George Greasley, Open Show Judge and Halter Trainer, has developed a booklet on Showing the Halter Horse which is geared towards the beginner and immediate level horse person. The booklet is fashioned to fit inside a 3 ring binder for your convience. Price for the booklet is $14.95 (US Fees) which includes shipping (book rate), or $1.35 more if you want it to be sent first class or reside in Canada. Contact me for International shipping rates. This booklet covers the halter prospect,training, conditioning, grooming and showing. Showing covers actually being in the arena and what you should do just prior to entering the arena. Below is a brief section from the booklet.
To start, one needs to teach the horse the whoa command. This command is the foundation of the whole halter training program, as without learning the whoa, one can not expect the horse to participate appropriately in a halter class. How does one go about teaching this command? It's rather simple.
First lets gather the necessary equipment needed.
- Halter (web, not rope)
- Stud chain
- Lead rope
For showing, your halter should fit the horse right; a lot of people have the halter on too loose. Rule of thumb, the halter should lay half way down the bridge of the horse's nose, between eyes and muzzle, with some adjustment going up... never down: too far down makes the head look long, too far up gives the same appearance. The fit should be snug, (at least one hole tighter than your web halter. Jowls are accented by the jowl straps being placed directly behind them, (not on them but *behind* the jowls.) The side strap should be directly in the center of the jowl line going down the face. Up too high makes the eyes look too small, down too far makes the jowls look unbalanced. All end straps should be tight against the halter. Poll straps should be tucked into the rings directly below them (you dont want anything flapping).
After placing the halter on the horse, take the lead and lace the chain through the metal coupling on the near side (side you lead from which means the horse is on your right side), under the chin out the coupler on the off side, back to the ring by the rear of the horse's jowl. The chain must be long enough, do not try and use a short chain, as hooking to the upper halter ring gives the halter more stability. When you are done, the chain should be laying against the horse with no slack.
Section from placing the hind feet. Now we are going to start to place the hind feet. I like to teach my horses to stop on their off side rear foot first. Why? This foot is the farthest foot away from you when you are holding on to the horse and by stopping on this foot, you don't have to step around the horse to deal with placing the foot. Now you need to step back and view your horse as to where the hind feet need to be placed for the horse to look it's best. Personally, I like the hind cannons to be straight up and down (I know some people like to put the legs underneath slightly but I have never cared for it.) To achieve this, drop either an actual line or an imaginary line from the outer point of the horse's hip (hip here being the point of the buttock,) straight down to the ground.
George is currently working on a Showmanship booklet.
The projected publishing date is unknown at this time as George has had too many demands on his time to work on it lately.
There will be a notice posted here when it is available for order.
George Greasley
P.O. Box 1391
Deer Park, Washington 99006