Help! Riding an Arab in a mostly QH/Paint open show - appointments?

[Joyrider]

Hi!

I’m gearing up for my Western debut on my daughter’s horse which happens to be a saintly older Arabian gentleman. I am signing up for Versatility Horse which is a halter class, a hunter under saddle, a Western pleasure, trail and barrel racing. I have the hunter side all set. Help me out with the Western side. I have my Western outfit, I have a saddle, pad and bridle for Western that fits and we’ve practiced in it several times. The horse came to us trained both hunt seat and Western so he knows what he is doing even if I don’t.

Ok - what to do with his mane? This is an open show - not a breed show. Currently, hi smane is in winter shape meaning half way down his neck and uneven. I will need to get it show ready no matter what. Do I pull it and leave it natural? Do I pull/trim it and band it? Do I put hunter braids in (as was sugested to me by a QH person who said that I should do the “harder - more effort way” since I am showing both seats). Being an Arab - and very Arabian typed, is banding a no-no anyway? Thanks for the help!!!

Also for halter - I will dress Western for that. Will a plain, clean leather halter and leather shank conbo be ok? My friend has offered to loan me her QH silver set but on an Arab head it looks…NQR. I do not have an Arab show halter. Thanks and wish me luck!

Joy

[mypaintwattie]

One of my friends let her paint’s mane grow out, for open shows she puts it up in a nice running braid for both english and western.

For halter a nicely fitted plain leather halter and lead should be just fine.

It all really depends on how big the show is- around here open shows can be either really mellow shows with mostly beginners to more breed type shows that the BNTs bring their students to warm up for the World Shows.

[SuckerForHorses]

Do NOT pull/trim/whathaveyou on an Arabian’s mane, even in an open show! EEK!

[SuckerForHorses]

Okay, now that I’ve read the rest of your post (haha!) I would say to do the running braid as mypaintwattie says her friend does.

This will be neat, without tight short braids, so you’ll have mane showing for western but it won’t be flowing around all over the place for the hunters.

But puhleeze, don’t pull the Ayrabs mane! LOL!

[Tee]

For my Morgans, I usually do a running braid for English and then pull the braid and leave it long for western. I would not pull an Arab’s mane under any circumstances. LOL

[gaitedincali]

Show your horse the way he’d be shown in a breed show. Natural mane for western and halter, running braid for hunter. Do not pull or band his mane, yikes.

For halter can you just show him like a sporthorse in his hunter bridle? Most open shows here have the english classes following the morning halter classes and it’d be quicker to already have him braided. Half-arabs are sometimes shown in a western-style halter, purebreds aren’t.
Leather stable halter as a last resort. You can find pretty cheap arab show halters on ebay, if this is more than a one off deal I’d invest in one.
Silver western show halters should fit very precisely - cheeks perfectly parallel to the cheek bones, buckle in a certain spot, etc., and unless you have the least typy arab ever it’s going to look sloppy on him.

[ezduzit]

Show him just the way you would in the breed ring. An Arabian is not expected to be a Quarter Horse.

[Burbank]

do not pull or band his mane, show him as an arab, its fine

for versatility will you and the horse be leaving the ring to change? if so running braid for hunter and natural for western, run a wet comb through it to get the kinks out

if not then if he is a better hunter, do a running braid, if better western leave it natural, at open shows when showing both hunter and western most ppl do the mane to match what the horse is best at

[Joyrider]

Awesome advice! Thanks!

Thank you all. I will have time I believe to do the Western parts with a natural mane and whip in the running braid for the hunt seat class. Now if he’ll just walk over the darn tarp in trail! That is the bane of our existence. Practice, practice and a few treats today, tomorrow and Sat. I suppose.

[potteryshop]

If the halter is listed as “stock horse”, I would use the well-fitting leather halter. If it is “English” or “hunter” I would use bridle. The delicate Arab head does not need heavy silver, in my mind.
Have fun!

[Joyrider]

Yes…I changed my mind and will do “halter” in hunter attire (bridle) as my next class in the order is the hunter under saddle so I want to get some bang for my effort with the running braid. Then I will take that out and do the other three classes Western.

[Burbank]

now you are required to have fun, and to post pictures after