Okay I know that I will probably offend someone (and I don’t mean to) but I recently visited a QH Halter Horse barn and I am still mentally damaged from the experience.
WTF is that all about…someone explain this to me!
I’d try, but I don’t get it either.
From what I know-a lot of them breed strictly for the heavily muscled look. I hate seeing such heavily muscled horses with such small feet-lameness issues waiting to happen if you ask me. Some of them also do not do anything else other than halter, which to me detracts from the best feature of the breed, which is versatility. However- AQHA has introduced “Performance Halter” classes so we’ll have to see how those go.
The place was like a hothouse (78+) and all were blanketed. I have not seen muscles like that since the steroid frenzy of the late 80s!! Of course all there legs were toast and they were soo stiff they could barely turn around in their stalls.
I guess the real end for me was when they used a rolling pin to even out the fat on the crest. And they never get out EVER!!! Why would you do this?
I hear the WP horses also have their heads tied to the ceiling. :no: 
OMG Darlyn they did so that all the fat went to their necks!!! I was soo sad for the horses…they were gorgeous and I have a MAJOR soft spot in my heart for QHs
[QUOTE=Fairview Horse Center;2957278]
I hear the WP horses also have their heads tied to the ceiling. :no: [/QUOTE]
The BAD trainers do this…don’t believe it of the whole industry. It was big back in the early 90s…but the industry is moving way past that. Those horses are mostly bred to move with their heads that way.
Please don’t spread rumors about an industry that you don’t have experience with.
I have a big problem with a lot of halter horse barns, too. However, I think that most breeds/disciplines in the equine world have their fair share of bad trainers/owner/breeders. I’ve seen good halter horse management and bad, same goes for the western pleasure. But look at the big lick Tennessee Walking horses, the horse drugging problem in the hunters and jumpers, the TB industry who has a vast number of lame/injured horses before they even reach maturity. I think each segment has its own areas of abuse that need to be addressed. When it comes to winning, some people will, sadly, do whatever it takes.
If it happens at all that is enough. Where is PETA when you need them…and believe me I am the last one to speak for them.
The point is that it exists and it is in the QH realm…I could talk about the TWH people all day long. People are people. There are good and bad but let’s face the facts.
You might not like it because you are part of the industry and don’t conduct yourself like them but BY GOD if the WB people were doing these things I would be screaming and hollaring.
Oh did I mention that they had a pile of sand at least 2 foot deep that they lunge them in to exhaustion. I stupidly asked the lady when they were going to spread the sand out and she looked at me cross eyed.
Are you saying that this was all a figment of my imagination…don’t get me started. It broke my heart and I am still bothered by it all.
At the barn where I board someone just bought a horse that is supposedly some western pleasure hunter type horse that had NEVER been turned out other than an occasional 30 minutes or so in a round pen! I think the barn where she was previously kept her blanketed and ‘slicked out’ all the time too, btw she is 12 or 13. She gets t/o now with all the other horses and LOVES it! At first she was t/o by herself and she had to learn what to do with herself, now she is out with the other mares playing around!
I worked at a Saddlery and one of our customers used to ride at a western barn and the trainer there used bike chains in the horses mouths.
I have faith though that it’s just the bad western barns we hear about where they do barbaric things like no t/o, bike chains, tying necks to ceilings… ugh.
The sad thing is that I have never heard about any good western barns…
There are sour apples in every discipline, yes, but AQHA halter horses are bred SPECIFICALLY for halter—as in not performance. Most (as in the overwelming majority) halter horses simply CAN’T be ridden. It is completely out of control, through the AQHA themselves are trying to get a handle on it. Just google AQHA world champion halter horse and you will get yourself come real “winners.”
for example
http://www.clarkrassi.com/fearles/RASSI-1207%20copy.jpg
http://www.lonemacfarm.com/dbs/stallions/images/1146449334.jpg
it’s about fashion.
Some of it is this…When a horse like a QH is so readily available to the ‘common man’ - unlike a pricey WB- you see people taking horses utterly unsuited to the job- being forced to ‘be’ that horse, regardless- Silk purses from sow’s ears and all that.
Next, AQHA is well aware that it’s gotten a well deserved bad rap for the useless halter horses and the wrung out WP horses. Somewhere along the way leadership went down a greedy path…if you smash your members too hard…they’ll just switch to paints, or apps, or palominos. They have seen the shows flatten or fall off in numbers of attendees…they know why, too. Too expensive, too ‘elitist’, too crooked, etc. They are working hard to expand other programs, encourage peeps to log their pleasure-riding miles in their RIDE program to earn rewards, they award outstanding remuda (breeding herd) awards, they are expanding/celebrating more stock-horse/working horse types of showing…to encourage those discouraged with AQHA to come back into the fold. also- you’re seeing performance halter coming into the forefront- horses that are exhibited on the line, and under saddle, too.
Plenty of halter horses get turned out plenty- having personally turned out more than one WC and Congress halter winner to go roll in the mud, I know it happens 
There’s also plenty of NICE moving, happy, natural WP horses out there too- my vet’s got one that’s to die for, such a lovely happy horse- with the price tag to boot
I’m sorry you visited a bad barn, and I do think they outnumber the good. I hope the tides continue to turn for the better.
Somewhere along the line, apparently, someone really misunderstood what “straight legs” was supposed to mean…
[QUOTE=europa;2957372]
If it happens at all that is enough. Where is PETA when you need them…and believe me I am the last one to speak for them.
The point is that it exists and it is in the QH realm…I could talk about the TWH people all day long. People are people. There are good and bad but let’s face the facts.
You might not like it because you are part of the industry and don’t conduct yourself like them but BY GOD if the WB people were doing these things I would be screaming and hollaring.
Oh did I mention that they had a pile of sand at least 2 foot deep that they lunge them in to exhaustion. I stupidly asked the lady when they were going to spread the sand out and she looked at me cross eyed.
Are you saying that this was all a figment of my imagination…don’t get me started. It broke my heart and I am still bothered by it all.[/QUOTE]
It certainly isn’t a figment of your imagination. And no, I’m not involved in the QH industry. I find it disgusting, too. I find it disgusting that the AQHA let HYPP be perpetuated for so long and is only now trying to get the problem under control. I’m simply stating that I feel it can be somewhat hypocritical for different horse industries to criticize one another when none of these industries is squeaky clean. As far as this type of stuff not happening in the WB world, puh-leeze. I think we’ve all seen hunters lunged “to death” And there was just a news item in the most recent issue of “The Horse” magazine (Feb 2008 pg 16) about the FEI having to initiate new exams to prevent show jumper abuse. Specifically that they are having to employ heat sensing equipment and examine legs for evidence of horses being intentionally sensitized (hyper-sensitized) to pain so that they lift their legs higher over jumps. If that isn’t abuse I don’t know what is!
[QUOTE=europa;2957266]
The place was like a hothouse (78+) and all were blanketed. I have not seen muscles like that since the steroid frenzy of the late 80s!! Of course all there legs were toast and they were soo stiff they could barely turn around in their stalls.
I guess the real end for me was when they used a rolling pin to even out the fat on the crest. And they never get out EVER!!! Why would you do this?[/QUOTE]
They don’t go out (or if they do- it’s by themselves) because they do not want any scars or blemishes. It’s a shame, because it is really unfair to the horse.
As for tying the heads up of WP horses, well, the QH industry too has its problems. I would say though that most of the WP people that I know would never do that.
Well, I guess I haven’t seen the WB abuse but if I do you can Guarandamntee I will have something to say to that PARTICULAR person. HORRIBLE
BTW they also said that they prefer NH (HYPP) horses because they bulk up more.
At least the QHs now can go with a normal headset again! Thank goodness for small mercies. Don’t get me on the TWHs.
Hypocritical is if I am doing it and saying it doesn’t happen. That doesn’t mean that I would not address it with anyone that I come in contact with…I would.
I am always awed when I watch working cow horse, reining and cutting classes. Those horses are amazing. And then I see the pleasure and halter horses…
Unfortunately the halter judges seem to be on crack. Or at least they need to take a class in basic horse conformation. The practices of the QH industry are unfortunately no worse than those you see in other disciplines. Some are better than others- I have never seen any nor heard of much abuse in the eventing world, and I don’t hear anything about endurance either. In dressage rollkur is about the only thing. It just seems that in some areas of the horse world shady practices get one ahead, so then everyone does it and it becomes normal.
While I do see your point you need to get out more. I’ve seen horses blanketed in Florida in BNT dressage barns. So what you are complaining about is not limited to Halter horses. Bad practice no matter who is doing it.
[QUOTE=bugsynskeeter;2957338]
The BAD trainers do this…don’t believe it of the whole industry. It was big back in the early 90s…but the industry is moving way past that. Those horses are mostly bred to move with their heads that way.
Please don’t spread rumors about an industry that you don’t have experience with.[/QUOTE]
Sorry, you can say the industry is moving past it but around here head tying is still standard operating procedure for WP trainers…they don’t even try to hide it because they see nothing wrong with it…it is sickening.
