Vista Farms

9363 S. 3400 West, West Jordan, Utah  84088 801.633.8981 office      801.347.7458  cell Tell us you found us on the web!  Or Email Us

Sport Horse for Arabians and Half-Arabians

               WHAT IS AN ARABIAN / HALF-ARABIAN SPORT HORSE?

This is a fairly new venue for people who love the breed that have interest in Dressage and Hunter/Jumper. Horses that are ideal for this discipline are free forward movers with the desire to excel as dressage mounts, flat hunter, or over fence horses. There is also a carriage division for folks that love driving!

This venue opens many doors for people that want to get out of the Arabian competitions, which cant have very stressful training styles and can be very expensive to pursue. The horses in Sport Horses divisions are not judged by AHA judges, but by USDF and USEF judges. They are judged exclusively on quality and athletic ability as a Sport Horse prospect; not on political and financial support. Form to function is the emphasis. "Pretty" is not at the top of the list.

The last year for Sport Horse Nationals to be held in Boise, Idaho is 2010. After that, it will be moved to Kentucky for 3 years. It's future after that is unknown.

Team Sha-Wen has shown and done well in this venue, and enjoy it very much. We find it a breath of fresh air in the industry. The people are enthusiastic, the shows smaller and more friendly, the training/shoeing methods more humane, and the judging more fair.  

Because it is a young venue, the qualifications are relatively simple.  You only need 5 points to attend the national level shows. Obtaining your points can be the difficult part. Right now the biggest problem is finding rated shows to qualify your horses. In Dressage divisions, you qualify at USDF rated dressage shows. (Qualifying Dressage scores for AHA Sport Horse National Shows are more easily obtainable right now than regional and national USDF competitions.) For the other classes, they must be rated AHA shows that are holding Sport Horse classes.

Reading the USEF rulebook is essential. There are very specific differences in rules as pertaining to Sport Horse judging vs. Arabian judging. You MUST read the rule book.

(Example: NO KIMBERWICKE BITS. And that is only one difference.)

Your tack, attire and braiding style will denote your choice of discipline:

• If you are showing your horse as a dressage prospect, dressage attire and non-braided tail will make that statement.

• As a hunter, hunt attire and braided tail (optional).

The classes offered each have open, amateur, purebred and Half-Arabian divisions. If the shows are big enough, they may have divisions for junior horses, horse genders,  maiden, etc. that would be in accordance with the show you are attending. Unfortunately, at the time of this writing there are no youth divisions. Amateurs are all ages.

 

Sport Horse classes that are available are:

Sport Horse in Hand: a halter class, but not in the Arab sense. It is shown like a European Kuerring for dressage horses. (See USEF rule book, AR161).

Sport Horse Under Saddle, is considered a suitability class.

Sport Horse Show Hack:  not shown like a saddle seat class, but more a Dressage style.

Carriage Pleasure Driving: Specialized equipment, obstacle courses and patterns.

Dressage: USDF rules

Hunter over fences: Subchapter AR-10. (page AR20 in USEF Rule Book2008/2009

Jumpers:  Subchapter AR-11 (page AR21 in USEF Rule Book 2008/2009)

 

Familiarize yourself with the Arabian/Half-Arabian section of the USEF Rule Book.

Subchapter AR13 is the Sport Horse section page of the 2009 Rule Book.

You can read it on line at www.usef.org or when you join, you can get a rule book sent to you.

 

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