Who knows about showing foundation shetlands?

[LostandFound]

As far as showing, what's the difference between showing in the regular AMHR halter classes and showing foundation shetland? You still need the cable halter? Do you stretch? Can you bait? Can you bait with a horse cookie? I always see them using hay.

 

[Edelweiss]

The main difference with showing Shetland vs AMHR is that, in addition to the trot by the judges on the way in, horses are called out of the lineup one by one to show on the rail at a trot in both directions. You are allowed to have a whip no longer than 4' and another handler in the ring with you. Yes you still stretch and use the cable halter or a show bridle. Movement is a much bigger factor in placing Shetland classes as well and ideally, if you are showing a mini in a Shetland class, you also want it to be on the taller side to have a good chance as some of those ponies are huge.

You can bait with anything you want, feed, hay, leaves, a rattle or crinkly wrapper, raccoon tail, anything your horse will show to. Lots of people use hay because you want the horse to be seeing it and not eating it while the judge is watching. A chewing horse is not a pretty picture and you need expression, which means ears pricked and the horse using their neck muscles which you won't get if they are just thinking about eating. My horses never get the bait when they use their necks, but they know they get it afterwards as a reward for doing it. That helps keep them from falling into the habit of losing expression or reaching forward with an open mouth.

Here is my all time favorite foundation horse, a Congress Grand Champion. I'm thrilled to have one of his daughters.

 

[LostandFound]

He's gorgeous, but he looks a lot like what is showing in the other shetland classes. I finally found a class to watch on youtube to figure out that extra trotting. Does it matter which direction you trot first? Do they tell you how far to trot? I'll have to practice a real trot instead of a jog, and baiting, because we haven't done either before. My guy is little, and he doesn't have a lot of action at the trot, and I can't do a clip job that nice on his face. But we need an earlier class so we can get home in time to feed everyone else so I'm going to give it a shot. Anything else I should know so I don't make a total fool of myself?

 

[Edelweiss]

Foundations can show Classic as well so that is what you may be seeing. Foundation is sort of a subcategory of Classic though they cannot cross enter both at the same show! They just have to be Foundation sealed to show in the specific Foundation classes. And even though they may be foundation sealed, technically, you are only supposed to show Foundation type in Foundation classes. Yeah it's kind of a mess lol. But that pony is much more thickly built than a Modern or ASPR which are the other types. In AMHR he is a winning stock horse because he is too thick for regular halter.

It's pretty much similar to regular halter so you should be fine! Just be prepared to be overlooked by the judges in a class because of the size differences. Bigger ponies are bigger movers and because of the rail working being viewed from a distance, small minis can look like smaller movers because of their size, even if they aren't! My 36" pony has looked like a midget plenty of times next to them in Classic.

Watch the other exhibitors on the rail work at local shows. Sometimes they will go down to the far end of the arena first, but the judge usually tells the first exhibitor where to go, or the exhibitor just goes to one end and the others that follow do the same. Normally they work the whole rail, again watch the others. If they are only using half the arena for halter, they will only trot that half. If it is a good size class, sometimes they trot the length of the lineup. If it's a small class, the judge may stop you after only a few steps. Also, what some people including myself like to do on the rail work is switch sides to keep the pony between you and the judge and fully show them off. So that means trotting on the off side in that direction.

Foundations are not supposed to be razored above the muzzle in the show ring so don't worry about that. You will want to clip close with a 30 though for a cleaner look.
Here is that same pony in Stock. He's 38" as a mini.

 

[LostandFound]

Some of the shows don't have a foundation class they have classic foundation. What's that about? Is that a mix or just another name for it? Regular halter itself is a little intimidating. I feel more comfortable in stock. I always wondered why people let their horses behave so badly in regular halter until I put one on and realized that tiny little thing is one correction away from a loose horse. We usually don't have any entries in the foundation classes so I'm not too worried about getting overlooked, but it makes it a little tough to watch what everyone else is doing. I checked the numbers at the last show we only had 10 shetland entries at all. Can I wear a western hat or should I go hatless?

 

[LostandFound]

Well, we made it through our class alive. I was able to watch the classic class to see what to do and was only slightly confused, Lol. It was definitely different. My guy was fairly well behaved, but in the class he got the creeps and creeped himself into a super stretched out position because he was trying to get a treat. That's kind of a new thing for him so I will have to see if I can correct it before the next show.