Arabian Horse Show 101: Key Basics You Need To Know

Spending a day down at the Buckeye Sweepstakes Horse Show gave me a new appreciation for the Arabian breed. It also renewed my amazement at the diversity within the horse world. It’s really fantastic to see how our riding disciplines are adapted to suit different breeds and types of horses – showing each off to its very best.

I would have been completely lost, though, if I wasn’t able to pick the brains of the Rodgers, Ltd crew who had a large handful of horses at the show. Trainer Bill Rodgers, amateur rider Raegan Knotts, and owner John Hall were very accommodating as I drilled them throughout the day. Thanks to them, I started to get things figured out.

So, if you ever have the chance to end up at an Arabian show, here are some of the basics you will need to know.

The Breed: Arabian and Half-Arabian Classes

The Arabian Horse Association accepts registrations for both Purebred Arabians and Half-Arabians. The non-Arabian half can be any breed. You’ll see a lot of Arabian Quarter-Horse crosses in the reining and Western pleasure classes. Arabian Thoroughbred crosses are popular for the Hunter styles. Arabian Saddlebred crosses (also known as a National Show Horse) are great for the Park and English pleasure styles.

The classes at an Arabian show are mostly separated into Purebred and Half-Arabian. So, there will be a Arabian Hunter class and a Half-Arabian Hunter class.

Often, the classes for cross-breds will be denoted as HA/AA, which stands for Half Arab/Anglo Arab. An Anglo Arab is specifically an Arabian Thoroughbred cross.

Here’s a quick key for some of the breed terms you’ll see thrown around in the Arabian world:

• Purebred or Arabian: a horse whose dam and sire are both Arabians
• Half Arabian: a horse who has one parent who is Arabian and one parent of any another breed
• National Show Horse: an Arabian and Saddlebred cross
• Anglo Arab: an Arabian and Thoroughbred cross

The English Styles: Park, English, Country, Hunter

The area of the Arabian breed shows that was most unfamiliar to me was the variety of English styles. Arabians (and Half Arabians) perform and compete in four different English disciplines, each looking for a different type of movement.

Park, English, and Country are known as the “motion” disciplines. These disciplines require the horse to put a great deal of his weight on his hindend, creating a very uphill carriage and high-stepping motion in the front legs.

The difference between the three styles is how much motion the horses display in the front end. Here’s the order in how much motion should be in the gait:

• Park – high motion
• English – medium-high motion
• Country – moderate motion
• Hunter – least motion

Arabian hunters should have the flattest movement of the four. While they are similar to a traditional hunter – they should still show some motion as is characteristic of the breed.

And don’t get confused if you see a class listed as “Country English Pleasure.” This is interchangeable with “Country Pleasure” but NOT the same as “English Pleasure.”

Purebred Arabian Park Horse

Other Arabian Breed Show Disciplines

Other classes you might see at an Arabian show are:

Driving
Sidesaddle
In-hand (judged on conformation)
Native costume

Western classes:

Reining
Cutting
Working Cow
Trail
Western Pleasure

For Juniors:

Equitation
Showmanship
Western Horsemanship

There are also Arabian Sporthorse shows and Nationals with jumping and dressage disciplines.

That should give you a very brief primer on what you are looking at when you visit an Arabian horse show. If you are interested in learning more, particularly what it’s like to breed, raise, and train Arabian show horses, check out the Rising Rainbow blog. And if you still have questions, be sure to leave them in the comments! I’ll try to dig up answers, and I bet we have some fellow readers who can answer them even better!