Horse showing with a light-colored horse? It’s hard, but not impossible, to keep those whites clean.

Follow these helpful tips for keeping your light-colored horse clean and shiny! Journal photo.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

Washing your light-colored horse is like doing laundry – just when you get caught up, you have to start over from the beginning. It’s not that light-colored horses get any dirtier than a sorrel or a bay, it’s just that they show every stain or spot.

We’ve all been there. You polish up your palomino, gray or buckskin and are ready for the show. You get everything packed and ready to go, and then you go grab your light-colored horse to load into the trailer. But when you get to your horse’s stall, you are instantly dismayed to see either stains you missed or new ones your horse just made.

Never fear, the Journal is here to provide helpful hints to make it easier to get and keep your light-colored horse sparkling clean. Read the rest of this entry »

Heed this world champion halter trainer’s advice on showing off your performance halter horse’s strengths.

World champion Buddy Laney demonstrates how to stand correctly when showing your horse at halter. Journal photo.

By Buddy Laney with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

The biggest misperception people have about halter is that bigger is supposed to be better. That’s not the way it’s supposed to be, and especially not in the performance halter. It’s form to function.

What I tell people in the performance halter is to fit your horse for his frame.

I don’t think you need to try to make a small-framed horse look like a big halter horse. And I don’t think you

need to make a heavier muscled horse look like a hunt seat horse. The best thing you can do it take advantage of the good parts of your horse and try to work around his faults. Read the rest of this entry »

Walk through an equitation over fences pattern with AQHA Professional Horseman Clay Farrell.

AQHA Professional Horseman Clay Farrell says that jumping square is the key for a successful, clean jumping round. Journal illustration.

By AQHA Professional Horseman Clay Farrell with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

To former Team Wrangler member Clay Farrell of Venice, Florida, the words “organized” and “efficient” are hallmarks of a great equitation over fences ride.

“The judges are looking for riders who can execute a course efficiently and cleanly,” Clay says. “Equitation is a preparation for executing a jumper course correctly – it takes good flat work and precise jumping.”

The Journal met up with Clay at the Fox Lea Farm Circuit in Venice, Florida. Preparing his riders for the youth and amateur equitation over fences classes, Clay let us listen in on a coaching session and a walk-through.

“Be efficient. Be organized,” he said, and here’s how he helped them plan to do just that. Read the rest of this entry »

In the quest for horse-showing points payback, an AQHA Incentive Fund competition license must be filed every year.

If you’d like to take part in the Incentive Fund and start earning money for your AQHA points, the place to begin is with Incentive Fund nomination. Journal photo.

Between training, shoeing, feeding, grooming and hauling, the costs all add up before you even get to an AQHA show. But what if there was a way to receive remuneration for every AQHA point earned?

Wait, there is a way! It’s called the AQHA Incentive Fund, and when it was created in the early 1980s, putting money in owners’ and breeders’ pockets was exactly what the founders had in mind. Read the rest of this entry »

Don’t get caught off guard in a horse showing pattern class.

Practice makes perfect in pattern classes, so be sure to work these maneuvers before heading off to the 2013 Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show. Journal photo.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

Will 2013 be your first time to compete at the Built Ford Tough AQHYA World Championship Show? Don’t get caught off guard!

The Journal asked some top AQHA judges and trainers what they thought you should know before you go if you’re going to face a pattern in horsemanship, hunt seat equitation, showmanship, equitation over fences or trail.

Check out their tips and “must-know” maneuvers. Read the rest of this entry »

What you probably didn’t know about the AQHA World Championship Show judges and judging.

Scheduling judges more than a year in advance is a major challenge for any AQHA world show but is needed to make sure the best possible judges are at the show. Journal photo.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

Last fall, when the National Football League referees went on strike, it became obvious to fans, players and coaches how important it is to have well-trained, consistent officials managing the games. Remember the controversial Hail Mary pass into the end zone during the game between the Green Bay Packers and Seattle Seahawks? The ball lands among a pile of players from both teams, with two substitute referees standing right there. One referee calls a touchdown, while the other official signals an incomplete pass.

That inconsistency – by untrained and unknowledgeable judges – is what AQHA wants to avoid. Read the rest of this entry »

You’re not going to win the World this year. Can you still have a good horse-showing season?

People who don’t win world championships can still have productive, successful, fun-filled horse-show seasons. Journal photo.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

Let’s face some unpleasant facts. Fact one: only a few people win world championships with their horses each year. Fact two: This year, that’s not likely going to be you.

So far, these facts are probably disappointing.

But here’s another fact: People who don’t win world championships can still have productive, successful, fun-filled show seasons. How? They set realistic goals. Read the rest of this entry »

Walk through the 2011 National Collegiate Equestrian Association finals horsemanship pattern.

This complicated pattern can be broken down step by step, and it becomes much more manageable. NCEA pattern, courtesy of Beth Bass.

By Beth Bass with Larri Jo Starkey in The American Quarter Horse Journal

In National Collegiate Equestrian Association (formerly known as Varsity Equestrian) competition, college athletes get a four-minute warm-up period before they ride a complicated pattern on a horse they have never ridden before.

Texas A&M University horsemanship coach Beth Bass talks through the maneuvers of the finals pattern that was used in the last day of competition at the 2011 national championship. Beth’s Aggies won the western title, as they had for  the previous three years.

After you read through Beth’s thoughts on this pattern, try it with your polished horse, then imagine getting it right on an unfamiliar horse. Read the rest of this entry »

Heed these tips for getting to the horse show, happy, healthy and safe.

Follow these helpful tips to ensure your horse arrives safe and healthy at the horse show. Journal photo.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

There is an old saying among touring rock ’n’ roll bands that goes something like this: “What happens on the road, stays on the road.”

Devised to keep peace with those back at home, this playful old adage seems to work in practice. (Most of the time, at least.) Sadly, horse owners cannot be so carefree. When traveling with horses, what happens on the road can come back to haunt you for a long, long time.

Competitive riders face two main challenges: maintaining their horse’s health while in transit, and ensuring that the horses are ready to compete once they have arrived at their destination. Dr. Catherine W. Kohn, professor at Ohio State University’s Department of Veterinary Clinical Sciences, advises riders and trainers to allow for plenty of recovery time between the arrival date and the first event. Read the rest of this entry »

With the correct technique, even a wooly beast can be clipped into shape. Here, tips on clipping your horse’s ears:

A well-clipped ear takes some time and practice, but completes your show pen look. Journal photo.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman Margo Ball with Christine Hamilton from The American Quarter Horse Journal

For a lot of people, coming into show season off the winter months means you have to deal with a thicker coat when you clip your horse for those first shows. As a judge, I see a lot of poor clipping jobs on horses with heavier coats that have lines that clearly show where the clipping begins.

But I’ve show-clipped a lot of horses with thicker coats, and you can make them look as neatly clipped as any horse with a summer coat. I’ll show you how with this mare. It’s early in the year, and she hasn’t been kept in a heated barn; we’re going to clip her for the first time this show season. Read the rest of this entry »

Top tips on introducing someone to this popular horse-showing event: halter.

Follow Denny Hassett’s tips to get started in showing halter horses. Journal photo.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

To say that 2010 Don Burt Professional Horseman of the Year Denny Hassett of Auburn, Kansas, has shown a few halter horses would be an understatement. So who better to ask the question: I want to start showing a horse in halter, but where do I start? Read the rest of this entry »

Horsemanship patterns today draw from a variety of western events.

The 2011 AQHA World Championship Show amateur western horsemanship finals pattern. Journal photo.

By former AQHA intern Abigail Boatwright in The American Quarter Horse Journal

Horsemanship spectators at the 2011 AQHA World Championship Show were treated to decidedly different patterns than in past years. Cones were sparse, circles were fast, and during turnarounds, many riders nearly paid tribute to reiners. This is a new era of horsemanship, and riders are rising to the challenge. Two AQHA Professional Horsemen and AQHA’s director of judges shared their insight on today’s horsemanship patterns and the challenges they present. Read the rest of this entry »