Breed Circuit Showing

I have some questions about breed specific showing. Actually... my number one question is:
What exactly is the point of breed circuit showing?
There's so many different types of breed shows. Halter, HUS, but what does that mean? What are they looking for? What makes one paint better than another paint? What makes one arabian better than another? And how do they judge such things? My horse is a mutt... but he's got paint in him and a barn mate asked me if I would "breed circuit" show him. He's not papered, so I would assume that would count me out of that. But it made me think... what is breed showing all about??

Breed shows are like any other show but they are restricted to registered horses of that breed. They offer a ton of classes for different levels of the rider, the age of the horse, the horse's speciality. Points are involved for national recognition and for certain award levels/titles according to points, and in AQHA...points for an Incentive Fund horses means cash back at the end of the year for each point earned.

Example: in AQHA if you earn 10 points in any class, you and your horse has earned a Register of Merit (ROM) and it goes on the horse's permanent show record. If you earn 50 points, you have earned a Superior title. All-around titles for each AQHA show are awarded, and so many more different awards and titles.

Here's my limited perspective on it, Oxer, as someone who doesn't compete in breed shows.

Judging at breed shows focuses on the breed standard first, and then on the demands of a particular class. And horses in breed shows will usually compete in multiple disciplines to increase their winnings. So while you have a hunter division in a QH show, the horses are going to be held to the breed standard first, rather than the USEF standard for hunters. You're also going to have a lot of horses who also show in Western classes, so they're going to be carrying something closer to a Western headset than a USEF hunter.

However, I've seen some nice horses from the QH and Paint circuits do pretty well as non-breed show local hunters. Rated hunters, not so much, as they don't have the length of stride and aren't what hunter people call "typey".

When you talk about Arabs and Morgans, the conventions of those show ciruits tend to be for the horses to have a lot of knee action when they move and they carry a very different, high headseat, almost like a gaited horse, so those horses tend not to make the transition to non-breed show hunters at all.

I'd love to have someone who actually participates in one of the breed show circuits give us their perspective.

In addition to what GotaDun posted, breed shows are essentially being judged to that breed's particular standards. What makes one better than another, being a better example of those breed standards.

At an open show, in a halter class for example a judge has to give consideration to many individual breeds and place them in accordance to how they fit their breed standards. IE: The Arabian that placed #1 was more true to breed type than the Morgan who placed #2, etc. When at a breed show, the horses in the class are the same breed/type and are selected based on how they meet the standards set by that registry.

I did, in my first post on this thread. I show AQHA on the regional level.

Some breeds are designed for different things. Lets take arabians. There is not one discipline arabians don't compete in. On average, they don't do any of them as well as the breeds specifically designed for the purpose (i mean, as a whole. There are individual arabians who compete with the best of the best.. but you'll see more Warmbloods in sporthorse excelling than arabians, or in Park more SBs), etc. Breed shows allow members of the breed (in this case arabians) to compete against each other on a level playing field so to speak.

Arabians are usually competed in (not fully inclusive!! I'm sure there are a bunch of classes I've forgotten lol).
Endurance (ok.. they are the best of the best there)
Flat Racing
Cutting (and some have NCHA earnings)
Reining (many with NRHA earnings)
Working Cow Horse
Reined Cow Horse
Dressage (many competed to FEI levels)
Showjumping (some competing up to FEI levels)
Hunter (over fences)
Western Pleasure
Park (saddleseat)
English Pleasure (saddleseat)
Country English Pleasure (saddleseat)
Hunter Pleasure
Sport horse under saddle
Sport horse in hand
Native Costume
Liberty
Pleasure driving
Halter (how closely the animal matches the breed standard/ideal)
Classic Head (this is offered for fun at some shows.. it's not really a division. It's just a contest where they put a cooler on the horses and just judge the breed type of the head. Everyone knows it means nothing.. just a fun class)


These are also split into Open and Amateur divisions, and then further split (in the Ammy divisions) by age of the rider which is broken into two (Amateur owner/rider and regular Amateur) Some of the Open divisions are split by age of the animal too (i.e. There is Sr Stallion Halter, Jr Stallion Halter, and then AOTH Sr Stallion halter and AOTH Jr Stallion Halter).

Now, when the horses go into the classes.. they are judged on a few things. The judge wants to see that the horse performs the role. They also should adhere to the breed type and specifications.

So do the judges have to be differently trained in what to look for in breed circuit? Or can any rated judge do the work?

It would stand to reason that a judge should be knowledgeable about the desirable breed characteristics to be a fair and effective judge.

That alone would rule out any judge, regardless of credentials, that is not familiar with the breed.

I thought maybe the USEF rated judges had breed specific training as well.

Judges have to be carded to show at breed shows, and the judges card is only awarded after the candidate has demonstrated, through written tests and other testing, the ability to judge that particular breed in show events. So an APHA judges card would not transfer over to AQHA shows, the judge has to apply for, test, and earn the cards in the different breeds.

Sanctioned breed shows must use carded judges.