[*Foxy*Hunter*]

Well Sin LOVES to keep his head WAY up in the air. I want to show him in WP (either at the end of the year or begining of next). How do I teach him the proper head set and round out his neck? (He's an Arabian)

[RememberTheName]

You shouldn't be focusing on his headset right now. Chances are he holds his head that way because he drops his back out from under him.

You should be focusing on getting him to have impulsion and move through his hind end. The headset will come afterwards.

[BornToRide]

I'm not sure what level of competition you are planning to enter but if you are on the "A" circuit - you're going to have your work cut out for you. At five, your mare is in her final junior year and she's going to be up against other junior horses who have been "finished" since they were two.
I would put away your bosal for schooling as no judge wants to see a horse in a "firm feel" in a bosal. You need to soften her up until she's on a loose rein/mecate. I would suggest a fish back snaffle (prefer a copper mouth) for schooling. These bits can be hard to find and you may need to get one made for you but they are worth their weight in gold. I like a loose ring - the mouth piece is medium thickness and if you were to cross section it, the profile would be somewhat triangular. You need to make sure the ridges are NOT sharp.
Run it through a ten ring training martingale - not too low. Do lots of lope circles, spiral down and spiral out leg yield on and off the rail. Try to work through your leg and not off your hands. If she gets really strong, halt and rein back- ask her to stand quietly then start again. Once she starts to maintain self carriage in frame and hold her speed - go back to your bosal.
Show season is already upon us- I don't know how much this will help for your last junior year but it will certainly help to rate her lope in the long run.

[*Foxy*Hunter*]

Right now we are going to focus on local shows mostly and later in the year some small breed classes/shows.

The local show is mostly made up of stock type horses.

I ride him in a snaffle with a copper mouth. I do plan on changing his bit soon though.

He is an ex-race horse. (He never made it to the track). So right now we are going through all the basics under saddle... (still working on getting a trot)

[Lopinslow]

if he is just getting the basics now, you have a long ways to go before worrying about a headset. To get a horse show broke and a self carriage without a LOT of help from you, you are looking at a solid year minimum, more like a year and a half of training, so don't be in a hurry to show!! LOL

and as others said, you need impulsion and a rounded back before you ever worry about a headset, and that usually comes by itself once you get the impulsion and rounded back.

at this point, just get him broke, soft in the face and his transitions down. If you are just starting, do lots of roll backs at the lope, as this gets them thinking drive up from behind.
the horse needs to know how to sidepass, two track, move hips and shoulders, pivot and forehand turn.
as you are getting him "broke" in the manner above, the impulsion and rounded back sort of comes together on it's own IF the horse is natural at it.

at the beginning when you do ask for that drive and roundness. you want to use your legs to push them forward/up, but trap the energy with your hands ( think accordian )

[BornToRide]

o sorry i read your first post wrong.. thought you said you rode him in a bosal.. sorry.

[*Foxy*Hunter*]

Thanks.
Friends and Family are oushing me to hurry up and start showing.

BornToRide - It's ok... I sometimes read a post wrong to . But once we do (hopefully one day) get ready to show I do plan to transition him to a bosal.

[Lopinslow]

i'm not sure about Arab rules, but for AQHA, APHA and open shows in our area, horses older than 5 have to be shown one handed in a curb bit.

one thing i have learned, is take your time training. if you start rushing because you want to hurry up and show, things backfire on you. when I was a kid, i also showed a mare before she was ready, and we showed 3-4 times a month... she got SO ring sour and smart because she was not broke properly before being shown. just a couple years ago i warned a friend of mine that STOP showing the horse because she wasn't ready. she refused to listen to me, and by that fall at the Championship show, the mare was HORRIBLE, made a fool out of the rider.