter they get to go out in the sun. Its a lot of work but again I think it is worth it......................


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## shermanismybaby3006

he/she sry I dont know if its a boy or girl, but he/she is absolutely adorable! how old???


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## minihorse927

halter classes are all preperation, the class is really simple. With minis they have to be fully body clipped and an extra special face clipping. They are shown in the arabian style halters and shown similiar to the arabians. They want to see the horse has a "hot" attitude. If your mini is a deadhead, he will not even look twice at you. They want them to go into the ring and maybe let a little buck out when asked to trot and majority of them do not stand still in a line up, they are rearing and dancing. I will not let mine rear but I will deal with some of the dancing around. I only have one mare that stands like a rock when she is in a halter class.


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## Midwest Paint

shermanismybaby3006 said:


> he/she sry I dont know if its a boy or girl, but he/she is absolutely adorable! how old???


Well Thank you! She, has just turned 7 months. She is an sorrel colored Overo Paint. Those photo's were from her last weanling futurity show for the year. She was 4 months at the time, which made things extra challenging, LOL!

As for the show in the paint world, dead is great! There are all sorts of distractions and banners everywhere that babies love to come unglued about, LOL!

A typical show for halter, like the one I posted pics of can be quite a bit, and well planned ahead of time. With mine at time of birth, planning and work already starts. There is "fitting" to be done after weaning. Balancing their diet is a pain. If you notice in the pics, she had still a little bit of a "hay belly", which is something fun to try and get rid of, while enhancing the rest of the body. In spring, mine get their first clip. 2 weeks out they get a show clip and hoof trim by rasp. A day or two before, facial and ears (OMG, the ears are a challenge). The day before the show, bathing takes a few hours. Lots of clean up from what was left a couple weeks before on clean up. Once the bathing is done, then the whites can be attended to. Thats a whole other process. I complete a general color up of the hooves, along with polishing. Whiskers are trimmed and retrimmed on the ones missed. I also start the banding, and thats a long process. Trim the mane and then wrap the neck. On the day of the show, I wil do some touch up bathing where anything may have got dirty from sleeping. Take of any wrapps I have on, blankets and so on. Touch up coloring of the hooves and whites again. Pretty much the day of the show it is spent catching little things. I try to make sure the night before bed time, we can visit the arena and make a few practice runs, this way it isnt unfamiliar when its time to show. So theres a little of my world there, LOL!


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## Kirsti Arndt

Your pictures are great-what a doll!I want to teach Sonny that Arabian neck stretch for next year in Halter (just a local show). As he is a Perch X a long neck is not happening-but it looks awesome.


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