Hello

I am starting a new topic because I would like to have your opinions on this .

As a breeder I try to produce versatile typey and beautiful arabians with lovely character. As a rider I use my horses under saddle and I am very proud of the results we have had so far with no so many foals on the ground.

I am tired to hear from clients or other people that there is the halter horse and the performance one. I agree concerning racing arabians because they are very specialized in a discipline ( however I find strange to change completely a standard and a look just for a discipline ) .

Here is my question : don't you think that a true arabian is able to shine everywhere, to go to the halter arena and then to carry a rider on trails or up to the fences ?

One of the main thing which led me to my breeder vocation is the versatility of this marvelous creature . Don't you think it is dangerous for the Arabian breed to be separated into the halter look and fashion and then the others who performs under saddle ?

Well I am hoping for your thoughts about that .

B?reng?re
Kenelm Arabians

Park and English pleasure horses are also specialized and not every horse can do this .... alot of people equate performance with those disciplines ,
as that is what they consider performance... here in north america there is lots of emphasis on halter and the breed is loosing it's performance abiliites hense the battle rages on ... the old breeders had it right they would show their horsesin halter and performance in the same shows these horses were versatile now with all these specializations the arabians are the ones suffering. BARB BARB

yes, but how can we stop the trend. i'm a distance rider, i can't use a halter horse. but half the breed looks like they couldn't step out of the show ring? so few working western horses that most use 1/2 arabs, same in several disaplines where purebreds used to florish.

then when distance riders have to break off and breed their own the sweepstakes folks cut us out saying we don't breed we use 'show ring rejects' well NO, AHA/AHR is kind of dense beyond the 15% of registered arabians showing in the MR.

it's not the horse it was 20 years ago and i wish somehow it could be?

Hello

Thanks for your replying .
How to stop the trend ? Well, I don't know.

Maybe that if halter fans were also riders we can have some changes .

Maybe if we try to preserve the essence ofthe arabian , his real qualities it could help also .That's a very hard task and challenge.

As I ride my horses on trails and in various disciplines I need some characteristics that I have to preserve , I am not looking just for an halter horse.
I did some endurance rides some years ago and I know it is also a real specific market, in France we have bred some great ones but for sure I can't imagine these ones on a ring ! And most of the halter horses I see today are not built for riding purposes .....

It seems the situation is really complicated !

Any other thought ?

Thanks again
B?reng?re
Kenelm Arabians

well that's it, theres alot of people who don't ride, can't/don't care too. and like other breeds etc there has developed a sole halter horse.... the 1 performance point required for horses to show halter in maturity is such a big joke. perhaps those 'non riders should be encouraged to show 'mini's'? seems we can't get away from the 'living works of art' thing that near destroyed the arabian horse. but since most of the AHA/AHR are holdovers dreaming of those days we won't.

Does anyone think the trend might be swinging back to the using horse? Look at the stats--there is less disposable income, less land, less time, more stress, etc. People who want horses will probably want a horse that can do both halter and be ridden in some form--even if it's just trail riding on the weekends.

I still think there will be people who do halter for the sake of doing halter and think that halter is the be all and end all (insert whatever discipline for halter that you want) but their numbers are on the decline! I wouldn't worry too much about them.

i think perhaps more and more using horses will exsist, they will not be AHA members and may more and more not be registered horses.

B?reng?re,

Great topic! I agree completely - Arabians are supposed to be able to do it all, and I believe that we have created these "specialty" horses for halter now, at the expense of the horse. There is a big difference in what I see being pinned in Europe vs. being pinned here sometimes - the photos that Toskhara took in Poland show functional beauties. Horses that can win in halter, and do - then be ridden in performance classes. They have type, presence, and athleticism.
These are just my thoughts, but I really think that we as breeders have become so narrow-sighted in our quest for the Perfect Park/WP/Hunter, etc. horse that it was taken to the extreme. I think we forget that Arabians can and will do almost anything, given the proper form and function for it - but the horse may not excel perfectly in each discipline.
For example - we do take our stallion in halter and performance - he goes into his first WP class this weekend, after his halter classes. Now, my trainer things at some point he'd make a nice hunt horse too, but our big goal is reining. That seems to be his love - and he has enough natural talent to be taught to do it very well. Do I expect him to be a perfect halter horse, or WP horse, or hunt horse? No, but I do expect he'll be able to perform in each discipline very well - because I know he can.
I realize he is not what I hear people term a "halter" horse - but he has done it, and won.
So, my point is this - we need to look more towards a variety of disciplines rather than producing such specialized stock. There are some very specialized categories that require a certain type of ability as was stated earlier, yes. Look at Al-Marah Arabians - her horses do working cow, reining, hunt, and the list goes on - including halter. Those are the same type of lines she's been breeding for years - well before I was born - and she has produced champions in all kinds of disciplines. That really says a lot for Arabians, and Al-Marah's program.

Ann

There is an Arabian that is a Halter Horse & is a Performance Horse......one in the same.

The FAME VF+ Horse!

And The FAME VF+ Horse is equally decorated in both realms of the Arabian show world.

Maz

that is the problem

the arabian horse world in north america is so polarized right now one dissess the other just to spite them .. it's the bite the hand that feeds them syndrome
insport horse classess in noe arabian sport horse venues do the in hand or halter classes but the halter classes are showing form to function and then as they get older they have to prove them selves in performance before they can become breeding animals IE) the german verbands or stud registries these horses have stringent performance an d conformation testing before these animals are even looked at as breeding animals

they do minimum of 30 day testing and to have a stallion and mare approved for breeding, thos ehorses have to meet certain goals and criteria set up by the registries.
as a newbie to the arabian horse world i swore i would not show at any AHA sanctioned shows and I decided that as much as i want to I will not breed any more after Sarri has what i pray for is a filly by *Nefison... and believe me i had a wonderful line up of stallions for Sarri but there's so much hastle to all this that If i do breed it will be for me and my goals which are therapeutic riding horses endurance horses as well as paralympic horses so that others can enjoy my horses .