Halter setup

[idahopinto]

I have a mini that I need to teach to setup for my son for showing halter at some open shows and pinto. How do you go about teaching them to setup?

Thanks for the ehlp.

TImmery

 

[txminipinto]

It can be hard to explain on how to train a horse via the internet. But I will do my best.

1) Teach your horse to whoa and stand off of you. You need to be able to step back from the horse so the judge gets a good view around the entire horse.

2) Teach your horse to respond to a stud chain under the chin. It's important to only apply pressure when needed and release it as soon as you receive the desired responce. Constant pressure on a stud chain not only hurts the horse, but also teaches them nothing. Horses respond/learn from pressure.

3) Once your horse accepts the chain, I then "seperate" the shoulders and hips with the ideal result is to manipulate each foot independently of the others with just the pressure from the chain. By slightly lifting the horse's head or moving it off midline one way or the other, you can shift weight front to back and side to side. This shifted weight allows you to manipulate the foot with the "less" weight.

Have I lost you?

It takes a lot of practice to make a halter horse "push" botton. My goal when I enter the ring is to stop and back the horse until the feet are about where I want them, AND THEN adjust the feet with the chain(it's easier to line the back feet up with the backing and then hand place the front feet). Sometimes, judges don't give you a whole lot of time, so manually placing the feet by hand works as well (and I use most of the time!). Youths I discourage from hand placing as it puts them in danger and can be frustrating for them. If they're close, I usually tell them to leave it alone and show the horse. I've seen horses win with their feet in perfect position and I've seen them win with all 4 feet in the air! :lol:

 

[idahopinto]

Thank you for the info. I show big horses in halter and Showmandhip so do know all about using the chain to place their feet. So thanks for the info on that.

How are minis setup? Square, stretched? We will be mostly showing our mini pinto. How do you go about teaching them to streatch after being set up?

Thanks so much for the info.

Timmery

 

[targetsmom]

If you are showing in Pinto shows, the style may be a bit different than it is for AMHA and AMHR - at least it is here in New England. Here, many people show their Pintos stretched far more than might be permitted in the other registries. The horse in my avatar was photographed at a Pinto show and she was not stretched as much as some. By the way, I am fairly new to showing myself so I will limit my advice to what I think I am qualified to comment on. If there was a photographer at the Pinto shows you plan to go to you might want to check their website to see how the exhibitors set their horses up. We also notice that almost no one shaves muzzles at our Pinto shows.

We love showing at the Pinto shows and wish you luck!

 

[Sandee]

First get the horse to understand whoa and then work on getting them to just stand still for longer and longer time. All that before worrying about "setting up". Next, your big horse may do this, think as you go what you want to do and time your feet with your whoa (as in whoa 1 [maybe 2 whatever works best], stop). Hard to explain but you must think about stopping and stop your feet so the horse takes it's cue from you. Hestitate a beat with the lead chain firm and slightly tilting the head up. All this helps him to get the STOP. Some will stop squarely just naturally and some you will have to work to get setup square.

After they've learned the stop, you should step out in front of them with the lead taut. Now you can "fix the feet to square. Next use a treat, a piece of hay/grass, your hat (if you wear one), crinkly paper anything to get their attention and get them to follow with their nose. You want to get the stretch just enough that their neck stretches and not their body. If they start leaning forward, they'll either step forward next or just look really silly at an angle so bump down slightly on the lead to get them to put the weight back on their haunches. You want the back as level as possible.

Yes, in Pinto their are people that stretch way too much but don't be fooled. Most of those judges know that's not right. Sometimes you get a judge that's never jusdged minis and they may say some strange things. I had one actually compliment me by saying "Wow, he looks exactly like a 'little' horse" - DUH! Had to bite my lip to keep from laughing!

 

[txminipinto]

I show pinto and we really don't stretch the minis. Hindlegs offset a bit maybe, but mainly square. In all honestly, I show each horse to it's best advantage. So if it looks better stretched, I stretch them. Ponys are different and more likely stretched, though I was asked to square my pony at World.

To stretch my horses, I set their back feet (all of my halter horses know the meaning of whoa!) and ask them to "step up" with their front feet a half to a full hoof length.