You Talk About Halter, Pleasure, Reining - what are they?
A: All of the above - and more are American Quarter Horse Association (AQHA) and NRHA (National Reining Horse Association) classes.

Background Information
If you have a Quarter Horse and would like to show, there are various shows and events you can go to in the UK and abroad.  However, if you attend AQHA and NRHA registered Shows, you will be competing against the best horses in the UK and Europe.  Whats more, every class you enter will be logged with the AQHA and NRHA and will be available to see online on the AQHA website.  You can earn points, awards and you will have a record forever of what you and your horse have achieved. 

Even better, the AQHA caters for people with less experience with the Open, Amateur and Novice Amateur categories, along with Youth and Novice Youth classes.  Judges at these shows have passed examinations and are registered with the AQHA and NRHA in order for them to be available to Judge.

The thing to remember about Quarter horses is that they are incredibly versatile, this makes them such great horses to be around.  Once your horse is trained, you could enter all of the below classes - how many horses are this versatile?

Brief AQHA Show Classes Descriptions

Halter: This is an "in hand" class, judged on your horses conformation. You would be asked to walk and trot your horse for the Judge and then line up for judging.  These classes are split into sex divisions (Stallions, Geldings, Mares) and then sub sectioned into Age Divisions (Yearlings, Two Year Olds, Three Year Olds and Aged - Over 4 years).  The first placed two from each age division will go forward to a Grand Championship for the sex division.

Showmanship: Again, this is an "in hand" class, but this time judged on the handler's ability to show the horse.  You will be given a simple pattern to perform leading the horse, which normally includes a back up, halt and set up, walk trot and a turn on the hindquarters.

Trail: This is a ridden class performing a pattern over, around and through obstacles such as gates, bridges and poles.  You will be asked to sidepass along poles, back up, normally with a turn, pass through gates and go over bridges.  Accuracy and precision are important for this class.

Western Pleasure: This is a ridden class, in western tack and is where the horses are judged in the gaits of walk, jog and lope (canter).  Ideally your horse should move forward on a loose rein in a long low outline.

Horsemanship: This is a ridden pattern class with western tack.  It's a bit like a mini dressage test and judged on the accuracy of both the horse and rider through the pattern and primarily on the riders position and way of riding. After your individual pattern, all competitors will be asked to show their horses on the rail together at walk, jog and lope.

Western Riding: A more complex AQHA listed pattern class with a series of flying changes, judged on accuracy and quality of the pattern ridden.  There are a number of patterns for this class which are normally displayed in the AQHA Rule Book.

Reining: This event, hopefully will become an Olympic event in 2012 - fingers crossed!  A pattern class, carried out at the lope (fast and slow) with circles, sliding stops, roll backs (turns on the hindquarters from a stop) and spins - all done on a very loose rein!  Patterns are published in the AQHA and NRHA rule books.

Hunter Under Saddle: Rail class in English attire, the Quarter Horses are shown in a slightly longer and lower outline than is normal in usual English classes.  Judged in Walk, Trot, Canter and sometimes Gallop!

Equitation: Pattern class in English attire, individually complete a simple ridden pattern, this is judged on the accuracy of both the horse and rider through the pattern and primarily on the riders position and way of riding.  This is the English version of the Horsemanship class.  Again, after individually completing the pattern, all horses are judged on the rail in walk, trot and canter.
Last Updated ( Saturday, 12 August 2006 )
 
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