AMHA is CLosing Their Books!! As well as a new Height rule change!!

[Riverdance]

AMHA just voted to close their books as of 2013 no one will be able to harship a horse in.

Also, they have voted to change where a horse is measured to help eliminate cheating

Now it will be in the little grove at the base of the withers. No more dying manes, or pushing on horses backs or sewing in more mane hair. Now maybe the horses will either loose their AMHA papers or be shown in the correct classes for now on.

 

[nightflight]

 

[muffntuf]

Do you guys do any drug testing for relaxing drugs so they drop their withers? That has gotten to be real common in other small equine breeds to make sure they measure in the smaller height classes.

 

[heart k ranch]

I better hardship my mares soon then. I have two that need to be registered!

 

[Alex]

i am very glad that they changed that! It needed to be done!

 

[nightflight]

I've been pulled for the random drug testing before. We do have it.

 

[targetsmom]

Am I the only one that can't find the "base of the withers"? Or is it because it is freezing cold, snowing, and all our horses are covered with snow (and several inches of hair)? But I had no trouble finding the last mane hair. There is supposed to be a groove there???

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

AMHA just voted to close their books as of 2013 no one will be able to harship a horse in.

I don't think that is a very smart decision. I'm one that believes the gene pool is small.

And I've never seen a little groove at the base of the withers.........

 

[mininik]

Wow. Does this mean Miniature Horses will have to be bred with appropriately defined withers now, or will they be bred to be sway backed so they measure ever smaller?

The latter shouldn't be a problem with such a small, (soon to be) closed gene pool.

 

[KenBen]

The gene pool is too small to close the books. We should be adding more horses in and new bloodlines. Could someone possibly post a photo pf this so call groove we have to measure to.

KenBen

 

[ThreeCFarm]

That is sad that we still can't measure like the rest of the horse world...

So, will they still be 34" and under? Or is that going to change to go along with the new way of measuring? I'm going to have to go out to see if I can find this "groove." Surely finding the highest point of the withers would be easier???? sigh...

 

[Riverdance]

At the base of the withers there is a little indentation. I think everyone will be taught how to find it, but it takes only seconds to find it.

The last hair of the mane created a lot of cheating. There are trainers who also show for AMHR who have sewn main hair in to make their horses smaller, they have dyed the mane as well as the back hair coat and sprayed it with hair spray to make it seem like mane hair.

This new rule will eliminate much of the cheating. Besides all of the people who have pushed and pushed on their horses back to make them drop their back. This can no longer happen. Unfortunatly, there will still be cheaters out there, who will continue to come up with ways to get their horse under, but this will make it much harder.

At the base of the withers there is a little indentation. I think everyone will be taught how to find it, but it takes only seconds to find it.

The last hair of the mane created a lot of cheating. There are trainers who also show for AMHR who have sewn main hair in to make their horses smaller, they have dyed the mane as well as the back hair coat and sprayed it with hair spray to make it seem like mane hair.

This new rule will eliminate much of the cheating. Besides all of the people who have pushed and pushed on their horses back to make them drop their back. This can no longer happen. Unfortunatly, there will still be cheaters out there, who will continue to come up with ways to get their horse under, but this will make it much harder.

 

[mininik]

Just for fun...

http://bp3.blogger.com/_SGy6jIXdDDw/RxNE4f.../Els20Aug05.jpg

I wonder what this horse would measure at under the new rule?

 

[Irish Hills Farm]

Does this not also make it that much harder to sell horses over seas? Wither would've been the smart thing to do.

 

[Riverdance]

That is sad that we still can't measure like the rest of the horse world...

So, will they still be 34" and under? Or is that going to change to go along with the new way of measuring? I'm going to have to go out to see if I can find this "groove." Surely finding the highest point of the withers would be easier???? sigh...

If we change it to measure at the withers (which was proposed) then many horses that measure in today, would no longer measure in. Many horses have higher withers than their back. This could create a real problem with many of the horses out there measuring and throwing 33+" horses. I have a mare, for instance, at the last hair she is 33 1/4", at the withers, she is over 34". She is a AMHA World Top 10, if we did the withers, she would be out as would many others. sS, yes, we are still at 34", but the grove is in the same area as the mane. A last mane hair can be just about anywhere on a horse, the grove is always aat the base of the withers.

 

[Erica]

Yes I feel AMHA will loose out on a lot of good horse flesh to be had by closing the doors; I can think of several AMHR horses that were hardshipping in just recently that are already making an impact........and there would have been many more.

While yes it may reduce of the "grade" or "pet" breeding happening, it's also going to reduce some of those really nice AMHR horses from being added to your gene pool, but that's just my opinion coming from someone who tries to bred the type of horse that I like, and as close to the best that I can, whether, 30" or 36". AMHA or AMHR.

So I'm guessing the new rule about measuring is for show purposes and for new horses being registered? As what about all your 33.5-34" horses that have already shown, got papers, production records; and they have a "dip" and it's measured at 34.5??

Measurements anywhere just need to be consistent; I don't show at worlds, but I watched measurements on many of horses, some horses were allowed to stand however they pleased, front legs a foot part, parked out, head held up; other people were not even allowed to stand square - horses were standing way up under themselves and measured on their withers (talking about last year when it was last mane hairs) this is not coming from an exhibitor who feels their horses were not measured right as I didn't have a single horse down there, but from a spectator and member of that association.

 

[mininik]

They could have hardshipped the previously measured horses in had AMHA chosen to measure correctly. It's not as though this new measurement isn't going to lead to cheating or some horses not measuring in.

 

[Riverdance]

Does this not also make it that much harder to sell horses over seas? Wither would've been the smart thing to do.

Actually, part of this request to change this was from overseas. They want it like this too. They have to follow the same AMHA rules that we have over here.

They just like the horses to be smaller than many that we have here.

 

[squeaky]

ok, read the rest of the thread and then editied mine. While I understand that many of the horses now that have papers can measure over if we were to go to using the top of the withers, but then, any new system seems like it would knock some horses out of the registry.

Thats the problem with a height breed. Like Erica said, there needs to be consistency with how the horses are set up to be measured. I have had times measuring horses where the steward hasn't even let me put the horses two front feet on the line before they started measuring. I have always asked for a remeasurement of the horse when this happens, but it needs to be changed.

Amanda

 

[Boinky]

*snort* still trying to make horses a height they really aren't. They should have just changed it to the top of the withers and been done with it. Have a "grandfather clause" for those those horses that measure over due to the new system but the new theory would be to breed even smaller from them. It's all just a big joke. I'm assuming they are refereing to the "dip" INFRONT of the withers? many mini's don't even have that and i've never seen a "dip at the base behind of the withers other than for their back..which also is another joke.