Horse showing question??

Question

So this year at our fair I want to show my 4yr old horse in showmanship is there any rules /guidelines i need to follow such as like how my horse should be groomed or what i should wear? and when the judge walks around my horse when do I move to the other side(kinda hard to explain), Thanks

Answer 1

Okay, for showmanship, they will want you to do a pattern, so make sure your horse will "set up" for inspection (square all four feet), pivot on a hind leg, trot off in hand, and back up.

For showmanship, you will want to dress in normal western show attire, except NO chaps!  An easy outfit would be black hat, show shirt, black pants and boots.  Wear sparkly studs in your ears, and make sure your hair is pulled back and neat, or put it in a bun.

For the horse, I would make sure he's clean, and trim his muzzle, ears, and bridle path, and shave the back of his legs and fetlocks.  Band his mane (look up some photos of some Quarter Horse western pleasure studs to get some examples), and trim the mane short.

For moving around the horse, think of your horse as 4 pieces.  You have the left and right side, and then behind the girth, and in front of the girth.  You always want the horse between you and the judge, but where the judge can see you.  So if the judge is on the horse's right side, in front of the girth, you should be on the left.  When they move behind that girth line on the right side, move to the right.  When they pass the tail and go to the left side (behind the girth) move back to the left.  When they move infront of the girth on the left side, move to the right.

So if you had a diagram of a horse and Left Front is A, Right Front is B, Right Hind is C, Left Hind is D, here is where you are if the judge is in that section.

A: right

B: left

C: right

D: left