:lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol::lol:
Sounds like a typical sport horse person. If they aren’t comatose, they are scared. Go to an Arab show in person. Please. Learn to read some body language besides “long and low.”
The third horse in the ring (the chestnut) would be welcome in my barn any time. What a gorgeous horse!
It may be Djohn’s thing, but that don’t mean it’s a good thing.
those horses aren’t terrified. They’re seasoned show horses who know exactly what’s up.
So I had a few minutes and watched the whole thing in real time.
Don’t know what happened at 1:44, that was not nice. However, he didn’t do it again so hard to tell what the context was.
I read Arab horse body language every darn day. I own one and board at an Arab show barn with halter and performance horses. I feel pretty confident in saying that none of those horses were terrified. The horse that was first in and won most classic head was calm as could be. The rest were pretty darn good for a ring full of stallions. There was exactly none of the terrified white eye rolling, foal submissive chewing, leg buckling, whip overuse that used to be pro forma at Arab shows. Again, I am not a fan of halter AT ALL, but trying to be fair about it - night and day from the 1980s.
IMHO, it took them too long to judge that class - with only 6 horses it should have been over a lot quicker.
As for the tails - sad to say, I used to accuse people of gingering their horses until I ended up with a horse who looks like he’s gingered 24x7. He has a seriously high tail carriage. So I am not so quick to judge any more - and I can tell you that most people do not ginger to show. Just no need to - they come by it naturally.
The movement on Egyptians has never been my cup of tea and this class was no exception. But cross them on a Polish or Russian Arab and they refine and improve type.
I love the Arab brain, people loving, and get up and go. Hated, hated, hated it when people abused them. Glad to see the pendulum going the other way, at least in this example. Haven’t watched a halter class in a long time, but maybe it won’t be so horrifying these days.
I havent been to an Arabain halter class in years, I can’t reember even then if I ever watched the Egyptian one. Most likely not, since I was grooming at the time. The video wasn’t ‘bad’. My 1st thought was hey at least they aren’t all lame like QH’s. My 2nd thought was more a giggle to be honest, since I expect they were trying to go for that wild Arabian stallion in the desert type of feel with all the hopping around going on. I’d have preferred myself to just let them do a big trot out with some freedom and space. As for scared. Not even. Those beasties weren’t scared or being abused imo. (I have arabs. yes they are forgiving, they also can really tear you a new one when they’ve had enough.) Overall I think the handling really distracted from the actual horses, I found myself watching them more so then the stallions. shrug.
Only at an Arab show can you have a 3’ ring barrier and an 18" shrub and know it will never be jumped.
(Ok. Don’t kill me. I rode some Arabs and loved them, some evem jumped!)
I don’t think a petition will change the industry but reading the comments, particularly by the ECAHO judge from Egypt give me some hope.
I think that the main issue is that there is horse abuse, neglect, and other mistreatment across the competitive equestrian world as a hole. What was demonstrated in this video was quite tame. I do not appreciate the handler hitting his horse at the 01:44 minute mark. I do not know why that occurred. My only other dislike is that sometimes hat tugging on the horses head can make them put their head up and stiffen, which really takes away from the gait being displayed. Some handlers seem to find a nice balance between keeping the horse attentive and the transitions as smooth as possible. I know it isn’t easy.
I have ridden at an Arab show barn previously and currently ride and help care for an older Arab stallion that has won many champion titles in halter. He will strike out in the front, flag his tail as high as it can go, lift his feet up, and prance around but it is all on cue and controlled. It’s just a performance and it never feels out of control.
I remember when I was taking saddleseat lessons a few years back and my trainer got out a stick with a bag on it and began encouraging the horse I was on. He immediately felt bigger, fuller, engaged himself, lifted himself higher, and really tuned on his great movement. He was snorting at times, but never once did it feel out of control. I don’t believe he was “spooked” because those instances in the ring and when he actually was spooked by something felt different. I was able to wind down on a loose rain and she stood next to him with the same bag on the stick and he didn’t give it a second look. It never felt out of control, neither of us were scared. The cool thing is that Arabs are so smart and can be hot, but both of those traits can be used to really demonstrate some great capabilities that the horse has.
FWIW, aforementioned stallion doesn’t show anymore, and now does quite well schooling dressage and is a fantastic mount out on the trails. Occasionally he likes to remind us or another horse in his yard that he is fancy. He will mostly just prance in place with his tail up, until you say “STOP” or no one gives him attention to the matter and he gets bored. 
But, if you’d like him to he could go from “near dead” to totally amped up and back, no worse for the wear.
We could essentially tear apart any discipline or breed. If you see abuse, or feel that something is abusive, do something about it. Even if you believe that no one cares. Don’t just sit there and be part of the problem.
I spent over thirty years as a pro on the Arabian circuit. The halter trainers love to tell you how much the horses love showing and that they are just feeling good. I’m here to tell you that maybe. …just maybe… one horse in fifty is actually having fun out there. What they tell you vs. what goes on late at night or at home when no one is watching are two very different things. No trainer is going to tell you how it really works. They will lie and tell you how they use carrots…when they are really using a cattle prod. I had the audacity to speak up about it and was very publicly chastised by one of the big time halter guys for saying anything. What is amazing is that the horses are so forgiving after this crap.
I can also tell you of a conversation overheard between two top halter trainers at a regional show when they didn’t realize I was in my tack stall next door:
“Isn’t this a great job? All we have to do is get 'em out and slap 'em around with a rake in the morning, and we can hit the golf course in the afternoon.”
I can tell you true stories that would make your hair stand on end. The vast majority of those horses are not…repeat ARE NOT…having fun.
