Sigh. The APHA has a new class being offered at APHA shows this year. The 2 yo longe line class. Since they posted it was one of the great new changes coming this year I posted I was disappointed not excited about this, as the amount of longeing required to be show worthy is not in the long term interest of young joints. Here is the official APHA reply: The new 2-Year-Old Longe Line class allows our APHA members additional options to delay under saddle training on their young Paints until they are older, but still enjoy training and showing their young horses…
while still encouraging a long, healthy and happy career for these developing horses.
Yes if done properly and remembering that 10 minutes working properly on the lunge is equal to an hour of riding.
I don’t have a problem with young horses being lunged for 5 minutes a day and yes that would mean a fit muscled horse able to compete.
I bet there will be people that will do it for an hour or more only once or so a week which will destroy the youngsters instead. 
I really doubt that moderation will rule the day when you make it a competitive event.
No it won’t.
Buy horses and carriages and offer to pay a man $50.00 a week to drive them from A to B and you won’t get any takers that will stay.
Don’t buy any horses and carriages and buy a $20.00 trophy and market that instead and people will spend thousands on buying, breeding and training horses and designing and making carriages to do it the fastest.
You are aware that yearling longe line classes have existed for a long time, yes? I’d rather see 2 year olds than yearlings.
[QUOTE=CrowneDragon;7933522]
You are aware that yearling longe line classes have existed for a long time, yes? I’d rather see 2 year olds than yearlings.[/QUOTE]
My confusion with this post as well. APHA has had yearling longe line classes for years…
Complete with fake tails and all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XERGbXCsqtg
(I find this handler so sloppy with the longe line and terribly distracting! Wouldn’t you have a little more finesse than that?)
[QUOTE=Simkie;7933569]
My confusion with this post as well. APHA has had yearling longe line classes for years…
Complete with fake tails and all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XERGbXCsqtg
(I find this handler so sloppy with the longe line and terribly distracting! Wouldn’t you have a little more finesse than that?)[/QUOTE]
I don’t think that horse will torque it’s joints…it’s barely moving!!!
Seriously, is that horse drugged? How do you get a young horse to move so slowly? That walk looks like a coma victim…
Check out this one, Kyzeke:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYbACgA4xCc
I LOL’d when the filly was “trotting” in hand in the beginning…with her handler walking at a pretty sedate pace! I don’t think the horse can walk fast enough to keep up?
Oh, handler in English attire here. This one can actually move out a little bit:
I didn’t know about the yearlings. have not shown APHA in a while as mine lately have been breeding stock/ solids ( one was truly solid and two registered BS due to TOO much white) …did FEH instead with the young uns. Dear lord … That’s even worse.
I can’t gripe too much about the longe line classes because I still like it a lot better than the robotic 2 year old under saddle western pleasure type classes, not that I particularly like any of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enMltPKdDDs
What can you do.
[QUOTE=Simkie;7933569]
My confusion with this post as well. APHA has had yearling longe line classes for years…
Complete with fake tails and all:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XERGbXCsqtg
(I find this handler so sloppy with the longe line and terribly distracting! Wouldn’t you have a little more finesse than that?)[/QUOTE]
I think that forelock must be fake, too.
[QUOTE=Kyzteke;7933650]I don’t think that horse will torque it’s joints…it’s barely moving!!!
Seriously, is that horse drugged? How do you get a young horse to move so slowly? That walk looks like a coma victim…[/QUOTE]
The ones that are bred for western pleasure are often just naturally like this. You can watch them move like this at liberty. The horse in the video is by Lazy Loper, who is a very popular pleasure sire.
I always think many of those “ideal” WP horses look like their feet hurt, hence why the move so short and soft.
[QUOTE=Texarkana;7933881]
I always think many of those “ideal” WP horses look like their feet hurt, hence why the move so short and soft. :([/QUOTE]
I totally agree.
While a bit off topic I’ll bite. I do understand the theory behind the soft moving Western horse being one you want to ride all day across the range. Purpose bred. But…the super short moving peanut roller has moved beyond being a practical Western Horse. If the horse really moved that slowly following a herd of cows he’d be left in the dust. The cowboy would be a loooong time getting home.
As one who grew up working cows, I can say with assurance that horses used for moving cows don’t move like those horses. Getting the job done would take days and days, with a horse who moved that slow.
I was looking at the video I posted again, of VS Flatline, and it looked like he had spur welts. I looked for more photos of him online and found this:
https://36.media.tumblr.com/8166309fe60804533a62f989210095b5/tumblr_mwldzkbwjf1r8w098o1_500.jpg
I really hope that isn’t what it looks like
[QUOTE=clint;7934058]
As one who grew up working cows, I can say with assurance that horses used for moving cows don’t move like those horses. Getting the job done would take days and days, with a horse who moved that slow.[/QUOTE]
Exactly!! If you reference the video(s) on the Gate to Great website, Dale mentions that he wants a horse who walks “fast enough to make the reins bounce.” A good walk for a backcountry/ranch horse is mandatory.
As for working cattle – geeze, the videos posted of these WP horses are actually pathetic to me – they are like some sort of mutant horse. They would never get close to a cow moving like that.
But then, I feel the same way when I watch “Big Lick” TWs. Both of them sort of make me throw up in my mouth alittle bit.
[QUOTE=CrowneDragon;7934178]
I was looking at the video I posted again, of VS Flatline, and it looked like he had spur welts. I looked for more photos of him online and found this:
https://36.media.tumblr.com/8166309fe60804533a62f989210095b5/tumblr_mwldzkbwjf1r8w098o1_500.jpg
I really hope that isn’t what it looks like :([/QUOTE]
I’m going to call those the typical corn spots roans get? I really, really hope those aren’t spur marks
They really WANT the horses to move this way??? To me they look almost lame. The heads in the dirt look ridiculous. These big men on these poor little things hurts my eyes, especially with the agonizingly slow and impure gaits. I used to go to our local horse shows in the 50s and 60s that featured western classes. The horses did not look at all like this. This is beyond bizarre. :rolleyes::sigh:
[QUOTE=CrowneDragon;7933811]
I can’t gripe too much about the longe line classes because I still like it a lot better than the robotic 2 year old under saddle western pleasure type classes, not that I particularly like any of it.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=enMltPKdDDs
What can you do.[/QUOTE]
We stopped by the World Championships or what ever they call it here in Fort Worth last year. It’s even worse to see this in person. We didn’t make it through one class. Got up and left.
[QUOTE=Home Again Farm;7934698]
They really WANT the horses to move this way??? To me they look almost lame. The heads in the dirt look ridiculous. These big men on these poor little things hurts my eyes, especially with the agonizingly slow and impure gaits. I used to go to our local horse shows in the 50s and 60s that featured western classes. The horses did not look at all like this. This is beyond bizarre. :rolleyes::sigh:[/QUOTE]
