What showing type is my horse?

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silkec

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I would like to start competing my horse this year. We have done some dressage already, but I am not quite sure about the classes I should enter her into, when it comes to showing.
My mare is a Trakehner, and her movements are quite pretty and forward.

Who can help? (I am not sure if my picture will be showing, but I have a copy in my album)


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I'd say riding horse, but, you may find she is too foreign looking for some judges liking. :)


She's lovely though!
 
Angelina has quite a neck to show off, and I have been told a few times that she would make a lovely showing horse. It's the amount of different possible riding classes which are so terribly confusing.

We also have a pony, and it took us 2 years to find out that she is not a show pony but a show hunter.

Therefore it would be fantastic to avoid a similar mistake!:)
 
I judge & I would say 'Riding Horse' Alas a photo is difficult to judge, but try local level showing first, watch what others wear etc & ask advice from the judge. If you get a lot of good comments & you start to do well, then call me :-)
 
Thanks very much for the offer...much appreciated! If your offer still stand in 2 months time, I might have some feedback from other judges for you to work with.

We just had our pony in the veterans at the Royal Windsor, just to see once more that even judges at that level struggle to make up their mind about the "type"!
 
I'd say definately not hack from her photos, too much bone to her :) Stick with large riding horse I'd say.

Regarding the foreign comment, it really just depends on the judge. Make sure what quarter marks you do on her, work well with her backend and compliment it. She hasn't got a bad or weak backend at all, I'm not saying that, but just 'foreign' looking compared to the standard 7/8th types in the ring. If she has that 'extra' movement to her, then it can work either in their favour or against it - depending on what judge it is. Some will love it, but some might not. :)


My bosses old HW show hunter was a hano, he got quite a lot of stick for being foreign also, he was an exceptionally good horse with movement to burn and did very well and it what was made him stand out and be recognised for, but again, there'd be judges that loved him, and judges that still wouldn't go for him [Even after HOYS championships ;)].

Really good luck with her though, she is a very smart mare :)
 
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It seems that the majority of you see her in a riding horse class.

I will enter her for the beginning of June, and will report back to all of you!

Thanks!:)
 
It could be good attending a showing clinic if there's one near you possibly - take her along for a demo and see how a pro would turn her out - then you're set up for the rest of the season knowing what to put her in and turn her out like :)


Good luck!! :D
 
Thanks for all these great comments!

With the 2 years of showing our pony, I have learned one thing....
as much as I love showing, it remains a book with seven seals, and just when I think I have figured out one little aspect, some judge will tell me otherwise!

I will try and take all your comments on board...!:D
 
I would try a variety and see what works best - my friend did that and ended up doing really well at R2R although she originally started out doing hack classes.
 
silkec said:
Thanks very much for the offer...much appreciated! If your offer still stand in 2 months time, I might have some feedback from other judges for you to work with.

We just had our pony in the veterans at the Royal Windsor, just to see once more that even judges at that level struggle to make up their mind about the "type"!
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There IS no type in Veterans! The only criteria is that the animal has to be a certain age. So apart from having the usual complement of legs, head, tail etc, then you could have 50 different types in the ring.

On the other hand, the riding horse is a type and although different judges may prefer slightly different horses, overall they are all of a similar appearance.
 
oh she's lovely, large riding horse, smalls have to be 15.2 and under, large hack 15.3hh and under, does she have a life height certificate? if not have it done, some of the showing horses are flipping enormous and are measured in.
 
FMM said:
There IS no type in Veterans! The only criteria is that the animal has to be a certain age. So apart from having the usual complement of legs, head, tail etc, then you could have 50 different types in the ring.

On the other hand, the riding horse is a type and although different judges may prefer slightly different horses, overall they are all of a similar appearance.
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There certainly IS a type, according to various judges (I didn't want to believe it myself!!!!!!). Last year we didn't get placed at one of the VHS Regional for the simple reason "Your pony was the wrong type". And even at shows like the Royal Windsor, we have been marked down together with all other small show ponies/show hunter ponies as the judges (one being Claire Frost) only wanted heavy large cob type horses!!!!!!:mad:
 
No - that is not type for the class That is personal preference. As it happens the winner of the Olympia VHS final has been a hunter pony ... With so many type to choose from, the judge will always have a particular preference if the horses are equal in all other areas. Windsor is not a good place to take a veteran to. With 50 plus in the class it is almost impossible to judge and I think it is way to long for some of the entries who are not as fit as they should be.
 
FMM said:
No - that is not type for the class That is personal preference. As it happens the winner of the Olympia VHS final has been a hunter pony ... With so many type to choose from, the judge will always have a particular preference if the horses are equal in all other areas. Windsor is not a good place to take a veteran to. With 50 plus in the class it is almost impossible to judge and I think it is way to long for some of the entries who are not as fit as they should be.
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I hear what you saying...but we have heard that comment about the wrong type at a smaller Regional Qualifier with approx. 12 or 15 horses. We in fact started now making a list of judges, who like the pony, and place her among the first three, and the ones wanting heavier horses.
Unfortunately the Veterans are not always judged accordingly, I have to burst that bubble. Like any other showing class it is biased business! And we still love it... it' s like playing lotto!
 
silkec said:
We in fact started now making a list of judges, who like the pony, and place her among the first three, and the ones wanting heavier horses.
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That is the thing to do though, that's what the 'pick your shows and the judge' means.
Figure out which ones prefer the type you have and the ones who don't and pick your shows from that. I'm certainly not saying there's no glass ceiling, but, it's the same as anything else - play to your/their strengths. Every judge is going to have their own personal preference of what to place. As much as I hate to sat it, I'd fall into the category of firstly looking at the hunters first, as they're what I like best. Obviously, if they weren't correct or true to type amongst a range of other things, then placings would reflect that...but if it came to a true hunter veteran and a true pony veteran....I'd go for the hunter. But again, there's the flipside to that, in there will be another person who would choose the ponies first over hunters. Swings and roundabouts really. :)

If you ask around with a few contacts, I'm sure you could find out a few judges who would like your mare, and some that wouldn't...making her ring debut much easier ;)
 
Do you have any pictures from the side? If she's 15.3 I'd be tempted to say hack, as she doesnt look sturdy enough to be a riding horse. A lot of small riding horses have done well in small hunter classes, and for me she doesn't look to have enough bone.
Lovely horse x
 
Hello, I'm a showing judge too and I'd say Riding Horse. I also used to breed trakehners (many years ago, and not in this country - or UK), she's a lovely example - what is her breeding? Showing is a very specialised game (like the "seven seals"analogy!), and frankly a bit pointless unless you really want get into the whole fashionista aspect of it (and I don't just mean the clothes/tack/buttonholes/browbands/black vs brown/"foreign bums"/hats/gloves............I could go on)
 
Deseado said:
Hello, I'm a showing judge too and I'd say Riding Horse. I also used to breed trakehners (many years ago, and not in this country - or UK), she's a lovely example - what is her breeding? Showing is a very specialised game (like the "seven seals"analogy!), and frankly a bit pointless unless you really want get into the whole fashionista aspect of it (and I don't just mean the clothes/tack/buttonholes/browbands/black vs brown/"foreign bums"/hats/gloves............I could go on)
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I would love to hear you going on...:)
My horse is in fact a trakehner. Is there any classes you would recommend based on her breeding?
 
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