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By: Bayley Donahue
on August 31, 2009
in Western Questions
Rating: 0
Can anyone who has trained or ridden a western pleasure quarter horse explain to me why it is acceptable to have your horse's nose touch the ground and make their gaits look crippled? I'm very frustrated with the AQHA showing because all of the winners in english, western, ranch horse, and even hunter jumping are horses that look like they've been beaten and can't move like a horse anymore. why is natural movement unwanted?
I agree, even in the USEF manual it states that the nose needs to be in front of the virtacle a bit and the head level w/ the withers. However, you rarely see this and when you do those are the horses that loos. I hate that. Not to mention that for hunt seat if you rode your horse into a jump like that it would barely be able to get over the thing. Should hunt seat be about how the horse should look when actually out hunting? And why is it that they are never bent in the direction of travel? Shouldn't that count for something?
actualy i have a friend who has a really well trained western pleasure horse, and the slow lope actualy is'nt as unnatural as it looks, the horse is'nt hurting, and yah i do think the head thing is a little extreme, but this horse doesnt have his head all the way down like that, yah thre head is down just not that extreme, anyway thought i would say somthing :] even though i really have no clue haha sorry :]
The day of the "peanut pushers", with the horses nose on the ground is very out of style.. at least here in New England.. The horses should be flat..rounded.... meaning. the head/neck are level...with the rump.. and slightly set.. and the lope I have noticed has got alot better.. although they do want them slow slow slow...
it's actually going out of style now, last year i seen it so bad at fair and the little pleasure shows at my barn. this year i seen the same horses moving more naturally. the AQHA doesn't allow it anymore.
well the nose isnt supposed to be touching the ground, but even if not slightly below. when the horses head is down, it rounds their butt more and helps then stay more colected in the hind. and yes, penut pushers are out here too.
It's not acceptable. At all. AQHA knows this, just read the rulebook. The horse should move in a natural way with his poll level with his whither, maybe slightly above or below. At the world show, I never saw a horse moving like it was crippled or had a head too low (let me specify- in the finals). All of the really successful AQHA pleasure horses are free-moving natural movers with a nice level headset (i.e A Certain Vino, Vital Signs Are Good, Dark Jasmine, and Hunting For Money)
