2011 Scottsdale Arabian Show: So Many Championships, So Little Time

Friday February 25 2011

The pace is picking up for the final weekend of the Scottsdale Arabian Show.


Today included championships in three different arenas in (among others) hunter pleasure and english and western pleasure, western side-saddle, older stallions and mares halter horses, show hack, and reining. Many classes have both Arabian, and half-Arabian/Anglo-Arabian divisions; most have amateur and pro divisions; some also have age divisions.


The hunting over fences continued all day in another arena (some girls so small they could practically walk under the horses on which they fearlessly flew over fences with);

the cutting horses started their classes today in still another arena.


Today's highlight was the half-Arabian/anglo-Arabian mounted native costume class with a dozen entries. Finally, this class took place in the main outdoor arena! The sun was hiding behind clouds, so the costumes didn't sparkle, but they were still dazzling! Green, red, royal blue, gold and silver, the high stepping horses sashayed around the arena to the Lawrence of Arabia music. I'm glad I wasn't a judge because I couldn't have picked my favorite.

Occasionally an organization or barn will throw a party for everybody. Yesterday the Modern Arabian Horse magazine threw a party because they received the 2010 Pegasus Media Award from the United States Equestrian Federation in the Association Publication category.

Today Royal Arabians, of Mesa, Arizona, served catered food and had an open bar while they showed off some of their horses.


This happened during the Native Costume class... so many horses to see, so little time! I made it back to their barn after the costume class to see NW Siensational, a handsome bay who was the 2010 US National Champion Gelding in Hand.

Two more days of this year's show are left, and some of the championship riders and horses will have some of the Southwest's wild winter weather of 2011 to deal with. A 'cold and wet winter storm and associated cold front' is moving in tomorrow afternoon, with a 100% chance of rain Saturday night. They're usually right about rain around here when it's predicted, so when the outdoor arenas turn to slush, it will be interesting to see how and where all the championship classes will be squeezed into, with the crowds who would normally be sitting outside watching them.

Included in Sunday afternoon's festivities is the Parade of Champions, in which two local endurance riders are schedule to ride: Clydea Hastie, and Rusty Toth on Redford!

Slide show here:


Many more photos (including lots of the gorgeous Native Costumes) here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2011SAS/

2011 Scottsdale Arabian Show - All The Pretty Horses

Thursday February 24 2011

At the Scottsdale Arabian Show, you have your Working Horses and your Pretty Horses.


Many halter classes for the Pretty Horses today - 3 and 4 and 5-year-old mares and stallions in the morning, and yearling colts and fillies in the afternoon. I will forever think of them as the Woo Woo classes, because that's the cheer you hear going around the arena when a group's favorite horse comes in the gate and trots/props/leaps/bounces/floats around the arena. "WooWooWoo!" The background beat is the kicking of trash cans, the shaking of chairs, the banging on anything that makes noise. The showier and just-on-the-edge-of-control the horses act, (or not), the more it pleases the crowd.


Meanwhile, reining continues all day on one end of the venue (I missed Fireman), while on the other end of the venue - the cowboy barn end - the calves have been trucked in for the Cutting and Working Cow Horse that will begin tomorrow and Saturday.


Hunters take up another outdoor arena, while in the covered Equidome, classes vary from Driving to English and Hunter and Western Pleasure to Sidesaddle, and the single Arabian Mounted Native Costume class of the day. Such fun, colorful, imaginative, elaborate outfits of the native Bedouin type can run you into the thousands of dollars - and well worth it for all the time that must be put in making them. Classes are judged on 75% performance and manners and 25% on "appointments" - whatever that is. The costumed horses and riders are very popular with the crowd, though the class itself is short - doesn't last more than 10 minutes, and there's not even one class a day at this year's Show (and Tuesday's class had only 4 riders in it).


Then, finally, came the Wild and Pretty Horses - in the Arabian Liberty class. You bring your stallion into the arena, turn him loose and let him "perform" - i.e. run around and show off - for 2 minutes to some lively music. When the music stops, you have 2 minutes to catch him. Some of the horses show off mightily, which gets the crowd going, which gets the horse going more, which really gets the crowd cheering. One horse today did such a quick spin while showing off that he threw a shoe. One girl (and the man with her) could not get their horse's halter off because he seemed to not want his ears touched - but after his 'show', he walked right up to the girl to have his halter put back on. (There were only 4 in today's Liberty class.)

There's a final for this on Saturday where the winner gets $5000. All for looking pretty! Presumably that will buy him a good stash of carrots, in addition to gaining some fame and girls.


The Scottsdale Arabian Show is building toward its conclusion on Sunday and the Championship halter classes, Championships for reining and working cow horses, Championships for the different riding disciplines and driving. Which will all prove to be interesting, since another cold, wet, windy winter storm is coming through (sunny Arizona!) starting on Saturday.

Might be a lot of Wet Working and Pretty Horses at the end of the day.

Slide show here:


Many more photos here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2011SAS/

2011 Scottsdale Arabian Show - Bling and Boing

Tuesday February 22 2011

Most endurance riders aren't particularly known for dressing up in the saddle. We have other things on our minds, like correct saddle fit over 50 miles, the right boots (our horses and our own), to biothane or not to biothane.

Long ago my trail riding friend was rather appalled I didn't have a 'color.' She insisted I go with one, so I chose red - one of my Thoroughbred Stormy's racing colors. I have to admit, he does look mighty fine decked out in red polos, red saddle pad, black and red bridle, with red saddlebags matching my black and red tights, shirt, and chaps, though I've only gone to that extreme 'costume' maybe twice in my life. Or maybe it was just once, just for pictures. I don't know what happened to the pictures.

A few endurance riders coordinate their clothes colors with their horse's tack... or at least some of them coordinate their horse's tack colors... or not.

Fashion and bling is the name of the game at the Scottsdale Arabian Show.


The dressage riders are neatly attired in their required 'costume', and their horses' manes are neatly braided.


Western pleasure riders have the bling blouses that blindingly sparkle rainbow colors in the sun. I haven't raided the shopping tents yet, but I did see the price of two sparkly tops, one for $900 and one for $1500. I also saw some glitter on a bathroom floor... I wonder if this came from one such top? If so that was like gold dust.


Even the Western reiners, mostly men, and many of them the ultra cowboy type, slip into the bling mode, if ever so subtly, with the silver bling trim on their saddles, silver bling trim on the western bridles, and the silver big bling belt buckles and the jingling silver spurs.


But nothing outshines the Native Costumes. They are almost fancy enough to make an endurance rider want to take up Arabian Mounted Native Costume competition. They're gorgeous.


There were only 4 riders in today's single Anglo-Arabian Mounted Native Costume class; as one previous reader mentioned, it was fun watching them in their high stepping hand gallop around the arena to the Arabian dance music. A couple of the horses knew exactly how to sashay and make their tassles swing and swish back and forth. One horse's knees almost came up to his eyeballs as he trotted around the ring. Fantastic fun! The biggest disappointment of it all is that the costumes classes are held under a dark, covered arena. No chance for the bling to sparkle. (Same with the western pleasure.) Come on - put these classes out in the sun!

There's the Bling... and there's the Boing.


One can expect most of these show horses live in stalls (certainly while here at the show) and, like racehorses, they only get out once a day to work and cool down. One would also expect they're fed a lot of grain, so when they get out, they have a lot of vroom to blow off.

This Anglo-Arab was feeling terrific. He could get some air. And he did it a lot. He had the high knee action - is this partially natural, or is this the heavy wedged shoes he wears?

Slide show here:


And many more entertaining photos (including the boinging lunger) here:
http://www.endurance.net/international/USA/2011SAS/index.html