nfld pony, your response to the very nice replies of Renae and Tiffany is rather rude. You asked to be educated in what the JUDGES of the QH style are looking at. The equipment used by both QH and Saddlebreds is THEIR STYLE equipment. It makes the LOOK they desire for showing their animals.
Why the carts are small is clearly explained, light weight, build, is very desirable for a multitude of reasons. Just really different from Carriage Driving or CDE desires. Neither is a WRONG use of horse with attachments behind, but they are not similar uses for those quite different driving wants.
And then to “mock” the class names, mannerisms that are the current style, is kind of out of line. Carriage Driving or the CDE folks can look quite odd to other horse users with our “traditional” requirements on the rule book. There are a lot more folks enjoying the breed shows, assorted classes they present, than the total of carriage driving folks combined with the fun pleasure driving folks! Breed folks are firmly convinced their choices are the right ones.
No one should go beyond saying that another person’s driving discipline is “Really Different!” after viewing it. You can ask questions to learn more, but slamming stuff you know little about is showing your ignorance. The breed shows have evolved to their present form, with style or current fads being used. May change in the future, but it is their choice to do it. No one is FORCING you to participate.
Might interest you to know that the well-shod Saddlebreds with the longer toes, are usually much sounder, last longer in competitons or being used, wearing those special shoes, than the low levels of Dressage horses last in use. I found that quite interesting myself, since Dressage is supposed to be a “kinder and more normal horse activity”.
[QUOTE=nfld_pony;4421025]
Clearly. I saw a man riding english on youtube doing an AQHA class. she horse was doing the “I’m a lame QH” lope and he was riding like a western rider… they all were… it’s just in english attire.
Why is it called “Pleasure driving” then? It’s surely no pleasure with your arms up in the air like that. You’ll loose circulation! And looking up the horse’s patoot can’t be a pleasure either. Can they see where they’re going?
I think saying those carts are used for the sake of being small is a crock too. I do the pleasure driving circuit here (not AQHA) and we take lots of carts with us too. The shafts on mine (a pacific carriage) are removable, so they come off and take up no room at all. It’s certainly not going on any roof though.
I just think they’ll all do a lot better if the horse’s harness fit and the cart did too.
The saddlebred photos posted look sooo much better. At least the shafts are close to level. Let’s just get those silly shoes off.
And the line of contact with the bit is just terrible. The horses mouth is about a foot from the ground, so the lines go up up up to the terrets then down down down to the lady in the 1980’s blazer modeled after Blanche from the golden girls that’s driving in the mini’s cart with extra long shafts.
I just don’t get it. [/QUOTE]
I can only think of one situation where things really got wild–and that was the carriage wreck video. There is always going to be differences of opinion–and that’s what makes discussion forums tick.
