appeal . My preference is for a balanced horse that enjoys his job and has expression . I will caution with baiting do not pull or allow the horse to creep too far forward so the horse ’ s weight is off his hind legs with most or all the weight in the front . The halter horse needs to remain square and balanced on all four feet .
The horse is required to complete all elements in the class . If the horse does not trot , I will call them back and give it a second opportunity . If it does not trot at all , it is refusing an element of the class .
I cannot comment too strongly on the rearing and flipping horse because I was not at the show so I ’ m not certain of the scenario . In halter we are judging conformation as long as the horse does not disqualify itself for fractious behavior that is how the class will be judged .
18 Miniature Horse World SUMMER 2017
Karen Sholten Maas Attentive ears add to the overall picture of your horse . I believe every horse ’ s appearance is enhanced an expression of attention and confidence . While there is no checklist for “ ears up ” or “ ears down ” on our judge ’ s scoresheets , ear position and attitude can affect our overall view of an individual horse . Further , sour ears are a detriment . They elongate the appearance of the head and take away from the horse ’ s overall pleasant picture . Good ears won ’ t win in the absence of correct legs , balance and harmony , overall correct conformation , and quality movement , but in strong competition everything contributes to the “ big picture ”. Will we , as judges , fault a horse for lack of attentive ears ? Not necessarily , but we cannot give credit for the lack .
The trot is fifty percent of the required gaits . No trot shown leaves us without the ability to give credit for that horse ’ s way of going in that gait .
Halter horses are judged “ on the priority of : 1 . Conformation 2 . Quality 3 . Presence 4 . Way of Going 5 . Type ” ( AMHA rulebook page 102 )
Judges are required to examine the movement of each horse in a halter class at the walk and trot . “ Horses must be serviceably sound or be disqualified for that class ” ( page 103 ). The trot is the gait of choice for determining soundness or observing lameness - if we don ’ t see trot we cannot assume soundness . The same is true for “ way of going ”.
In answering this question I must say that individual judges seem to have different levels of tolerance for misbehavior in the halter class . Of course any horse that is dangerously unruly , or presents a possible danger to other entries and show personnel must be excused from that class . Lesser misbehavior is taken on a case by case situation . A youngster in a cool morning class may be full of himself and be unwilling to stand . A stallion may be teased by mares in heat , or a green horse may be utterly overwhelmed by the whole show atmosphere . We are experienced and able to “ judge on the fly ”, and can deal with a moving target . However , we should not excuse behavior that is not in accordance with the Standard of Perfection ( pages 3-5 in the 2017 AMHA Rulebook ), which specifies that desired temperament is a horse that is “ gentle , sensible and willing to cooperate ”.
Good behavior is credit earning . Misbehavior is to be taken into consideration as part of the big picture , and degrees of misbehavior are subject to judges ’ discretion .
A polite , obedient , cooperative horse that sets up promptly and shows interest and desire to please together with pleasure at being admired is hard to fault and easy to credit .
Please remember that there are a very large number of factors in judging halter horses consistently in a reasonable amount of time . All judges have an understanding of horse behavior and are very unlikely to have a knee-jerk reaction such as , “ I couldn ’ t use that horse because it didn ’ t “ wear ” its ears ” or , “ it would have been first if it had trotted ”. That is a bit too simplistic , sorry ! We have to balance all these components against our body of knowledge , the contents of the rulebook , and the quality of the other horses in that class . It is not an easy job , but it is a GREAT job !