[louisvillelou]

So, I was training this mare for the hunter ring, but it became very obvious to me that jumping was not something she was suited for. (Too lazy!) Because of her bloodlines and attitude it was decided she'd be much better off and much happier as a western pleasure horse.

The thing is, I've never trained western (with the exception of neck reining) So, I don't know how to go about doing what we need and I'm not quite 100% on what the judges will be looking for. We've all ready begun our neck reining refresher course, and I know she needs to have her head long and low, but I'm really not sure how to get it there. Also, with her back end, we were working on getting her to drive more but all of the WP horses I've seen don't do that. Do I need to reverse that training? Anyway, let me know what you think, and how we should get there. Thanks!

(She's really out of shape now, it's very clear in the videos, I'm hoping a lot of this stuff, will come easier with more muscle. She's just now getting to the point where she can hold a canter around the ring. We've been doing lots of trotting up and down those hills!)

(Ignore where she stops in the corner here, that's where the gate is. We're working on that too!)

 

[GottaRide]

I think she does have some potential for western pleasure. How is she bred? How old is she?

There are a few things that need to change right off the bat. Put her in a snaffle first of all. Her head needs to come down so her back can be lifted. The neck reining will happen later. You still need to work on having her drive from her hindquarters, but everything you're doing needs to slow way down. Even your riding needs to change to help her, specifically at the lope. Don't "pump" your hips & upper body with her motion. You need to sit up straight & still, but relaxed. You also need to know when your horse is on the correct lead or not & fix it right away. Go back to the snaffle and start working a lot of circles at w/t/c with a focus on giving her a loose rein but still enforcing proper body mechanics.

 

[louisvillelou]

Thanks for the advice! I'm mostly an english rider, so I was trying to keep her in her canter by using my seat, I'll stop that. She normally is in a snaffle, but I was told that putting her in a curb would help her with her carriage. We'll go back to that as well. Her leads looked correct to me both directions, but I'll go back and look at the videos again.

Anyway, she's a young 5, Impressive bred HYPP N/N. I'll have to have a look at her papers again for exact bloodlines. Her dam was Jimpressives Minx I believe. She's supposed to start going halter to, but we really need to get muscle back on her, she is really weak. As I said, I don't know much about Quarter Horses and western, I'm totally at a loss of what to do.

 

[ilovestitch]

I couldnt have said it any better GottaRide