Jerry Wells (left) and Buddy Laney (rt)
EC March/April, 2005
In Halter, It’s A Question of Balance…And Extremes are out!
When reflecting on the perfect horse, Jerry Wells has a definite individual in mind. Jerry has been in the halter horse business for several decades, with a list of World Champions too numerous to mention. Many would agree that he could define the ideal horse as well as or maybe even better than anyone. “
You know that Orren Mixer painting of the ideal Quarter Horse?
That was done many, many years ago. In my opinion, a good horse is a good horse in any time, regardless of the latest trend or bloodline, regardless if he is halter or performance bred. To me, the side profile of the horse in that painting is the perfect balanced horse. It’s what I have in my mind when I look at a prospect; trying to come as close to that ideal as I can. There has never been a perfect horse; they all have a little something that keeps them from being perfect. You have to go with what you think is best and what is most important.”
“A fit horse has a strong back and loin, pop-up withers, defined muscling; good sound legs, a pretty head and neck. Too often you see fat horses – they’re all rounded, no definition, flat withers, carrying so much weight that they almost appear ‘mushy’.” Jerry continues, “Sometimes people get confused as far as what makes a good halter horse. They take shortcuts to make an individual look like he’s more horse than he really is, overfeeding to cover some conformation faults.”
Tim Finkenbinder of Collinsville, Texas has been active in the halter horse industry for over 20 years. He has shown World and Reserve World Champions in AQHA, PHBA, APHA and ApHC. In addition to being an active exhibitor in the halter horse arena, he also judges in several stock horse breed associations. Tim believes that in the past, some breeders and exhibitors leaned towards the ‘pretty’ horses; horses without a lot of muscle or leg under them. In order to hide the fact that the structure wasn’t there, the prettiest horse would be covered with a lot of excess weight. The judges had to assess what was in front of them and some would go for the biggest, most massive horse, the one that overpowered the others size-wise.
Tim observed there was a period of time when it seemed like some breeders were trying to produce ‘freaks of nature’. “As an industry, we weren’t rewarding balance and consistency as much as we were rewarding extremes – extreme size, height, extremely small feet. However, we found that over time, those feet and legs could not stand up under the big body mass.”
Bob Kail, renowned halter horse trainer and exhibitor from Clements, California, likes to break a horse down into parts when assessing what is a structurally sound individual. “I compare it to a scoring system. Just like in scoring an NRHA run, I will penalize where the horse doesn’t fit the bill. I want a balanced overall appearance. Starting at the head, I look for an overall pleasant and pretty head and eye, a nice expression that generally is reflected in the horse’s disposition. I look at the topline, going back over loin and hocks, the structure of the legs and feet, – are they strong or weak? How is the croup? Some people try to cover those weaknesses with excess weight.” Bob goes on, “As far as size, I don’t think a horse should be too big, although there are some very nice, big horses. But I have also seen 17 hand horses with very pretty heads that just didn’t have the body structure underneath, and those horses should not win.” Bob prefers a horse that looks athletic, even though in reality he may not be a performer. “It goes back to ‘form to function’”, explains Bob. “I still want good, strong basic leg structure and conformation that would lead me to believe that horse could perform.”
Jerry Wells believes that with the advent of the world championship shows, the industry was forced into specialization, not just with halter horses, but in all disciplines. “Everyone wants the one that can win the World,” Jerry explains. “At that level of showing, you can’t have a good structured halter horse drawn down into riding shape, even though he might do okay at the regional shows. Likewise, you can’t have a reining horse or other performance horse with enough weight on him that might allow him to be placed in halter at the lower level shows, because he sure won’t be able to turn in a peak performance at the World Show level.”
In the past, there were some judges that just weren’t educated as to what to look for in a halter horse, or who understood the difference between a leaner but fit and structurally sound horse versus a fat horse with no structure underneath. Bob Kail explains, “I think, sometimes, it just made it easier to pick something obvious, such as mass, instead of really looking at the individual horse’s points. A lot of people think bigger looks stronger. When you get down to it, any evaluation of a halter horse is, in actuality, the personal preference of the individual doing the judging. The key is to ensure that those judges are educated horsemen.”
Jerry Wells agrees. “Although a judge has to go with what is best on the day he is judging, he still needs to know what to look for in a good horse.”
Most world class exhibitors and trainers believe that on the upper end of the show spectrum – the World Show, Congress, etc. – you see more of a true quality individual. Even if it is a big horse, it is usually a fit, sound horse. Just like in the pleasure horse world, a person who shows at the local or state level goes to watch the big shows and sees a horse going around really slow, and it wins the class. Then they go home and attempt to recreate what they interpreted as the winning ride – an extremely slow horse, when in actuality the winner at that level was a slow, correctly moving horse. The same thing happens in the halter horse world. Many of the World Champions in the Quarter Horse, Paint and Appaloosa breeds have been big individuals, but they were also fit and correct individuals. But that spectator just saw big and massive, and tried to emulate that in their show string back home.
Jerry Wells observes, “We got to this point by years of sticking with certain physical traits and bloodlines. We have to come up with some crosses that will give us more foot and bone underneath, to get better soundness overall.” He added, “For years there was pressure from within, in that you had to go with what was out there. A lot of horses were bred strictly for one trait at the expense of another. We want the best horse with the fewest holes that represents the breed; a horse with sound legs and feet,good dispositions. I don’t think we should ever breed for any individual trait, sacrificing an overall balanced individual.”
“As an industry, we weren’t rewarding balance and consistency as much as we were rewarding extremes – extreme size, height, extremely small feet. However, we found that over time, those feet and legs could not stand up under the big body mass.”
Although many of the issues with some halter horses are symptomatic of certain bloodlines and physical traits that have been ‘hot’, there are also problems, both physical and mental, that are totally man-made due to how some halter horses are raised and prepared for showing.
Some of these man-made problems are usually seen as leg abnormalities. Bone diseases, such as epiphysitis and osteochondrosis, are common side effects of overfeeding rich feeds, supplements and concentrates. A horse will be fed excessive amounts of protein in an attempt to put on a lot of weight quickly, which depletes the calcium in the body resulting in bone deformities and contracted tendons. Crooked legs, upright hooves and pasterns, and in some cases knuckling over in the knee and fetlock joints are some of the physical manifestations of overfeeding.
Some horses, when overfed and under-exercised, develop behavioral problems as well. Cribbing and weaving are not uncommon in horses that are fed high protein diets with inadequate exercise or turn-out time.
Buddy Laney is a multiple world champion halter horse trainer from Cherryville, North Carolina. He periodically likes to give his halter horses some down time from all the conditioning and showing. Buddy believes that not only does it make a healthier horse, but also a better-minded horse. “I have seen 3 and 4 year-old horses that have not been out of their stalls except to be groomed and shown,” he said. He conditions his halter horses by ponying them on horseback and believes this is good for them both physically and mentally.
A good rule of thumb to use in judging “is that extremes in anything should be penalized.”
Buddy feels the attitude problem, particularly due to the hyped-up overfed and under-exercised horse, will have to be dealt with head-on due to the lip chain ruling. “A lot of those horses that have been overfed and under-exercised were a handful in the ring. Attitude and disposition are going to be more important, going back to a better minded horse.”
It is important, particularly in the young babies, to provide a balance diet coupled with adequate exercise. “Futurities have contributed somewhat to the problem,” observes Laney. “Too many people want a baby who at 4 months old looks like he is a yearling. In order to get a baby that big that quickly, they have to overfeed, under-exercise and keep them penned up. I think we could do away with those futurities, let the babies be babies, to just be a horse while those bones are still growing.”
When a horse is fit, there is more to mass and substance than just overall size. There are big horses with a lot of mass that are fit; they have defined muscle and underlying correctness. Then there are big horses that are ‘just big’ – overpowering in size but, technically, physically unsound.
There is an old adage in horse trader’s circles that “fat covers a lot of sins.”
Buddy Laney expands on this observation. “In all aspects of horse showing we have become more specialized, not just with the halter horses. People started breeding differently to get that specialized pleasure horse, hunter under saddle horse, or halter horse. The problem is that people would have a horse with good substance, and then they wanted to get a prettier horse. They would breed to that pretty headed stud that may not have had as much muscle or structure as it should. Then, with the resulting offspring, they had to make that horse look like he had mass and structure, and often the path they took was to put a lot of weight on them. With certain fad bloodlines we started to see examples of ‘breeding problems-to-problems’ instead of trying to find a cross that complimented or enhanced what each horse needed to have improved.” Buddy explains, “It’s just easier all the way around to keep a fit and sound halter horse. The horse is healthier, you don’t have the foot and leg problems, and you don’t have to spend so much time sweating the fat off the neck. Their attitudes are better. A fat horse is harder to haul, harder to breed or get bred, harder to keep sound. There are a lot of horses out there that are unsound just due to being so fat.”
Jerry Wells agrees. “The halter horses have, in the past, been bred for refined feet and legs. Unfortunately, we have seen a lot of founder and navicular as a result.
We NEED more bone underneath that horse.”
A lot is dependent on the education of the judges as to what to look for in a halter horse. Alex Ross hails originally from Greensboro, North Carolina, and is the Executive Director of Judges for the AQHA. Alex observes, “At the AQHA, we are instructing judges to put emphasis on judging by the guidelines in the rulebook. Through the efforts of the Halter Task Force, which met early in 2004, the judging and executive committees have moved to add wording that will be more specific.”
He continues, “Being over-fat indicates that a horse is not being exercised enough, is not moving enough, and will probably not have as good an attitude. A horse should be a good mannered individual who can move correctly.”
The AQHA is stressing five major issues to be considered when judging halter horses:
- Balance. This is VERY important. How the parts fit together and tie in smoothly.
- Structural correctness
- Movement
- Appropriate breed and sexual characteristics
- Adequate muscling
“Few horses, especially at the bigger shows, have a problem with not having adequate muscling, so while it is very important, it’s not as much of a problem as the other issues,” says Alex. “Therefore, we are not putting quite as much emphasis on that although it’s still in the top 5.”
The AQHA is instructing the judges to judge on conformation, with emphasis on the horse’s underlying structural correctness. “In the past, we have seen some massive halter horses, not just weight-wise but also in height,” notes Alex. “The halter horse industry has been breeding for such trends in the past few years, and we need to move away from that.” He further explains, “It’s just human nature – if a little bit is good then a lot more is better. Whether it is a massive, heavy halter horse with little feet or a super slow western pleasure horse, people will jump on a trend and overdo it.” Alex says a good rule of thumb to use in judging “is that extremes in anything should be penalized.”
“As we go forward, I think we are going to see horses being bred differently than they have been in the past; less selecting a cross just to get the latest hot bloodline. I think we will see people become better horsemen.”
The rules are very specific; the key is to make sure they are enforced. However, a judge has to select their winners from what is presented to them on any given day. Bob Kail comments on this. “Some things shouldn’t necessarily be grounds for total elimination. As a judge you should weigh the pluses and minuses of each individual in the class, on their own and against each other. It’s not always black and white.” He continues, “The guidelines are the means for placing a class, not to eliminate or embarrass anyone.”
So what about the future? Buddy Laney observes, “As we go forward, I think we are going to see horses being bred differently than they have been in the past; less selecting a cross just to get the latest hot bloodline. I think we will see people become better horsemen. By that, I mean they need to understand what the strengths and weaknesses are of each individual and select the right horse to cross with them that will improve the offspring. If a horse is bred right to begin with, you take out a lot of the issues that can cause you problems later.”
Tim Finkenbinder reflects on the future as well. “Breeders and trainers have to look out of the box as far as what to use for breeding in the future. Some people tend to breed for today, and don’t look down the road at what needs to be done to improve the breed for tomorrow.” As far as the judging, Tim also believes that perhaps teaching how to score a horse, to actually evaluate all the parts and not just the first overall impression, would help. He continues, “The biggest challenge to make a change in the industry and to get it to work is to use confident, educated judges that look for pure conformation and balance. I think the judges should be challenged as horsemen to judge a horse based on its strengths and not just place the biggest horse.” Tim is pleased with the AQHA’s efforts to make judges more aware of what makes a good halter horse. “I think people are looking at them more as conformation classes, not just the prettiest and biggest horse. After all, form DOES follow function.”
Alex Ross believes that some things can be changed right away. Exercising horses and not having them so heavy should impact an improvement in manners and way of going in the sound horses. Some things, such as the leg problems and small feet are structural and will take time to change. “We didn’t get these kinds of horses overnight, and we won’t move away from them overnight. But if judges reward horses with the right characteristics, the breeders will have to start breeding for that and the exhibitors will have to start selecting and showing those kinds of horses in order to win.” He explains, “If judges reward good conformation and the proper characteristics, things will change. We need judges that are confident in rewarding excellence, regardless of what the current trend is or what the current winning bloodlines are. Through education of the judges, and then letting exhibitors know what is acceptable and what will be rewarded, we are confident we can accomplish this.”
An industry striving to create better horsemen to promote better horses sounds admirable and who could argue with that? Like any change, it may be more evolution than revolution, but those first steps are being taken. Many observers noted at the 2004 World Show and Congress the type of horse winning the big awards was a more athletic and correct horse and not the extremes that were so often seen in the past.
Who knows what the future holds, but hopefully we will see a trend toward a more balanced, structurally correct, and ultimately, healthier and happier horse in the halter ring.
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