ISH showing : Riding Horse, Hunter or Sports Horse? Pic

[Kallibear]

Hi
I've not posted on here for absolutely ages.

For anyone who remembers me buying the scruffy scrawny orange baby from Ireland a few years ago: he's not quite so scruffy or scrawny any more! But thankfully still orange.

We're off to a show at the weekend and he's entered into the Novice Ridden class, where he'll no doubt behave beautifully as usual yet ruin it all by headshaking. Ach well, it's an outing.

However we have loads of time to kill later in the day (waiting for travelling companion's classes) so though we'd enter an inhand class but I'm not sure which one to put him into so opinions would be welcome.

The choice is Sports Horse, Hunter or Riding Horse.

He's covered in scars so I've no visions of glory but he does scrub up nicely and likes to strut his stuff.

He's 17hh and a real ISH if that helps: TB x ID. He's pretty bouncy and prancy when excited but not WB style prancing movement. He's powerful, long striding and ground covering without too much elevation

 

[Nappy Croc]

Sports horse or LW hunter I'd go for hunter

 

[AdorableAlice]

i doubt there will be an in hand class for a mature horse other than veterans.

 

[conniegirl]

Alice you are clearly VERY out of touch with local showing.
At county lever there is unlikely to be but at local level there is normally loads of Inhand classes for mature horses.
There is normally a generic Inhand horse class, an Inhand hunter class, an Inhand partbred class and occasionally an Inhand sports horse class all of which the above horses can do!
Normally at local shows the Inhand classes reflect the ridden classes

 

[AdorableAlice]

Alice you are clearly VERY out of touch with local showing.
At county lever there is unlikely to be but at local level there is normally loads of Inhand classes for mature horses.
There is normally a generic Inhand horse class, an Inhand hunter class, an Inhand partbred class and occasionally an Inhand sports horse class all of which the above horses can do!
Normally at local shows the Inhand classes reflect the ridden classes

I stand corrected then. Although quite what an in hand generic class is would be beyond me.

 

[Crackerz]

Alice you are clearly VERY out of touch with local showing.
At county lever there is unlikely to be but at local level there is normally loads of Inhand classes for mature horses.
There is normally a generic Inhand horse class, an Inhand hunter class, an Inhand partbred class and occasionally an Inhand sports horse class all of which the above horses can do!
Normally at local shows the Inhand classes reflect the ridden classes

Agreed!

I run a large lcoal show, all our inhand classes mirror our ridden, so that's cobs, hunter, riding horses, coloureds, riding club horse, M&M etc

 

[conniegirl]

I stand corrected then. Although quite what an in hand generic class is would be beyond me.

The wording for the class is normally "Inhand horse over 14.2hh"
No type specified so it's open to any horse at all

 

[Kallibear]

Alice you are clearly VERY out of touch with local showing.
At county lever there is unlikely to be but at local level there is normally loads of Inhand classes for mature horses.
There is normally a generic Inhand horse class, an Inhand hunter class, an Inhand partbred class and occasionally an Inhand sports horse class all of which the above horses can do!
Normally at local shows the Inhand classes reflect the ridden classes

There is indeed numerous inhand classes. They are always more popular than the ridden classes as they don't require your horse to actually DO anything useful Hence me taking the ginger ninja into one. They're an extremely good money maker for charity shows.


I can't decide which one tho. He's a bit sporty to be a hunter and a bit too hunter to be asports horse?

 

[TelH]

The wording for the class is normally "Inhand horse over 14.2hh"
No type specified so it's open to any horse at all

I've seen this class several times at local level (and in hand pony too, obviously). In my experience you turn out to type and get judged as that. My old mare was a riding horse, we used to do in hand veterans and in hand open horse, I turned her out as a riding horse.

I do in hand pony sometimes now, you get a mix of M+Ms, show ponies, hunter ponies etc in it.

 

[Luci07]

Not keen on in hand showing. I tried it with an ex baby racehorse (all 17 hands of him). Lots of practise and he was wonderful at home.

Remember the cartoons where the person is having to do big leaps into the air.. well that was me, hanging on for grim life, with a horse that seemed to have grown a couple of hands. Very funny for the audience, very tiring for me! Never EVER again..

 

[ester]

In hand classes at our RC show were always heaving, much more than the ridden!
Sports horse for me kalli.

 

[AdorableAlice]

Not keen on in hand showing. I tried it with an ex baby racehorse (all 17 hands of him). Lots of practise and he was wonderful at home.

Remember the cartoons where the person is having to do big leaps into the air.. well that was me, hanging on for grim life, with a horse that seemed to have grown a couple of hands. Very funny for the audience, very tiring for me! Never EVER again..

Been there - with a retired hunter in his 20's, what a good idea, he would enjoy a veteran class just down the road. A paragon of virtue for his entire life from a 3 year old with me, my soul mate, hero and pride and joy. He was also snow white in his old age so did not blend in anywhere.

Leapt from the top of the ramp, I went down on my arse. He was beautifully turned out in his double bridle, all 16.2 of RID. This was a horse mannerly enough to lead a pony each side of him in the hunting field. I got into the ring with lots of others and caused total havoc, he towed me, barged me, bucked and squealed like a two year might. By the time I had walked around the ring twice I was fit to have a heart attack. He was third and the judge called him 'a jolly old boy'.

Then he refused to load to go home. He never ever refused to load in 20 seasons of hunting. I feel exhausted just writing what happened down on here !

 

[Red-1]

What a gorgeous face! Very characterful.

I would do the sports horse with him.

 

[JJS]

I would also enter him for sports horse.

 

[Elf On A Shelf]

Been there - with a retired hunter in his 20's, what a good idea, he would enjoy a veteran class just down the road. A paragon of virtue for his entire life from a 3 year old with me, my soul mate, hero and pride and joy. He was also snow white in his old age so did not blend in anywhere.

Leapt from the top of the ramp, I went down on my arse. He was beautifully turned out in his double bridle, all 16.2 of RID. This was a horse mannerly enough to lead a pony each side of him in the hunting field. I got into the ring with lots of others and caused total havoc, he towed me, barged me, bucked and squealed like a two year might. By the time I had walked around the ring twice I was fit to have a heart attack. He was third and the judge called him 'a jolly old boy'.

Then he refused to load to go home. He never ever refused to load in 20 seasons of hunting. I feel exhausted just writing what happened down on here !

The old ones are always the best! Bless him! LOL!

 

[eggs]

Crikey, shows how many years it is since I last went to a local show as the only in-hand classes for adult horses tended to be just best condition and veteran!

 

[Kallibear]

Been there - with a retired hunter in his 20's, what a good idea, he would enjoy a veteran class just down the road. A paragon of virtue for his entire life from a 3 year old with me, my soul mate, hero and pride and joy. He was also snow white in his old age so did not blend in anywhere.

Leapt from the top of the ramp, I went down on my arse. He was beautifully turned out in his double bridle, all 16.2 of RID. This was a horse mannerly enough to lead a pony each side of him in the hunting field. I got into the ring with lots of others and caused total havoc, he towed me, barged me, bucked and squealed like a two year might. By the time I had walked around the ring twice I was fit to have a heart attack. He was third and the judge called him 'a jolly old boy'.

Then he refused to load to go home. He never ever refused to load in 20 seasons of hunting. I feel exhausted just writing what happened down on here !

No, absolutely not. We are NOT having that tomorrow. Words like be had. I can't run fast enough as it is.


Sports horse it is. Turn out hunter in hand will probably clash with the pony's class so problem solved.

Now. What do I need to do for Sports Horse?! Is that not the silly on one where you dress up all in white?!

We trittrot inhand beautifully (actually that's not entirely accurate. He bounces along in a ridiculously powerful medium trot. I sprint beside him as fast as possible in an entirely undignified manner. Thankfully he's extremely bidable and polite and slows down at just a 'whoa'. ). We've never done any of these triangle dodahs or whatever it is Sports Horses do.

 

[Molly'sMama]

You have to do the triangle??! ooh i actually know about this, we do it with the haflingers now. im not 100% sure you'll need it at a local show though but if you do...

it's a triangle! �� so you trot calmly up the left side (\) the regather yourself- i always pause, turn the horse away so i can get a straight line, then GO!! big extended power trot along that top flat line, stop at end, turn, then trot calmly back down the (/)

some people wont stop at the turns but ime this just unbalances horse/handler and you are allowed to stop

let me see if i can attach a diagram
edit : attached, so yeah, bit rough lol but thats how i tackle triangles, turning etc

 

[Kallibear]

You have to do the triangle??! ooh i actually know about this, we do it with the haflingers now. im not 100% sure you'll need it at a local show though but if you do...

it's a triangle! �� so you trot calmly up the left side (\) the regather yourself- i always pause, turn the horse away so i can get a straight line, then GO!! big extended power trot along that top flat line, stop at end, turn, then trot calmly back down the (/)

some people wont stop at the turns but ime this just unbalances horse/handler and you are allowed to stop

let me see if i can attach a diagram
edit : attached, so yeah, bit rough lol but thats how i tackle triangles, turning etc

Thanks! We could manage that. He's extremely well behaved inhand so calm trot won't be a problem.

Is the triangle marked or do you just make it up out of the space available (bit like a showpiece). Presumably the steward will explain the plan.

I'm just hoping it's not meant to be whites. Cos that's not happening. We'll be turned out as a Hunter because that's the turnout I have. I'm sure it'll be fine.

 

[Molly'sMama]

it's marked out with flower pots at each point usually

 

[Kallibear]

It wasn't

The ring was quite small so it was basically just a normal trot up.

Judge was lovely. Her first words 'wow, he's big'. Closely followed by 'he's still got lots of growing to do' . Shhhhh, I don't want to hear that!

The last time I showed him inhand was as a (smaller) 2yr old. Everything else I've shown has been ponies. Turns out to be much harder with 17hh+ of big Orange horse cos you can't see ANYTHING. I can't see over his back even hopping up and down and I can't see under his neck without some serious contortions. How are you meant to see where you're going or see steward instructions?!

He is apparently a true Sports Horse type unlike quite a few others who where hunters. Apparently he moves like one (yes, I know, I was running with him unfortunatly) and 'I bet he jumps' (eh, yes. Gates and fences mostly...... see all those scars?....You should have seen him earlier clearing the tiny Riding Club Horse jump.....)

He was placed 6th, which I'm very happy with. He's not got perfect conformation, he'slean and lanky, he's got scarred legs and he wasn't particularly 'produced' (her polite words. Yup, he's been dragged out the field, brushed, white leg washed and mane hastily plaited). She said he'd have been placed higher if he'd be properly shiney, quartermarked, oiled etc, which is fair enough.