|
This is the
second article in our series on the western pleasure disciple. The
first article discussed the selection of a horse. This article
discusses the training needed. To review, the better the
conformation of the horse, the easier it will be to train because a
well-balanced horse is easier to train. The horse pictured with the
first article was not ideal but was an average horse that could be
used for western pleasure. These articles are intended for riders
who want to get into western pleasure and can’t go to a training
barn or would like to do it on their own as there are many shows
where an amateur or novice can participate.
The first thing
to determine is the willingness of the horse to be trained. It is
not just physical training but also the horse needs to have a good
mind. The more willingly and compliant the horse is, the easier and
quicker it will be to train the horse. The horse should be
emotionally sound. If the horse is high strung, over reacts because
of a high emotional level, has a high flight instinct, or is easily
distracted it is not a good candidate as a western pleasure horse is
ridden with a loose rein. A horse that won’t stay focused, is
looking ahead or around, and is not quiet will be difficult to train
for western pleasure. The mental and emotional strength of the
horse is very important.
The training of
a western pleasure horse, or any horse, is always balance and
rhythm. It is always a forward movement. A lot of times when
people are first working with a western pleasure horse, they are
concerned about developing the quiet jog and quiet lope. The
movement is always a forward movement, even if the horse has the
slowest jog in the world. It comes from the rear. If the horse
carries himself properly, the horse is balanced and elevated, has
self carriage, and has a collected canter, he will have a better
presentation for the judge. The quality of the gaits is very
important; the better the quality, the better the showing.
Western
pleasure was actually introduced around the late 1940s and early
1950s. Ranch hands would bring their best riding horses to the
rodeos. Each ranch hand had two, three or even a string of horses
used to work cows or to ride fence lines. They always brought the
best horse to ride, meaning that the horse was a pleasure to ride.
The horse’s gait was comfortable and relaxed and it was a pleasure
to ride the horse. Through the course of time, we have gotten down
to the ultimate really slow gaits and jogs. We still have to ask,
is it a pleasure to ride? In the rule book it is supposed to be
free flowing movement. It is also supposed to be judged on the size
of the horse. With a larger, bigger boned horse, there is a larger
stride. The stride is still supposed to be free flowing.
The reason I
mention this is that you want to train the horse to carry himself
where it is natural for him to carry himself in balance and where he
will be balanced in rhythm and cadence. Per the American Quarter
Horse Association (AQHA) rule book, “A good pleasure horse has a
free flowing stride of reasonable length in keeping with his
conformation. He should cover a reasonable amount of ground with
little effort. Ideally, he should have a balance, flowing motion,
while exhibiting correct gaits that are of the proper cadence. The
quality of the movement and the consistency of the gaits is a major
consideration. He should carry his head and neck in a relaxed
natural position with his poll level or slightly above the level of
the withers.” Standing or walking relaxed will show you the natural
position based on the conformation of the horse.
The horse needs
to be supple. We need to teach the horse to give laterally and
vertically. We need control of the shoulders and the hind
quarters. This means that our basics, our foundation is going to be
spent on suppling, getting the shoulder, the jaw and neck soft and
responsive to the rein. The body must be able to bend and not be
rigid but yielding to pressure. As we go into the training, if I
was getting my horse ready to show in western pleasure next year,
the first six months I would be working on halts, getting them quiet
and soft. I would work on the trot and an extended trot and a quiet
slow lope and an extended lope, suppling and shoulder control.
Going into the last six months of training, I would start to finish
the package by looking for self carriage and getting consistency in
the carriage. When you start teaching them to carry themselves, in
any discipline but particularly in western pleasure because it is
such a slow gait, they have to be able to carry themselves more than
two or three strides at a time. They have to able to consistently
carry themselves. It takes time to develop the top line, which is
teaching the horse to use his hind quarters. You want a rear wheel
drive, in other words the stride comes from behind.
Once you have
established the basics and are starting to refine the gait and
develop the quiet gaits, there are some exercises to improve
carriage. If your horse is traveling on the forehand, in other
words the horse is dumping his weight onto the forehand, stop and
back the horse and as you back, roll the horse over the hocks and
then ask him to go forward. When you back the horse, the weight is
shifted to the hind quarters and as you roll over the hocks (which
is like a turn on the haunches) and then ask the horse to go forward
with the weight shifted back, the horse will go up under himself.
Lateral work is
also a good exercise. Once I have control of the shoulders and
hips, I like to do side pass work. I start putting together side
passing and leg yielding and this teaches the horse self carriage
and to be supple. I will then start teaching the horse how to do
haunches in (this is when we ask the front end to stay straight and
the hind quarters to tip in toward the inside). With the haunches
in exercise, we get more control of the hind quarters and also
control the speed to slow the horse down. What you don’t want to do
but what you may see in the ring, are horses being loped around with
the hip to the inside. This exercise is a tool but the horse needs
to be lined back up to go straight down the rail when being shown.
The nose, shoulders and hips need to be aligned.
Patience is a
key to training any horse but especially with a western pleasure
horse. Consistency is also very important. For example, if you
have a horse that is a little long in the back, it may take a lot
more patience and consistency on your part to get the horse to start
carrying himself properly and using his back more. Follow through
is also very important. If you ask your horse to move his hips in
with a soft cue, make sure the hip goes to the inside.
In summary,
training for western pleasure takes patience, persistence,
consistency and follow through. The horse should be sacked out
(desensitized) and able to accept different environments and
distractions. Before showing, you need to trailer to other places
and make sure the horse will listen to your cues under various
conditions.
Next month we
will be discussing western pleasure equipment and dress
requirements.
Ride: April 2009
Charles Wilhelm
|
