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Western Pleasure Horses . . . whats the point. . . .

12K views 50 replies 22 participants last post by  waresbear 
#1 ·
of listening to people bash our stock WP horses. In this forum you an talk about anything from fake tails to bridles to training tequniques (sp.) without worring about bashing and rashing. Post pictures of you beloved WP horse nad any accomplishments. Talk about show, classes, and mistakes.
 
#9 ·
Well, I am new to western pleasure, and I was thinking of doing some small shows later on in the year so I have a couple of questions!
1) Do the WP horses in small classes have to do the 'peanut roller' thing they do it high up classes? I am not sure if that is the right word for it too :O
2) What if your horse does not neck rein, can you do it 2 handed? (I am teaching my horse how to neck rein right now)
3) Do I need super nice saddles with the silver on them for starting out, or will my roping saddle work?
4) How low does the horses head have to be?
5) Are there special bits involved in the small horse shows?

Keep in mind that this is really low level stuff, not anything fancy and high up there :)
 
#19 ·
Well, I am new to western pleasure, and I was thinking of doing some small shows later on in the year so I have a couple of questions!

Keep in mind that this is really low level stuff, not anything fancy and high up there :)
1) Do the WP horses in small classes have to do the 'peanut roller' thing they do it high up classes? I am not sure if that is the right word for it too :O
Actually, The peanut rolling is "out". The rule is to move in a froward motion.
2) What if your horse does not neck rein, can you do it 2 handed? (I am teaching my horse how to neck rein right now)
If your horse is 5 or below you can ride 2 handed with a snaffle
3) Do I need super nice saddles with the silver on them for starting out, or will my roping saddle work?
Nope. A good judge will not fault you for not having "show" tack although show attire should fit show rules i.e. boots and hats.
4) How low does the horses head have to be?
level with withers, just below or just above is ok
5) Are there special bits involved in the small horse shows?
Most shows follow USET rules. But check your show billet.
 
#10 ·
I don't think the peanut roller look is desirable at any show level. The goal of a WP horse is a level, rounded topline moving with cadence and rhythm at all gaits. Ears should not dip lower or higher than the withers for more than a stride or two. Once the horse turns 5 it must be shown in a curb bit with an indirect rein. Under 5, they can be ridden with a direct rein. In a local show, you can use whatever tack you want. If you want to be taken seriously by the judges you need to have appropriate tack. If you just want to have fun with your horse at local shows, don't let the tack stop you! Hope that helps!
 
#11 ·
Peanut Rolling isn't desirable at all. The poll should be about level with the withers with a nice level neck. As already mentioned, you want rythmn and cadance through your gaits with your horse actually moving forward of his hind. AQHA has a great video (wish I could think of what it's called) which shows the difference between a good example of each gait and a poor one.

As far as the tack, at the local shows just make sure you are clean and well presented. You can show (and win) in s plain saddle with no tooling or silver. Just make sure you clean it and have it properly adjusted. Same goes with your clothing for you. You dont need to go buy everything they have in the latest HobbyHorse. But make sure you are presenting a clean, respectful image to the judges.
 
#12 · (Edited)
1) Do the WP horses in small classes have to do the 'peanut roller' thing they do it high up classes? I am not sure if that is the right word for it too :O

Like SD said, peanut rolling is undesirable and against the rules, regardless of where you're at. A horse with a relaxed, level topline and flat back is what is 'ideal'.

2) What if your horse does not neck rein, can you do it 2 handed? (I am teaching my horse how to neck rein right now).

Most places, horses under 5 are allowed to be in a snaffle and shown with 2 hands. Over 5 requires a curb bit and neck reining. If it is just a small local show, you might need to double check with the association that is putting it on to see what the rules are. They may permit a snaffle and direct rein beyond the age of 5.

3) Do I need super nice saddles with the silver on them for starting out, or will my roping saddle work?

Your roping saddle should work just fine for lower level shows, just make sure that it is clean and well kept (no big ugly torn places or crude repairs that are obvious). You can get a blanket that complements the coloring of your horse and saddle to add a bit of flair if you want to.

4) How low does the horses head have to be?

According to AQHA rules, it is an automatic disqualification if the point of the horse's ears drop below the point of their withers for more than 2 or 3 consecutive strides, so technically, most of the horses you see in lots of shows should be DQ'd. Here is a nice video showing what I think a good WP horse should look and move like.



5) Are there special bits involved in the small horse shows?

Every show will have bits that are against their rules. Chances are, twisted bits are not allowed and anything with an exceptionally high port. I am willing to bet that whatever bit you have been riding in is just fine, whether it's a regular snaffle or a mild curb. Again, you would have to check with the individual rules for the association where you want to show.
 
#13 ·
Not about head seat for get alll about it do not think about where your horses head is. If your horse has the right conformation for the low head seat and you have him/her colected and on the bit properly for wp ( I say that because collection and on the bit is diffrent in every disaplen) Your hourse will naturaly cary his head wear it should be.
Why I add the conformation part in. Some people belave that we force thier heads down (Peanut Rolling out of the topic yes it was done wonce I personlay have know ideal why, Yes i will ask my good boy to do it if I get a bad jugde and that is what he is placing.) You can not take a Walking hores hows neck comes out of the top of his withers and to the sky to cary his head like my QH. Whos neck comes out horizantal from his withers.
Work on having a very responsive horse. If he dose not go supper slow dont wory make sure he stays at what speed you ask with out speeding up or slowing down. Make sure you can come off the rail and pass graisfully with out changing your speed or lossing your fram. If you can work on these things and do them well you have great chances at the local shows. Remaber wp is about showing a nice quiet pleasent ride.
 
#14 · (Edited)
Some people belave that we force thier heads down (Peanut Rolling out of the topic yes it was done wonce I personlay have know ideal why, Yes i will ask my good boy to do it if I get a bad jugde and that is what he is placing.)
Why would you force your horses head down just because you got a bad judge that thinks that is what WP is about?

I personally love the video Smrobs posted, those look like happy horses to me. I'd rather see happy horses that are representing WP in a positive light than a placing.
 
#15 ·
I ask him to put it down more for the juge. Now saying that I have a very broke sesond wp horse maby i should have said that to start. It dose not bother him on bit to hang a little low so we still place. Call it what you want but I can not aford 600 dallors a weekend not to cater to the juges to a point as long as it dose not put me or my horse in danger.
 
#17 ·
At the stand still I sques my heal under his belly to ask him to collect or round how ever you want to say it. The longer i hold and the longer the rain the lower the head. Then when we move out that is wear his head stays if it comes up I twich the rains. Now he will not do this with out a hug drap rain cause hen he hits contact he comes up a noch and holds. Dose that make sence. Now I have never trained on to go so low so cant tell you that that is just how mine dose it.
 
#21 ·
Yes, you are right. Raywonk has a long way to go in the spelling and grammar department, but I still want to hear her opinion.

I am a spelling snob myself but a good horseman doesn't have to be good in her English classes to be a good horseman. So, cut it out. If you find that that's the biggest thing you can be critical about a post, then why are you replying at all?
 
#20 ·
sorry. I see you had plenty of responses already! Good luck at the show! Tell us how it go's.
 
#23 ·
I am realy sorry about my spelling. My computer will not do the spell cheak and my dislexic (sure i did not spell that right) has always made me a bad speller. But hay I am a welder who needs to spell and my horse cant spell WHOA but he knows what it means. I try to make my post as clear as I can so what I have to share gets threw.
 
#25 ·
I am new here but this is a timely thread. I currently show reining horses. I bought a cute pleasure bred gelding last year and he is currently in full time training for pleasure. I have a bad back due to a bad rollover truck accident 5 years ago. Because of my injuries I do not believe that I will be able to continue to do reining much longer and I will have to switch to western pleasure. I cannot believe the comments and flack I have gotten for this :-x It is crazy!! There are a few disciplines I don't care for and some breeds of horses I don't like either but I would never make fun of either of them to someone doing it ......what is wrong with people:-(
 
#26 ·
I hate when people bash Wp horses! I was at a local show, and I was on one of our boarders paint crosses, who was trained in WP. One woman (she had a HUGE shiny warmblood) sneered at me, said I had a useless mutt, and rode away. Haha, she came in fourth, and me in second :)
 
#30 ·
I have to admeat 15 yrs ago I was a kid so give me a brake. I use to think that riding western was so eazy and that wp was boring and whas not worth the time. HA HA HA. Of course my mom reased me better to ever say anything mean to anyone. As I got older and my TB jumper and I had a major accsadent (which I did not ride agien for a yr after) It was an old Rachking horse and a western saddle that got me going agien. My friend introduced me to AQHA cause we had more of those shows than Hunter shows. I road my first wp when I was 16 or 17 and my mouth droped I could not belave how hard it was to do what she was doing. I laph and smile now. The people who know me know think I know nothing about English riding. So I blame it on pure stupidety. Once they feel that smooth gait and all the power behind it they will change thier mindes.
 
#32 ·
WP horses are bashed by a lot of people. I used to think WP looked pretty easy. I had a reiner, so going around the ring on the rail & doing a walk, jog, walk, lope, reverse & do it all again looked like a piece of cake.
Welllll, sure, you can go around the ring and it can all be easy, but doing it well, on a nicely trained horse is not nearly as simple as it looks.
Now that I have a WP prospect, I know the hard work that goes into making those rides look so effortless. I think what really caused a lot of the bashing was the peanut rolling, 4 beating and incorrectly used spur stops. I don't use a spur stop, but have seen it done well and have seen it done very, very badly.
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#33 · (Edited)
Watching WP competition is like watching Paint Dry!

Price the billy Cook and cirle y saddles (i dont want to do the math here)

Look at the primped up princesses who hops on the horse at show immediately after the trainer jumps off, perform jump off, miss patterns get the wrong lead, wipe out other riders...... Place due to who they are. Thats mostly the 4-H shows.

Local shows are a bit more fair.

I can go on about some of the barbaric training practices i've seen... those people are either lazy or ignorant or just don't care.

I do know this spend time using what Dorrance taught you can get a super slow lope with nose dragging ground through less stressful/painful
methods

They need to re-look the rules, Under 6" curb bit.... please, if you can get the same movement without a bridle or a simple neck rope it should be bonus points, my horses the turn, speed, and lead are all done with where my spur touches their side. i don't do the spur stop i do seat position for the stop.

by the time you get to world class WP that horse is on auto pilot, no need to pull anything to get them to change from walk to trot to canter, the turn (see foot comments)

if you want to teach neck reigning invest in tail hair mecate or a nice martingale... another method we used to do is cross the reigns so when you lay over the side you want to turn it pulls the bit that direction. If you opt for the tail hair mecate ($$$$) the prickly hairs cause a reaction to move off the pressure.

and Ban Brain Chains in 2011
 
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