Disgusting

You are quite right. the in hand showing scene of arab horses is appalling imo and something needs to be done about it. I think that the majority of arab horse owners are as appalled as you are about it. However the folk at the top appear to lack the will to act. It's all about money imo. Very very sad. It gives the horses a very bad press as being highly strung and stupidly dangerous for the average Joe, which they are not. they are sensitive and intelligent and intensely loyal, which makes the practices in the in hand ring all the worse. I don't watch in hand showing anymore. It's far too upsetting.
 
I think that the majority of Arab shows, I would like to think, do frown upon this sort of handling, also the horrible in hand practice of holding the head out at an unatural angle they are also trying to get rid of. The Arab is such a gorgeous free moving creature (no I am not an Arab owner and nor do I want to be one, no offence to Arab owners) why do they have to whoop and shriek to make their horses move, the same also can be applied to Welsh Cob Shows but that is another thread which if I remeber got very heated and personal several months ago!!!
 
I'm an arab owner and it makes me so uncomfortable watching these types of shows.

My horse is such a beauty without all the whooping, shrieking, bag shaking... and if I ever took him to one of these shows (which I wouldn't) I can guarantee the excitement of being in a new environment would result in him having a right good prance and a show off in front of new people anyway - without all the added extras! Any excuse for him to show off to new people... ;)

Although to put a different spin on it, when I free school him I will sometimes shout something like "woohoo, look at that handsome boy!" and it makes him show off a bit more! He LOVES the attention! In no way whatsoever do I scare or goad him, even when ridden he bounces off my tone of voice and plays up to it! When new people come to meet him you can guarantee there are "oohs" and "aahs" and lots of fussing - he is in his element showing off to them, he can't get enough of it :)
 
I was at the Suffolk Show today, and not having seen Arabs being shown in hand before I was quite shocked at their behaviour in the ring. It is such a shame, I would have loved to have seen the horses moving freely, but they spent most of the time prancing about like loons.

What is it with the whip with the bag on the end too? What does it achieve and why are the handlers allowed to use it?
 
People who have arabs over 75% Crabbet already have alternative classes. In these no long whips/bags etc are allowed, and horses must be shown in a natural stance. There is also no noise from the audience bar clapping in the lap of honour. We are deemed a very old-fashioned lot though, even rejecting the modern 'exotic' arab breed lines.....
 
My grey is only 66.something% Crabbet and the gelding is even less, so don't qualify for Crabbet classes. I probably won't show them beyond local level as the aim is that they will be great ridden horses.

There was a very interesting interview with Eric Dorssers (Bluebell Arabians) about his concerns with the Arabian Halter scene and the training methods used in 'the Arabian Magazine' a couple of years ago. The shocking thing was that he had done a short piece for the magazine previously discussing how his training methods have changed over the years to kinder ones and he lost clients over it! Madness.
 
If as a group we can choose to show arabs like this, then it is down to what others choose to do in order to effect a change.
 
My Arab gelding did in hand showing at a high level as a youngster before I got him.
Consequently I can't go near him with a lunge whip'....he goes demented.

I will never show him....he's a riding horse now, settled and happy and I couldn't inflict that upon him.
 
It is very sad that such a beautiful animal can be abused like this. Showing people are beyond me!
 
Not everyone in the Arab showing world use such methods, there are some very good handlers out there but unfortunately they all get a bad press because of the not so good ones, I go to many of the AHS shows and I think they are much hotter on the bad behaviour now than in previous years.
 
I've booked tickets for the Cheshire Show and the friend I am going with likes arabs and obviously wants to see them. I expect I will see some of these practices first hand. I didn't realise there were separate classes for Crabbet line horses though. http://www.britishpathe.com/video/thoroughbred-heres-to-the-horse-reel-2/query/heres+to+the+horse

This film clip shows stallions at the Crabbet Stud in the early 1940s. What's wrong with arabs looking and behaving like that? Plenty of bone and substance and no seahorse heads smeared with vaseline!
 
It's a shame more traditional classes aren't there for non-crabbets. Maybe if organisers thought there was a demand they might put one in.

Unfortunately I know several arabs ruined in their minds from whip flicking round heads etc.
 
Plus the flipping people in the crowd stamping their feet, whooping and waving bags on sticks about.

I really love going to HOYS to watch the ridden arabians, but I've never had any desire to travel to a halter show.
 
Really wish I hadn't watched that, makes me so angry and can't believe how readily it is accepted by so many spectators and judges!

I don't have an arab myself but friends do and they are such lovely horses and really stand out, so why the need for such stupid tactics?

My Highland would not be impressed with all that going on and neither would I, it would most likely end in me getting kicked out! :mad:
 
I love Arabs but from reading this i doubt i would ever buy one that had entered a show ring like that!

That to me is plain cruelty and i would be going mental if people were waving bags around at a show i was at as its dangerous for the handler and the horse!!!

Some of the handlers as well!! :eek: I don't know what to even say!!!

Not impressed at all those poor horses!

(in relation to the video on a previous page!)
 
Pinkvboots said:
Not everyone in the Arab showing world use such methods, there are some very good handlers out there but unfortunately they all get a bad press because of the not so good ones, I go to many of the AHS shows and I think they are much hotter on the bad behaviour now than in previous years.
Click to expand...

That's good. I hope that the tide is turning in this country at least. I do like the fact that the AHS is against 'panda eyes' in their shows. I don't understand why people find it attractive to shave the fur from around the eyes off anyway.


ETA. I'm pretty sure that Ester Young's grey endurance horse used to show in halter classes before she had him. They can go on to have successful second careers, but I bet some need sensitive handling, especially at the start. I keep looking at Perlomo DD's video (look on the arabianlines geldings for sale section) and thinking that he'd be a smashing ridden horse, but he'll need someone very kind and patient to get him there.
 
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Yes Esters horse came from showing & had plenty of issues as a result. Seems to be a perception IMHO, if an arab isn't up to showing sell it for endurance. Unfortunately many inhand bred show horses aren't built physically & mentally to make good ridden athletes, why crabbets, who haven't followed the 'exotic' trend, still feature heavily in ridden showing (last years ridden hoys winner 100% crabbet, I used to ride a stallion about 85% crabbet who'd won hoys ridden & european reserve champ ridden). Such a shame, this breed should be a beautiful ridden horse who is sane, comfortable and thrives on work, the inhand scene seems to have lost this perspective.
 
Yup, Spud was an in hand show stallion in a previous life. He wasn't a happy boy :( The sad thing is, he is intrinsically idle and good natured, so heaven knows how much they must have stressed him out for him to behave as he did. The horse is a complete donkey left to his own devices. But just odd things will trigger him, even now. If a trot up at a ride is on grass and has been fenced off like a show ring, he'll spin and canter and revert to type. And, more telling, if he meets a human who has an attitude on them, he gets really upset, completely out of character. He does have a very finely tuned numpty sensor.
 
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