Friday, February 27, 2009

Arabian Horses, Suits and the Arena

The 54th Annual Scottsdale Arabian Horse Show had over 300 events and lasted 11 days.  There were over 2,300 horses competing in the events, and about 250,000 people attended.

I watched this particular event and called it "Arabian Horse and Suits."  That is not the real name though. The real name of this event is called Arabian Breeding/Halter two-year-old Fillies.
As you can see in the first photo, the horses are young, spirited, and spooked. Before these horses ran into the arena with their trainer who wore a suit, the horse waited outside the arena.

Next, there are two guys who have big plastic garbage bags blown up with air and they start waving them at the young horse and hitting the bag loudly to spook the horse. The idea is that the horse will look more alive with fury in its eyes as it enters the arena if it is spooked.

Look at the gorgeous color of the mane on the horse in the second photo. This horse mane could be an ad for shampoo.

You can see in the third photo, a trainer wearing a suit showing off the horse and having the horse be judged by many. This event allows people to get a good look at new horses and decide whether to buy them. A big part of the Arabian Horse shows is selling stud fees, which generally range from $4,000 to $30,000.

The last photo shows the Wendell Arena at WestWorld. You can see how the horses are brought into the arena for this event and they walk or trot around the arena so people attending can look at the horse and evaluate it. This is the world's largest Arabian horse show and people drive and fly in from all over and they bring their horses by planes, trains, and automobiles.

Tomorrow I will show the magnificent bronze Arabian horse statues at the entrance to WestWorld, then I am moving on to blue skies, cactus, more Chihuly Glass art, and a photo series on Frank Lloyd Wright's Taliesin West. The Arabian Horse photo series will ride off into the desert sunset. I hope you have enjoyed the photos of this world-class event.

7 comments:

Danial Bigham said...

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It's beautiful and young horses.

Jilly said...

The way these beautiful horses are being exhibited is exactly how it is in Menton. Never tho with a rider. Gorgeous photos and horses. It's interesting how they get the horse to 'show' with that long stick. In Menton I've seen them use a balloon on the end which I'd have thought would scare the horses but it doesn't seem to.

brattcat said...

Sensitive photos and commentary. Thanks. I've really enjoyed this series.

Judy said...

Great series of photos of these elegant animals.

VP said...

Thank you for your beautiful photos and the accurate description of the event.
I like very much the one with the man in suit leading the horse by hand.

Anonymous said...

Yes, horses are bathed, shampooed, hair clipped, hooves polished, and all shined up before going into the show ring.

Louis

Web-OJ said...

Enjoyed reading your commentary. Beautiful beings.. those horses.

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