Crash course in WP

I pose this question with sincere curiosity and no snark.

But what WP horse isn't -- and this is okay? Why would people encourage whatever it is about WP that causes horses to shut down and think its good?

(I don't get the allure of WP. I don't understand it and don't see the skill of the rider. It looks looe the rhinstone bedazzled riders try to sit very stretched and still while the horse shuffles along. Someone explain the parts that I don't see due to a lack of knowledge of WP? Explain the collection and abilities the rider needs and all that? I'm an English rider so my way of going is clearly different)
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I didn't knock wp just the way it's judged and all I mentioned is that part of wp is pleasure which with all the comments made latley it seems to me no on is having any pleasure. I wonder if anyone knows what pleasure means anymore.

No, it was kind of a snarky comment about most western pleasure horses are a little "shut-down", which means the person training them just went a little above and beyond what they should have. I don't think a shut down horse is good, because they loose the beauty of that front leg. I really like to have a more extended front leg that is flat in the knee, but a horse that is shut down will typically short-stride instead of really sinking into his gait while still going slower.

The skill is - I challenge you to create a perfectly balanced horse. One who collects up through the withers and ribcage, and one who has perfect cadence - which means they keep the same rhythm throughout. Now I challenge you to take that horse and slow it down without loosing any of the aforementioned qualities. Now I challenge you to create cues that nobody else can see, that are so small and subtle but your horse is still responsive to them. To have complete control over shoulder, ribcage, and hindquarters without barely moving a spur. Now do it all on a completely draped rein, where you have no direct contact with the horses mouth except for the lightest amount of pressure.

There is a lot that goes into it - I can hardly scratch the surface! And the reason the riders look so stiff is because their trainers drill equitation into their minds! Try riding with your spur straps balanced on the tips of your toes next time you ride, and you'll stretch up a lot too! Haha.

my like button broke! But ^like oh vair oh! Lol

Oh vair oh, that was a heck of a post! Like x100!

I truly know very little about WP. I'm in a more dressage, eventing, hunter/jumper area. Your post made a lot of sense!

Now onto this spur thing - so I would take the straps and instead of wrapping them around my ankle like normal is hang my spurs off my toes? I wonder if I can give it a go with Dressage spurs.
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Yes, we typically took our spurs off our heels, buckled the strap closed but loose, and then dangled the strap of the spur on the toe of our boot. You would ride without stirrups for this. You would typically have to keep your body positioned aligned and your heels down throughout various transitions - jog, lope, trot, canter, walk, stop, lope off from standstill, etc. If at any point your spur falls off, you get to hop off and get back on xD

I watched that last video, and when it started, I thought, "oh, good, a real trot/jog, not a wog." But, when he loped, it was not a lope. A lope/canter must have a moment of suspension, and that horse always had at least one foot on the ground. He was basically walking in the pattern of a lope.

I do appreciate Oh vair oh's description of the challenges one must pass through to achieve that. I could not do that, certainly not on a draped rein. I just hate to see the gaits slowed so much that they are no longer correct gaits. I also wonder if it doesn't , over time, kill the horse's correct natural way of trotting or cantering and create stiffnesses .

I do, I have a blast riding my WP horse.

Jus wanted to add some insight as well regarding what makes a WP and the training involved. It starts with breeding the right horses with the right bloodlines to get the right conformation AND MIND SET for a WP horse. MINDSET is HUGE when it comes to training one. There is some natural ability that comes from conformation and mind set and correct training finishes it.

A good WP horse has a mind set that wants to go slow, the conformation ALLOWS the horse to go slow. BUT these horses can also extend at all 3 gaits. WHat many people who don't know WP don't understand...is that these horses are moving their legs slower, get hang time in the air, and can maintain that slowness. It takes a horse with great athleticism to do that, because moving legs faster is much easier for a horse.

To maintain this, it comes from seat and leg from the rider. The rider "wraps" the lower leg to maintain lift in the back and drive from the hock, and the horse maintains rate on it's own. The horse has learned to "pack" the bit, where the rider has little hand contact. For those who don't know what "pack" means, it is when the horse picks that bit up in his mouth and holds it, instead of relying on the hands of the rider to do that. Just the slightest lift from the rider's hand for a correction is all that is needed, because it only takes the slightest movement of the bit in the horse's mouth for the horse to respond.

There's a lot that goes on with a WP horse....and the end result is to make it look like the rider is doing nothing.

Did you just come to harp on all of the WP threads? Seriously, every WP thread I go to, you're always preaching about western pleasure being pleasureless. If you don't like it, don't have anything to with it! Just let it go and let people do what they want!