a western pleasure class?

[cherokee_92]

what do you do? I know you walk trote and canter. sit your trote. I know the idea is to use mainly leg pressure and not let the judge see you useing alot of rein. any tips would be helpful thanks,\ :)

[Half&Half]

your horse has to walk, jog, lope, and back up all very calmly. they have to look like they could do it all day long. the rider has to have invisible comands and the horse has to obey right on cue. the rider has to be very comfortable in the saddle with the horses' gaits. funny this is coming from an all english rider, but i learned all this from my horse judging team :D

[DixieGirl]

The one thing that makes me made when I show WP is the ppl that have horses that look like they are lame and "limp" as their lope. You want a natural lope not a uncomfortable lope. Your horse has to be calm and releaxed with his/her head level. I have noticed that the judges I show under really like the level heads on horses, not too far down though, just perfect.

[Half&Half]

they do look limp. i never understood that.

[DixieGirl]

The horse's lope is so so so so slow it looks like the horse is stuggling t olope for it's rider. Understand??

[Half&Half]

why is it like that though? i mean it almost looked painful to do it.

[xxrequiem]

It isn't painful at all. The movement is just slower and not as natural as a working lope, so the horse needs to adjust himself to the slow pace. Sometimes it seems jerky because the horse is adding a larger hop in the front end. In reality he's using just as much impulsion but going as slow as a pleasure lope, making up for the slow pace with an exaggerated stride. (edited out because due to further thought, the light front end is a good thing and the horse isn't really cheating. lol, I rethink myself a lot.) edit;; although you will always see a tiny bit of a "hop" in the stride due to the unnatural gait.

In western pleasure, your horse must obediently walk, jog, lope, stop, be able to do turns on the forehand and hindquarters, and back up at the rider's every command. The higher level you get, the less rein contact the judges want to see. The horse's head should be level with his top line and he should be flexed at the poll, accepting the bit. Ideally his paces should be slow and look easy to ride - almost like hunter, I think? The horse/rider combination is judged on how well the horse performs the required movements, how the rider sits and controls her horse, turn out, and the overall calmness of her horse.

[Half&Half]

oh! that makes sense. i am english, so im not familiar with western pleasure.

[xxrequiem]

No worries :D you had it pretty much on the nose with what the judge was looking for. I've only started into English last winter, and I haven't ridden it that much. We're just now learning to trot over ground poles and...wow xD I dunno how you guys do it. We do extended trot over ground poles, and I almost always lose my rhythm when the horse collects up again, haha.

[Half&Half]

thanks! it is alot of work. the way i collect from an extended into collected is when i am in extended ready to collect i sit deep. i push my feet into my stirrups and sit deep. i dont know if im making sense at all, but basically when i collect, sitting deep allows me to go into the slower post.

[xxrequiem]

Yeah, I see what you mean (: Thanks!

[Half&Half]

your welcome. when i first tried extended i was so stunned at how i fast i had to post that it took me a bit to figure out how i was going to transition, but as i got accustomed to it, it got easier.

[DixieGirl]

why is it like that though? i mean it almost looked painful to do it.

They want to win and they go that far to win thats why.

[DixieGirl]

I still just hate the way those horses look. I mean they can have a slow lope but not to where to looks like that.

[cherokee_92]

ya I have noticed that to it does look stressful for the horse. I dont know yet what I am going to do. I am going to buy a horse that was used for it and she does it all right so I will look like the stupid one in the ring.lol but I think I am going to do wp ,hunter/jumper and dressage with her.

[xxrequiem]

There is nothing wrong with teaching a slow lope and maintaining that training. You have to take into account that that is not the only pace at the lope they are traveling at all times. And most horses don't hate it. Granted there are a few that hate to be made to slow down, but these horses usually aren't pleasure horses anyway. Influencing the gaits is a highly beneficial thing, and if you're judged on how well you can influence the gait, then all the better for you if you've practiced it. I'll say it again: it is not cruel to teach a horse the slow lope and make him maintain it. The only objection I have to teaching a horse to slow lope is that sometimes it turns into a four beat, and this can be avoided/remedied.

[DixieGirl]

But you see, when the horse's head is way low (not suppose to be) and the lope is so so so slow it is very stressful on the horse's knees and legs. People don't understand that part about it.

[xxrequiem]

Yes, but we are seeing less and less peanut rollers these days. The "proper" way, per sey, of showing western pleasure keeps the horse collected, on the bit, with a -level- headset, which is all in all hardly damaging to the horse. And yes, it does take quite a bit of muscle control to maintain a slow lope, but if the horse is eased into it with a proper training program then he will become conditioned to it. He is hardly expected to pleasure lope for longer than a few minutes anyway.

[Barrelbabe_23]

You are going to buy Tally??? I hope you do you will be a great owner!!!!

[DixieGirl]

Yes, but we are seeing less and less peanut rollers these days. The "proper" way, per sey, of showing western pleasure keeps the horse collected, on the bit, with a -level- headset, which is all in all hardly damaging to the horse. And yes, it does take quite a bit of muscle control to maintain a slow lope, but if the horse is eased into it with a proper training program then he will become conditioned to it. He is hardly expected to pleasure lope for longer than a few minutes anyway.

When I went to this one show a girl had this horse that was a peanut pusher and the lope was to too too slow and she won the class! That kinda made me mad in a way.

[xxrequiem]

I can see your frustration there, although she may have been a -very- good rider and the horse's pace, although slow, may have been -very- good, so I could see how a peanut pusher might take first place. I'm guessing it was only a club show, though, so it doesn't really matter too much.

[DixieGirl]

Yeah but the club show follows the AQHA or the APHA showing rules. But when that horse and rider were in the equtation class the girl took 1st too evne though she was moving in the saddle a lot because the horse was going slow.

[xxrequiem]

Equitation is mainly about the rider's equitation line & control of her horse. As long as she wasn't bouncing right up out of the saddle with every stride, and had good equitation and control, I wouldn't be too shocked. But we've gotten way o/t here, and I don't want to start any arguments. Agree to disagree?

[DixieGirl]

I know what equtiaion is but she was like going foward the whole time though.

[cherokee_92]

dixiegirl- I think I know what your saying about that girl moving forward. Some people push their body forward with the horses movement. It helps some people I dont know how though

[StarGirl]

dixiegirl- I think I know what your saying about that girl moving forward. Some people push their body forward with the horses movement. It helps some people I dont know how though

No, what DixieGirl is trying to say is that girl's upper body was jerking forward with the horse's every move...looked like a jarring ride, I was there....

DixieGirl, remember, there were only a couple ppl in the class she won...hmm... and that judge was having an "off" day, I've seen him on good days and bad.lol. That wasn't one of his better judging days.... (please nobody ask his name, I'm not giving it out).

[DixieGirl]

No, what DixieGirl is trying to say is that girl's upper body was jerking forward with the horse's every move...looked like a jarring ride, I was there....

DixieGirl, remember, there were only a couple ppl in the class she won...hmm... and that judge was having an "off" day, I've seen him on good days and bad.lol. That wasn't one of his better judging days.... (please nobody ask his name, I'm not giving it out).

Thats what I'm saying. She wasn't moving her seat her upper body was back and forth and back and forth. Thats what I mean.

[Love My Dun]

I haven't read any of the other replies, and I'm probably saying the same thing they are, but the more you hear something, the more true it is.

First; You can't just trot. it has to be slow...
to slow down an english horse, half-haults with a little leg at the same time will help him or her grasp the idea of slow.

second; Loose reigns if possible.
this is very appealing to western judges.

third; The headset is NOT dragging the ground like popular opinion. its level to the ground. like a hunt headset without the collection.

Fourth; correct leads are essential. although I doubt thats a problem.

Fifth; Square is also appealing, but not necessary. its just like an extra helping hand to win the judge's favor, but I've won classes without it. (Or to my knowledge, lol)

sixth; Clean, good tack! if theres a tie, what the judges around here will do is check to see who has the best-taken-care-of tack.

good luck to you =]