Clinic: showtraining for beginners

On 27th March 2010, the ICAMH had organized a clinic for beginners about the preparation and the showing of mini horses in accordance with the AMHA rulebook.

This clinic, conducted by Dennis Kuijpers, was held in the dutch language only. Dennis Kuijpers has been active in the miniature horse business for some time now and is a Temporary International Judge for the AMHA.

The clinic was aimed at beginners in the showing of mini horses. For this, it was of no interest which type of mini horse one has, all horses were welcome.

The clinic was held at Manege “Het Zwarte Water” in De Mortel, the Netherlands.

Participant's report

By: Monica van der Linde

I haven't started showing yet, but I wanted to begin with my stallion's training and came across several issues which made me unsure if I was on the right track. The ICAMH clinic “showtraining for beginners” thus came at exactly the right moment for me.

The clinic started in the morning with theory. While enjoying a cup of coffee or tea with a slice of cake, everybody introduced themselves first.

After that, Dennis Kuijpers started explaining extensively how the judge would like to see your horse exhibited in the ring, where they pay attention to, the dress etiquette at the shows, the various classes one can enter and what they are about.

A foretaste of how the halterclass works was drawn out, in order to be able to carry that out in the afternoon with ones own horse.

What I was most surprised by is all that you need to groom and clip your horse. Even with clipping you can do a lot to bring out certain good points, and get the attention away from certain flaws. I had not really even thought about that before.

And then we haven't even talked about the actual grooming itself. Dennis has layed out a number of things on the table, and explained what it was all being used for.

He talked about how to start training your horse, and his experiences with feeding in the show season.

After the delicious lunch, it was time for practice.

It was allowed to bring a horse with you for the practical part in the afternoon, so all horses then got off the trailers to do a practice show.

The halterclass was discussed extensively. It was explained how to move, show the teeth, and where to set up.

Meanwhile, Dennis also explained that you need to keep showing your horse constantly, because the judge looks around all the time looking for the best one to pick.

All in all, it was a very nice and educational day for me, with a lot of information. We got to take home a comprehensive hand-out to use when in doubt. I have really been given a good foundation to start from at home.

Dennis, thank you very much for conducting this educational clinic!