The IDEAL Halter stance...

[Rebecca]

By "rock forward" do you guys mean lean forward? Stretch the neck forward, or push the neck/chest forward? I have a problem with mine leaning forward too much (we finally fixed her parking out problem) and putting her neck out rather than up. Try as I might I can't get it up, out, and 'hooky' (although I KNOW she has a pretty neck, I've seen it when she squeals at new horses!!!!) and her ears almost never come forward, I've tried various treats, noises, crinkly bags, etc.

Great post! Learning a lot and gorgeous horses.

 

[Lisa Strass]

PAS, your Arab stallion is beautiful!

I think you'll get the mini look with no problem. Watching a couple of mini shows in person will also help you get a feel for what you want to achieve. You are right in that Miniatures (and Shetlands) are all shown square vs split. It's just the degree of parked out that varies.

I see you are in Oklahoma. The MHPBO Club puts on four AMHR/ASPC shows every year. We would love to see you at one of our shows! The dates and locations for the 2009 shows are:

April 24-26, Ada

May 15-17, Ada

June 26-28, Ardmore - This is the Area V Regional Show

July 18-19, Ada

 

[_minihorses4ever_]

I think this is a good pose for Romeo, my now two year old gelding..

 

[kaykay]

I only show ASPC/AMHR and I saw tons of people especially last year asked by judges to square up their minis. Just dont want people thinking that if they go to an AMHR show to park out their mini.

One thing about hooky necks is a horse is born with it or they arent. You cant create it and you cannot get a hook on a straight necked horse. Just wont work no matter what you do.

This girl got her goregeous neck from her sire D&S Nestlies Crunch who definitely has a hooky neck. Maybe Fran will post pics of him

 

[Margaret]

Lots of good ideas passed on here..

Its always best if you can get ears too.

Here's last years colt giving his best in a show stance.

 

[nysart8902]

I think that AMHR is leaning more towards parking out their horses like the Shetland ponies. In AMHA, the horses still need to be square.

I'm starting to get confused with all this now. I only show AMHR (there's no AMHA close to us), and most of the judges seem to want the horse square. At least a lot of the horses at the shows are square, or seem to be squared. I'm not sure I even understand why you would want to stretch the horse out so much to begin with. How can a judge say that the horse has good conformation if the horse isn't standing normal?

 

[countrycharm]

heres my boy standin up

and his foal from this season just starting with her she doesnt like to do ears yet

but at least we stand still!!!

 

[ruffian]

"I'm starting to get confused with all this now. I only show AMHR (there's no AMHA close to us), and most of the judges seem to want the horse square. At least a lot of the horses at the shows are square, or seem to be squared. I'm not sure I even understand why you would want to stretch the horse out so much to begin with. How can a judge say that the horse has good conformation if the horse isn't standing normal?"

In both registries horses are required to stand square. So in both AMHA AND AMHR miniature horses are to be shown squared.

 

[Leeana]

Straight from the AMHR rulebook...

The Miniature Horse is to be shown to its best

advantage. It is preferred that the horse stand square.

The Judge at his or her discretion may ask to have the

horse stand square, which means all four feet are flat

on the ground and at least one front and one rear

cannon bone perpendicular to the ground.

It is not REQUIRED for the horse to stand square, it is preferred and as stated the miniautre horse is to be shown to its best advantage.

How can a judge say that the horse has good conformation if the horse isn't standing normal

There is so much you can hide in a halter class....setting of the croup improves/hides a bad topline...many people fix hocks on a hocky horse, there is so much bad conformation you can hide by little tricks of the trade that if you look at the horse in the ring standing after all these things being fixed, then just look at the horse "just" standing sometimes it doesn't look like the same horse.

 

[PAS Hercules]

GREAT info. & GREAT pictures !!!!!

I see by the official rules there is some leeway, show your horse to it's best and total squaring isn't mandatory ( but parked NOT out like a Saddlebred either ! ), Ok that helps alot !

 

[nysart8902]

Ok. I'm not confused anymore

 

[PAS Hercules]

PAS, your Arab stallion is beautiful!

I think you'll get the mini look with no problem. Watching a couple of mini shows in person will also help you get a feel for what you want to achieve. You are right in that Miniatures (and Shetlands) are all shown square vs split. It's just the degree of parked out that varies.

I see you are in Oklahoma. The MHPBO Club puts on four AMHR/ASPC shows every year. We would love to see you at one of our shows! The dates and locations for the 2009 shows are:

April 24-26, Ada

May 15-17, Ada

June 26-28, Ardmore - This is the Area V Regional Show

July 18-19, Ada

Thank you ! He's my sweet boy

I am hoping to get Hercules' papers, if not, I am thinking of hardshipping him, if I do I will surely be attending shows ! I am checking into the club

 

[Minimor]

whitney--a goose rumped horse actually won't look good in a stretched pose. I've seen people try it, and the effect is quite revolting!

And it is actually possible to judge a horse's hind legs even in a stretched pose--if a horse truly has camped out conformation, that will be apparent whether the horse stands square or stretched--you just have to know how to look at the hind legs. Stood square, a horse should have his hind cannons straight up and down on a line that drops down from the back of his thigh. In a stretched position, visualize a line running along the back of the cannon up to the thigh--that line should intersect the horse's thigh. If the horse has camped out conformation and is standing in a stretched pose, a line run up the back of the cannon will not intersect the horse's thigh--it will shoot right past the horse's backside off into space!

As for AMHR judges wanting horses stood up square, it must very much depend on the judge. At our local R show the past two years I have commented that I notice the horses are being stood up stretched more than they were in previous shows--2 or 3 judges in 2007 (I forget which there were that year) and 4 judges in 2008 (one of those 4 is known to be a real stickler for following the rules!) and I saw only one judge ask for one horse to be stood up more square. The rest were judged as presented--stretched--and the stretched ones were often winning, so it didn't count against them.

 

[kkay3702]

i kno this is an older post but i had a decent picture of my mini

i hadn't done anything with his mane obviously this was taken before we had ever been to a show just practicing clipping. Totally newbies

heres one at our first show...completely clueless

Linda Best's "Max" is in the background

 

[disneyhorse]

I have shown AMHR for ten years and always showed my horses stretched out. Not stretched as far as a Modern Shetland, but yes, stretched out. Only had ONE judge in all those years ask to see my horse squared up. And it's just judge preference. In AMHR you may show your horse stretched or square, to it's best advantage. That's always how I have interpreted the rules and seen the rules enforced and interpreted by the majority of judges and exhibitors.

AMHA is much more strict about having the horse standing "square" but people sure don't do that for their ads

At any rate, I'd say the miniatures show parked out but not as extreme as the ponies.

Andrea

 

[Riverdance]

wow, being in a different country, i didnt think we would have showed so differently! Now i remember why we always taught our arabs to stack up (or "park" as you call it) when we knew an american was judging hahaha although must admit its getting popular again.This is how I normallt stand my big horses; with one hind leg back (just for comparison lol)

My minis are shown square, but not stacked/parked

Actually your Mini's are parked out there, they are supposed to be standing square for the USA. At least for AMHA. I notice that many of the AMHR horses are parked out, trying to get a flat croup. Ponies are shown parked out and since AMHR is a pony club and Mini registry, most tend to follow the ponies and park their horses out. Something that AMHA horses are not allowed to do.

Riverdance Scouts Black Tie Affair

In AMHA we keep them square. Since I have shown dogs for over 40 years, I tend to try and set my horses up like dogs, so they end up too much under themselves. The above picture shows how the photographer feels they should look for AMHA.

 

[sdmini]

AMHR may have horses slightly more stretched then AMHA but it's a matter of degrees. The different ways you can set up a horse will camouflage certain faults. Yes stretching will cause some hips to flatten out but will not help a goose rump (as already be stated) at all, actually making it worse. I've seen plenty of people push on the hips to try to get them to flatten out so it's not all about where you place the feet.

I was very happy with this colt. He is standing pretty square, with one foot slightly out. His head is up and out, I hate when the horse (mine included) has their neck is sticking straight out like a stick. It is not attractive and makes you horse look like he's going to fall over and throws off their whole balence.

Not as wild about this horses stance. His neck is almost at the "stick" angle I was talking about and his feet are close but not quite in the right position.

This one back legs are not quite where they should be and although his neck set is very nice if I could get him to "poke" (love that term) it would have been better.

This one is a bit stretched but if I could get him to rock forward it would have made for a better photo. (also is a great example of "too busy" halter.)

Guess that's about all I have loaded on the computer.