There are several halter and performance exhibitors in the horse industry who are concerned about the direction of the Performance Halter class. At the AQHA Convention this weekend in Grapevine, Texas, several suggested rule changes will be discussed regarding this class.
Incoming AQHA President and avid halter competitor Peter J. Cofrancesco, III, of Sparta, New Jersey says that he believes that the AQHA members will be able to come up with some acceptable rule changes that benefit the entire industry.
“The democratic process will be in full swing at our convention in Dallas this year, and my only hope is that the show committee with input from our membership can come up with a rule that establishes a class in which a majority of well conformed, well mannered performance horses can compete,” Cofrancesco said.
According to the 2011 AQHA Rulebook section 448(j) p.142, the current Performance Halter rules state that the following horses are eligible for this class.
(A) horses that have earned a Racing Register of Merit
(B) horses that have earned a Performance Register of Merit prior to January 1, 2010 and
(C) horses that earn a Performance Register of Merit after January 1, 2010 so long as their record reflects that they have earned atleast 5 or more AQHA Performance Points during their career in competitions other than Showmanship At Halter.
Many individuals in the industry believe that the current rules are not stringent enough to make sure that a performance horse is really being shown in this class. Listed below are some of the suggested rule changes that have been submitted to the Show and Contest Committee.
(a) Require that the Performance Register of Merit be earned in the division (Open, Amateur, Youth) to show in Performance Halter.
(b) For world show or year-end high-point for performance halter, a horse must show in performance class(es) other than showmanship at halter a minimum of 15 times (judges) or have earned 10 performance points during the qualifying period.
(d) Allow horses actively competing in performance classes to enter performance halter before completion of register of merit.
(g) Allow any horse entered and shown in a performance class to be eligible to show in the performance halter class at that show.
GoHorseShow.com has asked several experts what they would like to see changed about the class. What are your thoughts?
AQHA Judge and Trainer Charlie Cole––Everyone agrees that there has been a steady decline in the numbers in this class. I believe that a horse eligible for performance halter needs to be shown in a performance class the same day. Performance halter horses need to be at performance weight and conditioned so– not shown at the beginning of the year and then bulked up like a regular halter horse. If you look at the past AQHA World Show, the judges were completely confused as who they were supposed to use. The class has gotten so muddled. The judges were all over the place–they need to have clear guidelines as to what they are supposed to place and what they are looking for in this class. I think if there are legitimate performance horses in the class, the judges will have an easier time finding the winner.
AQHA Trainer Joey Shortino–I have clients that are unable to buy $100,000 halter horses in order to compete in the regular halter classes. I took, A Classic Edition and CK Mardi Gras who first started off as successful halter horses and turned them into performance halter horses by getting their ROM in the roping events. Triple J Ranch got the roping points on these horses, and they received their points legitimately. A youth kid won the heading on the CK Mardis Gras mare. These classes were not fixed. What do they expect us to compete in? All the classes have gotten so specialized–we can’t compete in the pleasure classes now or the western riding classes with some of the top horses ever in the industry competing in this class. We have turned from the most versatile horse into the most versatile breed. That leaves the timed events and the roping. There are not timed event classes in Florida, so that leaves the roping. I’m too high profile to not follow the rules–I’m not going to enter 25 horses in a barrel class and fix the class to get the points. Whoever is doing that to get their points are not following the rules and should be penalized. The judges need to step up and prevent the filling of these classes.
I was able to find a class my clients who are unable to ride and also who are unable to spend hundred of thousands of dollars, a class they are able to be successful in on the World Show level. I always hear people complaining that halter horses should be able to ride–now that we are trying to do it–they are complaining about that now. I have followed the current rules and will follow any rule changes in order to be legitimately qualified in this class. I am not trying to break the rules and will be up for anything that will benefit the class in the long run. I just don’t want it where my clients will be discouraged and can’t show because it is too expensive because they can’t buy a high quality halter horses or can’t afford having their horses shown in so many performance classes in order to get qualified. I just hope we don’t make the rules so stringent for non riders that it is impossible for them to qualify and/or too expensive that they are scared away from even trying to compete and qualify in this event.
AQHA Judge and Trainer Gretchen Mathes–Many of us welcomed the creation of the Performance Halter class because it gave performance exhibitors the opportunity and incentive to showcase our well conformed performance horses and to encourage breeders to breed a better conformed performance horse. The class also promised to increase participation in the halter discipline, thereby increasing the number of points available for Grand and Reserve Champion winners.
Unfortunately, the relevant rules do not necessarily advance these important interests. The rules as written allow exhibitors to qualify a horse with modest performance activity, then, effectively retire the horse from performance competition and condition it exclusively for halter. When these converted performance horses are allowed to enter the Performance Halter class, the average performance horse does not stand a chance. Thus, exhibitors have begum to skip the class. Why, they ask, enter a true halter class in which they cannot possibly place? If the current trend continues, the Performance Halter class will become nothing more than another halter class for traditional halter horses. What purpose, then, will have been served by creating the class?
I have submitted the suggested rule change to the Show and Contest Committee (Shown as suggested rule change (b) above): In order to be eligible to show in its respective World Show in a Performance Halter class or to earn a Year-end High Point award in Performance Halter, a horse must show in performance classes other than Showmanship at Halter a minimum of 15 times (15 judges) or have earned 10 performance points during the qualifying period.
AQHA Judge and Halter Trainer Steve Ferguson–At this point, I don’t think the true performance horses are winning the classes at the World Show. I believe it is necessary to have the horse that is showing in the Performance Halter at the World Show to also be qualified at the World in a performance class too. They don’t have to show in it, but they should have to be qualified in a riding class during the same qualifying period that they qualify in the Performance halter. They should have to qualify in the Performance Class every qualifying period in order to be able to show in the Performance halter at the World Show. That way—more than likely the real performance horses will get qualified and current performance horses will be the only ones competing.
AQHA Judge and Halter Trainer Wayne Halvorson–I take a different view on this class. I was never supportive of the Performance Halter Class. I think that is what our regular halter classes are supposed to be for—to pick the most conformationally correct horse. That said, I do think the rules need to be changed with the current class to make sure that a true performance horse is being shown in the class. Not to be able to take a 4th place Aged Mare, put 10 rope points on them and then be able to show them in the Performance halter for the rest of their career. That is not what this class was created for–it was to award performance horses with correct conformation not to award substandard halter horses.
AQHA Executive Director of Judges Alex Ross–I informed the AQHA judges at the seminar that performance halter horses should appear to be horses that are currently showing in performance classes. Balance, structural correctness and manners are of upmost importance in performance halter. Halter exhibitors are concerned about the decline of the Performance Halter classes because it affects the number of points available for Grand and Reserve Champion. Also, I mentioned at the seminar that if judges see class filling, they need to refer to the rules in sections 438 and 441 of the AQHA Handbook. I am aware of two incidents in 2010 where the judges only placed the legitimate entries in the class. In addition to that, they did not include the horses they considered class fillers as entries in the class. Rule 438 (b)(5) gives the judges the right to take this action.
AQHA Judge and Trainer Russ Smith–This class has done wonders in improving the condition of the performance horses. Making them more fleshy and filled out than they looked in the past. This class has been very positive in that manner. However, it has strayed away from its intended purpose. It needs to be cleaned up in a hurry and the rules need to change before the performance halter exhibitors with legitimate performance horses stop showing–which in the long run will hurt the overall halter industry due to the declining of the points in the grand and reserve. The regular halter classes are so small that the performance classes have helped the regular halter people qualify for the World Show. The halter people should take this fact into consideration and realize they are being detrimental to the rebirth of the halter industry by trying to put regular halter horses in a class meant for riding horses. The class is getting smaller which then makes it harder for the regular halter people to get qualified and with the regular halter classes already being tiny–it just hurts the industry in the long run.
Halter Trainer Linda Pigg–It is a really hard class to judge because you have little stocky reiners with huge 17 hand hunt seat horses. I think that the class would be better if we were able to split it into english and western performance halter classes. I like the idea of approving Hunter In Hand Class as an AQHA class like it is approved at Palomino and ApHC shows. It is like judging apples and oranges. Your tastes will dictate what type of horse you will pick not necessarily the horse with the best conformation. I also think that Showmanship should not be considered a performance class and should be removed from the list. It is a difficult class to try and make everyone happy, but I do think there are rules and guidelines that can be changed to help make the class benefit more people.
Longtime Amateur Competitor Debby Brehm–I think the whole point of the Performance Halter was to have a halter class for horses that currently are still showing in a riding class. I totally agree with the idea of a horse showing in a performance class during the qualifying period, and perhaps even later than that. This prevents someone from taking a horse that earned performance points a year or more earlier and fitting them up as a halter horse. I show both Performance Halter and Halter and really think it makes sense to keep the Performance Halter class as it was originally intended, another class for a performance horse. I do not agree with (a) (referenced above) since many people cannot ride a horse and thus couldn’t get the ROM in order to show in their Youth or Amateur division. This was an original concept which was tossed out a couple of years ago, and I do not want to see it return. I simply do not have the ability to put an ROM on a horse right now, and I know there are others just like me. The Performance Halter allows another class for non-riders to compete in.
Some Photos courtesy of AQHA.com
