Halter defense -- longish

[RhndLev@cs.com]

Okay, I've said this before, but I'll say it one more time.  Halter training 
DOES NOT have to be bad for your horse.  Your horse can still be your buddy 
AND do reasonably well in the show ring.  It all depends on what you want and 
the trainer you pick.  I carefully chose a trainer that I knew and trusted, 
told him that Magnitude's destiny was to be a performance horse -- preferably 
in endurance -- that I wanted her docile and well mannered and to continue to 
be a mild mannered horse that my children could handle.  

I had taught Magnitude to lead and to lower her head on cue, using some John 
Lyons style training.  When she was about eight or nine months old at the 
time I took her to Gary Baumgarn's barn.  At her first show, at few weeks 
into training, Gary and Magnitude won the weanling class.  She did get the 
gate in Scottsdale, it's true and I was told it was because she's wasn't 
spirited enough, specifically that she walked quietly on a loose line when 
the trainers were instructed to walk their horses on a loose line, and that 
she didn't have a dead level topline.

At the next show we went to, just before Magnitude's class began, the other 
trainers actually laughed and taunted Gary about the "quarter horse" he was 
planning to take into the ring.  Magnitude was standing quietly next to Gary 
with her head lowered, ears relaxed and hip cocked.  As they approached the 
in-gate, Magnitude's head and tail came up and she danced into the ring.  She 
was Jr. Champion at the show.  She and Gary were top 5 at one Regional and 
top 10 at another against the big hair boys.

I brought Magnitude home from the show barn in the fall of last year and 
turned her out to pasture with my other horses.  She was a little slower than 
the other horses in the beginning, but has quickly picked up speed and 
stamina.  She remains a very sane, sensible horse and now is completely 
accustomed to being loaded, hauled, clipped, and lots of commotion and eats 
and drinks no matter where she is or what's happening around her.  She spooks 
at virtually nothing and will lead across any kind of surface, like cement, a 
tarp or plastic or wood.  These are all things that I think are wonderful for 
her future as an endurance horse.  So, while you may not be able to win the 
Championship at Regionals or Nationals with your future endurance horse, the 
horse could still do well in halter, you could have fun showing the horse, 
and still end up with a wonderful, sane companion.  As with all trainers, you 
must choose carefully.

Rhonda and Special