Western Pleasure Question

[lesley]

I have a western pleasure related question.

About a year ago, I went to an AQHA show and there were three horses in a western pleasure class. One horse and rider were doing so badly they were a throwout; the other two were pretty good. The woman on the big sorrel rode her horse down the rail at a slant: they would lope down the rail with the horse's head towards the rail and his hindquarters more pointed to the center of the arena. (I think it was referred to as riding your horse at an angle or a "C".)
Kind of similar to riding your horse like this:
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My trainer said you're supposed to ride your horse at a C in advanced w.p.
The other woman on a dark bay did not do this, and she won the class. She and the judge were very thin, and the woman on the sorrel must've been over 150lbs overweight. The two horses and riders were very close, and horse shows have tons of politics, so my trainer said the woman probably lost because of her size.
A couple months later I read in the American Quarter Horse Journal that you're not supposed to ride your w.p. horse at an angle.
Recently I saw a video of Zippo Can Do winning a World Championship with Cleve Wells, and he was loping at an angle.

So... Now I don't know what to believe!

My trainer IS very good: she rode with top professionals for over 20yrs and has actually ridden Zippo Can Do. Yet I'm wondering if some riding styles she's accustomed to have been deemed outdated: the AQHA recently (2 yrs ago) made a bunch of new standards for western pleasure after people were crying "abuse" (but I won't get into that...). Can Do won the World Show about 7 years ago, so the video is before all the changes.

So, I'm wondering what you guys know? Read? Seen? Heard? Thanks so much!

[live2ride2live]

im not sure, i generally just ride english but i really enjoy going to western shows. all the ones ive seen have been rding straight but i ha ve heard of riding at an agle, so i really have no clue! good question though!

[jig]

From what my friend's trainer tells us, angled riding was how it used to be done, and straight riding is how it's done now. However, I don't know for sure.

[DynamicFlashback]

Its called hipping in. Generally a really natural slow moving collected wp horse will hip in on their own. Its a sign of driving with their hips and hind legs. In advanced classes its seen a lot (like congress or world levels), but its not as exaggerated as it was when Can Do won. Its not abusive or hard on the horses really, it just makes them move under themselves and collect more. But the point is a horse is suposed to look natural so people dont do it as much. My horse was trained by a congress rider and he is a very natural mover so he hips in a little but I dont let him go too far with it.

On the subject of weight however, the women probably was favored a little more because of her weight. I have read in many articles that judges will look at a in shape or fit person more than a bigger, because lets all just face it. For the most part a smaller person looks better on a horse than a larger one, just the plain truth.

[QHArabDonkey]

On the subject of weight however, the women probably was favored a little more because of her weight. I have read in many articles that judges will look at a in shape or fit person more than a bigger, because lets all just face it. For the most part a smaller person looks better on a horse than a larger one, just the plain truth.[/QUOTE]

i agree completely , i showed AQHA , for a little bit , its the trueth to , a fit ride and a fit horse look great together. yes the the judge may of been a little biased in his/her decision. but the only way you'll find "fair" judgeing is when your doing speed events...

Andrew**

[HunterDreams]

Its called hipping in. Generally a really natural slow moving collected wp horse will hip in on their own. Its a sign of driving with their hips and hind legs. In advanced classes its seen a lot (like congress or world levels), but its not as exaggerated as it was when Can Do won. Its not abusive or hard on the horses really, it just makes them move under themselves and collect more. But the point is a horse is suposed to look natural so people dont do it as much. My horse was trained by a congress rider and he is a very natural mover so he hips in a little but I dont let him go too far with it.

On the subject of weight however, the women probably was favored a little more because of her weight. I have read in many articles that judges will look at a in shape or fit person more than a bigger, because lets all just face it. For the most part a smaller person looks better on a horse than a larger one, just the plain truth.

*thumbsup* I agree with that :) . Well put.

[n_green1998]

thats a great thing to bring up!!! heres the answer! --

SHOWING WESTERN PLEASURE IS ALL POLITICS NO MATTER WHAT

i started showing my horse western pleasure and when u enter that ring u don't mean anything to the judge unless she/he knows your name. If u are known by those judges for winning in western pleasure all the time then u are going to place no matter what goes on in that ring.

or it could be by thje way u look. if u look like u have the nicest outfit, tack, and most expensive stuff on then u can garrentee a spot to win.

thats why right now i'm doing speed wiht my horse instead....it takes the fun outa showing western pleasure for me and makes me all nervous. but when ur doing barrel racing or flag racing ur going against the clock and not the judge so it does not matter if it was ur first time or not!

hope that explains a lot :D