I've been wanting to do Sport Horse In Hand for a while with my horses now.. we finally have it at our shows but I can't find a trainer around here who knows how to do it. Every trainer I call just says I'm sure I can figure it out for you.. Yeah no. If I'm paying you you better know what you're doing.
Anywho... I know there are a lot of Sport Horse enthusiasts on here so I was wondering if anyone could help me out please?
I know you work on a triangle right? The horse has to be in a bridle unless under 3... that's about all I know. I've just looked it up on the internet.
Thank you!!

My husband got his SHIH training from a dressage instructor at an open dressage barn. The SHIH class is very closely modeled after the DSHB (dressage sport horse breeding) -including the stand-up, triangle, and basic scoring)- so a dressage trainer/instructor who is familiar with the DSHB classes (or even if familiar with WB inspection procedures which often use the triangle) can help with pointers/training. :-)

DVD of showing a sport horse in hand (USDF)

For some resources on SHIH:
Taming the Triangle

SHIH Showing Tips

SHIH Judging Criteria

USEF/AHA SHIH rules

Oh duh.. I should have that about that.
We have a couple pretty good dressage trainers around here. I'll give them a call.
Thank you so much!

Thanks from my perspective, too, DawnJL, as we are considering fitting up my new/older stallion just for fun in some open and possibly even SHIH classes. He is in such great shape, has a lovely attitude and would go a long way to give him an enjoyable, stressfree thing to do, get him out and about in the local community and such. I appreciate the "cliffnotes" provided.

Cyclone

Thanks for posting the links! I'm planning on showing my home-bred stallion Furia BP in SHIH once his registration is finalized. Until that point, I'm going to be practicing using the resources you've provided!






Thanks again!

Here is a video of my horse being show in SHIH. The person showing him shows in a lot of open shows and most WB inspections. He shows several Arabians.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jlBIitUHIGw

Ok so if I'm getting this right, I set my horse up for the judge then I walk around the small triangle and trot around the big triangle and set up again right? Also, a lot of the videos I'm seeing of the Arabians, the handlers are almost setting them like halter with their necks all stretched out and everything. I thought you weren't supposed to do that?
Thank you everyone for your help!!!!

I'm excited to read the links too, considering trying SHIH with a couple of mine! We took the sire of my 4 year old gelding to an open show a few years ago, and showed him in the halter class as a sporthorse. His owner was nervous and asked me to show him for her at the last second. I had no idea what I was doing, and was so embarrassed! He was braided, and in a bridle, and when I walked in, the judge asked for and expected a "halter horse" presentation! He even waved the clipboard at him to get him to stretch and blow, we were so confused! Then, two weeks ago, we went and watched SH regionals here, and it makes a little more sense to me, thinking back on just how the judge actually asked him to reach. They don't want the hard stand-up like in halter, the horses are stood up in an "open" stance (is that what they call it?). They want a balanced stance, and to have all four legs visible from a lateral view, rather than the fronts squared and the hinds split. And they don't ask them to rock back and stand up, nor to raise their heads/necks. They simply ask them to reach/arch forward (perhaps simulating reaching for the bit under saddle? Just a guess...) and ears up to look pretty. This is what I took from watching anyway. Can anyone explain the idea behind this? I have some thoughts, but since I don't know what I"m talking about, I don't want to ramble on with nonsense!

Okay, so I just read the links. I'm still confused on the stretching of the necks though, the one article said it was not allowed. However, I know I saw several horses presented this way at regionals. Like I said, they were not asked to elevate and stretch, but just to reach and look, however... Most of them that were asked to do this really stretched forward, arched their necks, and put on a show. So is it an unspoken expectation that they should still do this because they are Arabs, or were these people presenting their horses inappropriately?

One asks the sport horse to stretch his neck out and a bit down in order to show off his top line. It is ok to ask for this and even carry a bit of carrot to encourage it. The horse needs to remain relaxed throughout.You definetly don't want the horse to rock back and lift his head and neck up as in main ring halter. A good in hand horse has that bit of "look at me" about him with a sparkle in his eye and happy ears but he really shows himself when he moves the triangle which makes a judge want to ride him!