Halter horses - On Breeding and choosing a stud muffin – part 2

Continuing on from part 1 of my halter series, this post goes a little more into why we are choosing to breed and what we hope to achieve with the foal. 

I will admit that I'm a little torn on the whole breeding thing.  There are so many horses out there that need homes and breeding your cute mare to a nice stud usually isn’t the best choice.  I can tell you that if I was looking for a riding horse, I would not be breeding.  That being said, owning and training a foal has been on my bucket list for eons, so having a chance to potentially cross something off my bucket list is pretty exciting.

Totally me...

Our decision to breed was based on a few factors:

• Major bucket list item for me
• My friend has the mare and wants to take care of the breeding, I want to show the foal and she doesn’t, so it is a good split
• We have help from “The Boss”, our halter guru and good friend
• A crappy exchange rate on the US dollar – that ruled out buying a baby from the US (taxes, shipping, etc. on top of the purchase price make this a tough option).  Although, our stud is in the US, but we just had the flat rate stud fee in USD, so that was manageable.
• No high quality halter AQHA/APHA breeders “locally” – which to me is within 8-10 hrs drive
• Lots of breed show class options for weanlings – 3yos without worrying about under saddle training
  • halter
  • longe line (APHA)
  • In hand trail (APHA)
  • Showmanship

I don’t have a lot of science to go on for choosing a stud, but more about the general principles we used.  Keep in mind we also had a very experienced exhibitor and breeder (aka The Boss) guiding us.  I don’t know that this is something I would tackle on my own without extensive help.

The mare we are breeding has a few criteria that are important to us:

1. proven broodmare
2. 5 panel negative (HYPP N/N in particular)
3. halter bred w/ good bloodlines
4. local show record

Baby Mamma

There are many theories to breeding and choosing horses that will produce well and as a newbie, I know very little about this.  Do you pick something that is similar in quality to the mare and hope she produces higher quality?  What about a stud that is known to throw a specific trait you are looking for – ie – height? Or do you choose the best quality stud you can afford and cross your fingers it all works out?


In my opinion, we are starting with a good quality mare, not a superior quality mare.  So, we are hoping for a foal of high quality, by choosing a stud that is superior quality.  Our plans are to show locally and maybe hope for something that could be competitive in provincial/state futurities. 

Our specific criteria for the stud fluctuated a bit and we both made up a short list of our top 5 choices.  In the end, we went with one that was on both our lists that was made a bit more accessible by the Boss and someone she knows.  Our criteria were (in no specific order):

1. tall – at least 16hh - and known to throw height
2. good conformation
3. overall “wow” appearance
4. proven halter bloodlines
5. proven show record – in this case, we were looking for Congress and AQHA/APHA world show wins, not local shows
6. proven offspring – in this case, futurity halter wins (over $100K US in 2019!) and APHA world show wins
7. 5 panel negative (HYPP N/N in particular)
8. optional – double registered AQHA/APHA (for more local show options)

The stud we choose hit all the criteria except #8.  He is APHA only and AQHA does not recognize APHA studs on AQHA mares.  APHA recognizes the reverse, but that isn’t the case for us. 

Image from an ad online

Many halter horses are N/H (they tend to gain more muscle if they are N/H) and many breeders still don’t see it as a negative thing to perpetuate that trait. I am not a big time breeder or a vet, but I feel that my part in not furthering the issue is important, even if small.  I sort of see it as the same as reducing my plastic usage – I can’t save all the turtles - but I can sure do my part.

My fingers are crossed that all goes well and we have a healthy foal! Only 16 or so months to go!

True dat!

Halter class - the basics - part 1

I’ve been trying to draft this post for a while!  I have a hard time 100% endorsing halter classes, with the halter industry being so specialized.  Yes, I own a horse from halter bloodlines that was bred in the hopes of doing well in that one particular class.  There is A LOT of criticism of halter horses online – a quick google search will show you all that you need to see.  As an amateur, I feel that I can experience the class, learn about how to show my horse and learn about feeding and keeping him fit to do as well as I can locally without being a big supporter of the whole industry.

Having "fun" at a schooling show with a broken ankle. 

Why do I do it if I don’t 100% like it?  That is a question I struggle with – I wrote about it more detail in an earlier post so I won’t go into it again here.  Tl;dr – I can work with Fred at home without a coach, lessons or fancy tack and I can still experience breed shows without needing a fancy riding horse.

Another note: I did not want to use photos I found online from shows/breeders in this post, as I don't want to bash anyone or anything, as that is just not how I roll!

Ok, on to the meat of this post:

AQHA has halter classes broken down by age and sex and they also have a performance halter class, which is for riding horses that have a certain amount of points from riding classes.    All of the 1^st and 2^nd place geldings from all the classes then go in for a grand/reserve championship and then the same happens for mares and stallions.  The grand/reserve titles are what people are really after, as your horses is up against a larger selection of the best at that particular show. 

Reserve champ x 3? Sure just give me all the ribbons!  Also, with this horse (not Fred) I said a lot of "whoa motherfucker" in the ring! LOL

Many western performance classes are scored and have comments, such as showmanship, horsemanship, trail, reining, western riding and ranch riding.  Halter does not have any scoring or feedback, so it is purely the opinion and tastes of the judge.  All breed show judges are carded and go through training, but trends, personal preferences and politics (at big shows) definitely come into play.

There is some really good info on the University of Arkansas Ag Dept. website about judging a halter horse (https://extension.unh.edu/resources/files/Resource002677_Rep3962.pdf) and some of the info in my post is from that article. 

The halter class is a class where the horse is judged based upon its conformation, overall appearance, and usefulness. Conformation is defined as the physical appearance of a horse due to the arrangement of muscle, bone, and other body tissues.

When evaluating a halter class, the following four factors should be used (in that order) to select and rank the horses being judged.

1. Balance and Quality
2. Structural Correctness
3. Breed and Sex Character
4. Muscling

This stallion photo gives you an idea of the balance and proportions that are sought.

(Edited 11/16) For a halter class, you walk into the ring toward the judges, they then move out of the way and you jog the horse straight away from the judges and then around a corner.  They are watching for soundness and decent movement and if the horse tracks well (ie  - minimal paddling/interference, etc. ) A lack of muscle and overall turnout/appearance will affect the judge’s first impression also. 


The handler is not judged in a halter class, but if you cannot set your horse up in a way to show it off to the judge, it will affect your placing  – especially in an open class, in amateur classes they cut you more slack.   For example – if you do not try to set your horse up squarely (breed halter doesn’t use the same set up as English in-hand with one back leg set back) or are not trying to show your horse to the best of your ability, they will ding you. 

I don’t have many pics of me showing Fred, but here is one where I am trying to keep his head and neck up and his ears up.  The horse can’t be moving around and bopping around with their head.

You can’t tell a lot from this picture of Fred (he is a 3yo here), but he has moderate muscling – especially his forearms, gaskins and hip.  He is turned out properly – clean, shiny, chalked white socks, properly fitting show halter.  Fred is a bit weak in how his neck ties in to his withers and in this picture, needs more weight over his ribs/mid section.   He doesn’t have the nicest head either – he is a bit plain looking.

Now that he is 4, going on 5, he has put on more weight, his topline is filling in and his chest has widened, but I don’t have any pictures since he looks like a yak right now! lol

Compare Fred’s head to this picture of my friend’s horse – I showed him in 2016. He has a gorgeous head and is very striking.

Me and Spunky (not Fred)

Here is a video that is teaching people how to judge a halter class:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sXJ4L5dsUeI

If you have time to watch the video all the way through you’ll see a pretty standard AQHA/APHA judging of a halter horse class.  They show the suggested placings and some rationale.  Read the comments though and you’ll see another story.  The horse that people would want to ride is not the class winner.  This kind of thing is common in halter as a specialized industry.  Some judges prefer “performance” horses, which are horses that are successful under saddle as opposed to the specialized beefcakes.

If you are interested in more details on QH conformation for halter – the University of Nebraska has a good 20 min video with lots of information: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0z9AlY-xMkQ

And that is it in a nutshell...  More to come on selecting a stud for breeding to hopefully show in halter...

Treat Yo'self - mega edition: continued!

So this is part two and hopefully the final instalment of me spending all of the money I've been trying to save!  LOL

Me lately!

A few months ago, a friend approached me to see if I was interested in a partnership to breed her mare. I was thrilled that she asked me, as having/raising a foal has been on my bucket list before I even knew what a bucket list was!  

Also me.

We make a good team since a) we both have the same first name (lol) and b) she has the mare and doesn't like to show, but I do want to show.  So we agreed we would each go away and do some research on studs we were interested in.  In the end it came down to a halter stud who is actually a paint!  We were originally looking for something double registered (AQHA, APHA) so we'd have more breed show options, but we were able to get a special rate on this stallion that was on our short list.  We signed the contract and sent it in this week, so it looks like I'll be half owner of a foal in 2021, if all goes as planned.

Baby daddy!

And the other big, unplanned purchase this week is a new-to-me used truck!  I already had a truck, but it turns out it had a huuuuggge mechanical problem caused by modifications the dealer made, which were not disclosed to me.  Long story short, the dealer bought the truck back and I had about 5 days to find a new vehicle.

I thought about not getting a truck (cheaper on gas!) and then found a truck and sorta fell in love.  Yep. With a truck.

It is a 2015 GMC Sierra 1500 and has heated seats (which is awesome when you live where I do!) and lots of other features.  It has a towing package with trailer brakes all installed and everything. I have two trailers I can borrow whenever I want, so a big goal for 2020 will be learning to drive with a trailer! *Gulp*  I've driven my friend's rig once or twice on short hauls, but I want to get my skillz up next year so I'm comfortable on local hauls.

Swwweeeettt!!!!!

I know all of  this spending seems quite a bit out of character for me - I've been pretty careful about not spending - but at least most of it was planned and within budget.   I was already making truck payments, so this new one is around the same amount, so it isn't a shock to our budget. The stress of doing all this vehicle stuff in a week?  That is a different story...  Stress aside,  I'm very grateful that I am in a position to do all of these things right now, as you never know what life will throw at you!

What about you guys - any big purchases planned?  Are you saving up for anything? As for me, I'm back to saving...well, right after my trip to DisneyWorld with my Mom in a couple of weeks...  I'm also going to go check the couch cushions for change and hope to find a $20 in a pocket of  a winter jacket!  Edited to add:  I found $15 in change in my old truck when I cleaned it out. Counting that as a win!

Why breed shows and halter horses?

I've sat in front of my computer several times over the past month trying to write this post.  I think I'm on version 6 or 7 at this point.  Emma's recent post had me thinking as well, so I went back to editing yet again. 

Why do I show halter?  Why would you show halter in the breed world?  Don't those horses all look weird?  Wouldn't you rather ride?

All valid questions that I ask myself daily.  And the answers are complicated and vary day to day and year to year - life throwing a wrench in the works, motivation fluctuations and resources. Always with the resources when it comes to horses.  I do still ride a bit, although it is hard to work full-time, ride one horse and fit a halter horse, on top of other commitments, you know the hubby, eating, etc.  ;-)

I bought Spencer a few years ago looking for an older QH (he is 18 now!) that could do western breed type classes (western pleasure, horsemanship, trail, showmanship and maybe hunt seat) at the schooling show level. I had a lot to learn, so didn't feel the need to jump into the breed show world at that time. I had sort of planned to learn with Spencer and then buy something a bit fancier in a couple of years.

Me - having fun at a local fair.  Spencer, not so much.  Likely totally embarrassed by his human.

I did well with him the first year we showed and then life happened.  In a nutshell:

• my coach retired,
• there aren't any other western coaches in my area,
• there aren't any western shows above the schooling show level (including fairs) that aren't breed shows,  
• I have "issues" that rear up at unfortunate times (confidence, anxiety, fitness/health)
• my husband got really sick (and is fine now, thankfully)
• and our finances took a big hit. 

With all of that stuff going on, I had to remind myself that my love for horses covers more than riding, showing - I love doing stalls, fixing fences, feeding, mini scritches, etc. 

One of my favourite pics - this is my friend's horse - he is so handsome!  I didn't even know the photographer took this one, probably why I like it!! lol

I had showed friends horses in the past and kind of got hooked on the sweet show schedule - most halter classes are first thing in the morning and then you are done!  Grand and reserve ribbons are kinda sweet too!

stand still, mother fucker!  me, probably, circa 2016

Once my life stabilized a bit, my friends encouraged me to get a halter horse so I wouldn't have to worry about the riding/trainer/gear issue.   I was on board with that idea and the search for Fred began.  Admittedly, I don't love how halter horses are supposed to be examples of excellent  conformation and yet most that are winning big shows are post-legged hypp n/h creatures that don't have much of a future as a riding horse.   This applies to many horse-related industries though - sadly, there is no shortage of this type of stuff in our beloved horse world.

almost to Fred's farm in Kentucky

I feel that you can still be part of a breed/industry without supporting the worst parts.  Think of all of the amateurs across the board that feed into shows, breeding and the horse industry as a whole. There is a lot of good out there too and fun, let's not forget the fun!  And, to quote Emma from her awesome recent post "But the great thing about these animals is that one size does not fit all. There's room for everyone."

Showing a friend's horse in 2015...?  This is actually a showmanship class at a fair, but I showed this guy in halter at AQHA shows one year.  He is 19 now!

Now that I have Fred, I now try and look at how I want to show and take care of my horse with a view to learning, doing the best with what I have and trying to have some fun along the way.  Would I someday like a fancier horse to move up some levels and win at some bigger shows? Yes, I can't lie, I would like that. Is it in the cards for me? Who knows.  And I'm ok with that.

This has been my motto lately...

The important thing is that I don't need those things to enjoy what I have now.  And that is 3 horses, my own little barn and lots of opportunities to learn and have fun.  It is so hard to not get caught up in the points and awards and the dream of travelling to far-away shows, but it is more important for me to enjoy myself and remember that love of horses that I had as a kid.