Where do you go for advice on showing?

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LostandFound

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This is going to be my first year showing AMHR and I'm having a hard time finding answers to what should be easy questions. Navigating the class lists, halter or stock halter, can I get away without a full body clip, if I need to do it when should I do it, nationals vs zone nationals, hats, even finding information on the shows has been difficult. There is a list but I can't seem to find any information online for many of them. And most of the information I do find is 10+ years old. Aside from the breed website can anyone tell me where to find the best, up to date, information?
 
What WE did when we first jumped in, was attend a couple of shows first. While there we picked people's brains who were obviously bigger farms and some trainers...... just don't do it when they have a horse being prepared to go into the show ring. And take note of what they are wearing, plus what show tack is being used. There are usually vendors there for both show tack and show clothes, unless it's a really TINY show. But, check them out.

Do you have an AMHR club in your general area? Are you a member? If not, become one. Other members will be helpful with your questions. Start showing at your closest location(s) and see how it goes. Your horse will have to earn points to qualify for the nationals.

Yes, your horse will need to be fully body clipped, so invest in blanket(s). We would do a rough clip about 4 to 6 weeks prior to the first show of the season, then do another one about 2 weeks prior, and a day prior to leaving for the show we'd do the last bath and a final, detailed clip......Once at the show, we'd do some more detail work on the horse's face/head, in preparation for doing the make-up. We rarely bathed the horse(s) AT the show grounds, but others did.

Be prepared to invest in a list of show supplies..........
 
Thanks. I'm a member of the only club I could find locally but it's more for 4-H kids and people with a pony in their backyard than showing AMHR. The nearest show is 2.5 hours away....if I go to just observe I miss my chance to show this year. So I may just have to fork over the money and hope for the best.
 
Our nearest shows are also that far away. And our club meetings were also hours away. If you feel your horse would be competitive and you can afford the show money and travel expenses, (no, it's not cheap), do it. OR, use this season as research and getting to know people as well. Do you have a county or state fair that you could show your horse(s) at? We would take our youngsters to the Oregon State Fair over the years to give them show practice and show off our breeding program.....plus it was fun! But again, the state fair for us is over 2 hours away.

BTW, to qualify for nationals, you'd have to earn points from more than one show. The registry rule book should give you the break down.
 
I'm not even sure if she will be competitive. I did finally settle on stock halter, but It was a hard choice because I'm not sure what is winning in aged mares or stock. Then again I was able to see how many horses were in the stock halter class last year and the year before and it looks like if we go it might make 3. Do you know what's the difference between zone nationals and real nationals? Zone nationals is close enough but not if I need 2 shows.
 
I am not sure just what you have looked.at on the AMHR site, but you should find current information there. They post a list of shows for the current year, and each one should have a contact email or phone number showing. The Area shows (which is what you are calling Zone Nationals I think) are much smaller than Nationals. The Area shows generally have one judge and triple points. You do not have to qualify to show at Area shows, and an Area show does count as a qualification show for Nationals.
 
You are right, they are calling them National Area shows. I got a bit mixed up with areas and zones and regions. I will blame that on my age. Each show has an email address and a phone number but no one ever returns an email and I avoid calling if I can. I must be getting old but it blows my mind that our little local club has a website and facebook page with all the rules, the class lists and even pictures after a show with 20 horses but I can't find information online about something they call a National Area show. Thank you though, if we don't need to qualify for that it does open up a second show for us.
 
If you want to be competitive in halter/stock or regular you will need to body clip. Horse needs to be groomed to the 9s. Depends on the horse's color when you should clip. I like to do about a week out to give them a chance to "bloom."

I've been showing rated and non-rated for the past 10 years or so. If you have any questions please feel free to private message me.
 
If I can figure out the messaging thing..... I guess we are up to 3 that we could go to this year now. Which does give us the option to go to one just to help fill a class and make fools of ourselves.
 
I agree with fourluckyhorses....Once you have started showing and the horse has gone through several clips, clipping a week prior to the show is a good idea - especially at the end of the season. I've just found that at the beginning of a show season, it takes about 3 clippings before their coat starts looking good.

When you decide that you are going to dive in and need some ideas on your Show List, let us know....There are several of us who can help with that.
 

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