For the last week or so I have been busy working with Peppy to get him ready to show in a halter class. Now, I know he isn't your standard halter horse; he's bred to be a cow horse and reiner, but he is nicely built, and the main reason I am doing this is to get him out in the public so that we can find the right buyer for him. We'll do a trial run at a local fair open horse show, and if all goes well, we will take him to the AQHA show in Red Deer this month.
He is doing really well; he leads beautifully, even at the trot, and is doing quite well at standing square. He lets me place his feet if they aren't perfectly where I want them, and stands still for a good while, even when he can hear the other horses calling him. I am getting him used to being away from mama so that weaning time won't be too stressful for him.
If any of my readers have shown weanlings at halter, I'd appreciate some advice. I plan on clipping his face and legs; how much bridle path will I need to clip? What do I use on his hooves?
Will a nice new, well fitting leather halter do or will I need one with silver on it? What do I do with the chain on the lead shank- attach it full length or double it back on itself? Do I have to wear a jacket?
Any comments will be appreciated!
4 comments:
Girl, wish I could help but I have never shown horses!
Brown Eyed Cowgirls may be able to help she has shown horses! Check with her!
Love your blog and Peppy is a handsome fella!
I can answer some of your questions. I show off and on at smaller shows to get my youngsters out in public. I have never shown a weanling, but I imagine it's much the same.
A jacket is nice. Not required, but I wear one in halter or showmanship, a black fitted jacket with my best blue wranglers. A nice dress shirt will work too, depends on whether this is a big show or not. Big shows, gotta have a jacket.
A good fitting leather halter is fine. Silver is optional, but they're looking at the horse, not your tack. Sometimes too much silver detracts from a beautiful head. Just make sure you and your horse look neat and well put together.
The chain should go in from the left side, under the chin, then up the cheek. You should have some chain left over. This is the standard.
Some people also just loop it where you'd normally hook your lead rope and don't run it under the chin, if they have a very sensitive horse. Your choice. I'd practice both ways and see how the rest of your class is doing it.
Bridle path, the rule is no further than the ear folded back. That's where I clip to.
Hooves. I (being a farrier) like to take a nice sanding block to the outside first, then paint with either clear or black (get it at your local feed store usually) depending on the color of your horses hooves, from the coronet down. If you need to, rasp your edges nicely if they're chipped.
Hope this helps! He sure is a nice looking animal :)
God Bless
One more thing. The hoof polish, with Peppy I'd go black. Looks like he's got white feet in back and black in front. All 4 need to be the same color, so I'd go with black in his case.
Thanks, Mikey.That helps; I'll try the chain both ways and see what works. Weanling halters have small hardware so not sure if the chain can go through the cheek piece. He let me clip a bridle path, but not the ears yet, we're working on that.
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