# What do judges look for in a stock type halter horse????!!!



## Midwest Paint (Oct 21, 2008)

With Halter, there is not a whole lot a person can do when it comes to the basics. It is based on confirmation. Now, that being said, preparation can be adjusted. Fitting well ahead before shows can really make a difference. A person wants to enhance the horses features can do so by adjusting feeds and physical conditioning. With the physical, work on each of the major muscle groups to build them up. Whats nice about physically building of the muscles, is that very minimal exercises can be done. You dont have to have long sessions or lots of them. I like to start mine well before show season, this way I can adjust or enhance and have plenty time to make it happen.

Halters.. I know this sounds retarded, but selecting the right show halter for the horse can be key. A while back I was reading up on Impressive's history. Did you know the first few seasons of his show career he was not placing well at all. Dinging him because of his head features, Impressive's owner picked up an arabian halter and started using that. It gave the appearance of a more deisrable feature, and Impressive went on to make history. Now that was something I found interesting, so I toyed with it a little in my own application. Due to Ember having some wild blue eyes, I change my show attire to blue prints and tie. I really wanted to bring that feature forward. It seemed to work in some cases and then hurt in others depending on the judge. Some judges are pretty traditional and find horses with blue eyes less appealing, even though color is not to have an effect on the show. Once confirmation has been looked up and squared against others of the same grade, then judges will move on to the next area to make their selection.


----------



## shermanismybaby3006 (Oct 10, 2008)

Wow that is very interesting about Impressive!!! By the way Your yearling is absolutely gorgeous! I am assuming that is her on your display picture. How old?


----------



## farmpony84 (Apr 21, 2008)

make sure the horse is clean and trimmed. polish those hooves and make sure you have a clean appearance. Try your best to square him up when you are in line up and other then that...

Oh... and not TOO much silver on your halter... Mine is really old, from the 70's but it's just perfect for my boy and I love it... Make sure your halter is leather, try not to use nylon... and a leather lead rope to...


----------



## Midwest Paint (Oct 21, 2008)

shermanismybaby3006 said:


> Wow that is very interesting about Impressive!!! By the way Your yearling is absolutely gorgeous! I am assuming that is her on your display picture. How old?


I know.. I found it really interesting myself. I will have to see if I can find that article and post it! And yes btw, that is Ember.. she is about 10 months old! And thank you.. the little stinker is hard for me to even resist, LOL!


----------



## shermanismybaby3006 (Oct 10, 2008)

Do you do paint shows with her?


----------



## Midwest Paint (Oct 21, 2008)

Absolutely.. I am pretty dedicated to promoting the breed. I have several paints I show with. Ember became my biggest prospect. Aside from being very excited when she foaled, I was extatic with what I got. As she started growing it became more appearant that there was a bunch of potential on four legs. 

She got to go to her first Futurity this last summer. This was a huge accomplishment because we went up against a lot of large high end ranch prospects, along with the fact she was the youngest by two months (many weanling shows the foals are at 6 months, while Ember was only 4 months). She was supposed to be in a seperate class with the younger ones, but there were none to compete against, so she was lined up with the older ones. Another competing factor was that her competition were "january" babies, which in many cases are paints that were actually foaled in december, and registered in january. This places an 07 foal in the 08 class, and gives a size advantage.

Ember has a busy season ahead of her this year. I am excited to see how she does! She will be competing in Halter, as well as Lounge Line classes. She has loads of energy, so she wont have any issues there, once she pays attention to whats being asked instead of wanting to go 100mph! LOL! I havent determined what is to come for her in the riding classes. It will have to be something that she has an interest in and does well at. I have my guesses, but we will see! LOL! Right now I am working on her halter and performance points, and as she ages, we will go from there.

When I bought mom, it was with the intention to promote her bloodlines. Mom is heavy on the Skip foundation, and dad is on the Mardell Dixon lines. Ember is double breed Mardell. With such lineage I couldnt see letting it fade off, so its been my goal to bring the lines back into the show world!


----------



## shermanismybaby3006 (Oct 10, 2008)

Thats awesome! i wish the both of you best of luck in your show career!
I have always wanted to show on the paint a pinto cirut, but I something has always gotten in the way of doing it. I am hoping to buy a new halter baby soon. I have to wait till we move down to texas though.


----------

