Aklah Arabians

It now feels like the show season has started. We bathed two horses and cleaned tack for the clinic held by the Northern Arabian Horse group at a new venue Askham Bryan near York, very accessible from the main network of roads.

We took along a horse to be used for the inhand clinic to assess for type and conformation, Ian Woodward gave an excellent informative talk along with Tina Bennett (both senior AHS panel Judges) covering a general overview of the following:

What the judge is looking for - A well conformed and presented horse, with good type conformation and movement.

True Addiction used for demonstrating type, comformation and presentation

Presentation of the horse - the horse should stand so that the judge can view him from all angles, moves away in walk and trot and then shows balanced floating open paces, carrying both his head and his tail, with good movement coming from behind.

Type - Arabian type, broad head, large eye, small muzzle, Small ears, dished face (or jibbah) fine throat (mitbah), swanlike neck, well defined withers, Good sloping shoulder, Short strong back, long level croup, high tail carriage, short fine canon bones, well defined tendons, flat joints, hard well shaped feet, deep girth, well sprung ribs, Floating action when moving, light on feet. Fine quality hair smooth bodied. An expressive face and nostrils.

Conformation - evaluates the degree of correctness of a horse’s bone structure, musculature, and its body proportions in relation to each other.

Temperament - should have a naturally good disposition,they are hot blooded horses that are highly intelligent, sensitive and quick to learn.

Ian Woodward helped some candidates, each with their own horses, on how to produce them and professional tips on showing and the presentation/stand up for the judge.

Kathryn Oldroyd Instructing

Tina Bennett helped and assessed candidates with information on judging, what to look for and how to assess a class of horses, rules ettiquette and dress. This is the first stage to further your knowledge if you are interested in pursuing the course to become a judge.

The afternoon session was attended by candidates wishing to further their education with Showing the Ridden Arabian. Kathryn Oldroyd an AHS ridden panel judge gave some excellent information to each candidate and how to improve their horses.

Sarah Monkman, riding TRUE ADDICTION for Aklah Arabians attended the afternoon session. It is a great way to introduce young horses or novice riders to ridden showing, getting a judges view of what they are looking for and tips on how to improve performance and presentation.