Ok. I guess I have to admit it to you guys now... lol! He really is kinda burned out on halter. He still looks alert enough, but he won't really hook anymore. That is my trainer showing him in the pic I posted, and that was like his 4th halter class at that show, so he was REALLY done with it. When I showed him in my halter class, he was more "up". I just don't have any good pictures of him, cause that arena is really hard to get pics in. I agree that he looks better in the rough clip pic (is it that obvious its a rough clip, Jill??? LOL). I know he can hook when he wants to, because we have some pictures of the McCarthy's showing him when they still owned him and he's hooked perfectly. I think he was just shown in too much halter and it bores him. And jetiki is also right- we have extremely hard competition for halter around here, with several BIG name trainers and BIG name horses. Thanks everyone for your opinions, were just gonna keep trying next year to get that point! (Our sanctioned show season is over for this year.) We are taking him to a couple of open shows this fall, so I'll be interested to see what he does there. And I'll definetly make him hook, wether he likes it or not! Lol!
This is what I was going to say. There is nothing "wrong" with your horse!
They do just get sour and tired of halter. A friend of mine has a gorgeous horse that was just not doing well this early year; however after adding some Liberty spice to his life, he is a much happier horse and went Res. Grand Gelding last weekend! Some times it is just something simple like that that will help change their feelings towards halter.
I love halter, but I also like my horses to last (because I show them for
years, called the "I'm poor and love my horses too much to sell them" show string, LOL). My halter two senior horses do not show halter every time we show; I enter them here and there through out the year. They both like halter, but to keep them as alert and as fresh to showing as I can, I always try to change up their class list. I jump them at some shows too, and always do liberty. I really try to let the horses have as much fun as I can. If they seem sour to any class, I'll pull them from it for the next show. I have a filly, (Heh, McCarthy's Lonesome Dove) who has had a GREAT year, showing in halter, nearly every weekend there for a while. When I bring her out next year, I think I'll only show her in halter to finish her HOF and in liberty for fun and give her some much needed time off. I'd like to take her to Nationals again, but giving her the down time she needs is important to me. I'm like you in that I like a good performance horse, and I like them to last!
And last but not least, a good horse can be "out shown" by a quality one depending on how they perform. I know my gelding Nitro is not the most pretty, or even correct horse out there, he's also quite thick... He's my awesome driving/liberty horse, who has 9 AMHR Grands and 69 points in halter! He places very well sometimes due to the performance he gives me. He sets up quick and gives great ears, neck and expression for as long as is needed, and this helps him out greatly. There are some gorgeous horses that he competes against, same as you, so I know my boy has been very lucky!
I met your boy when Ed had him and I really liked him then. I know he is nice enough to compete! I think all you need to do is focus on getting him fresh again. Take him to a show or two and don't even put him in halter, just try toy make it fun for him again
. That's my opinion anyways! Good luck!
