Let’s suppose you have a western pleasure horse who is feeling energetic and you turn him out loose in a large arena. What will the horse do?
The same thing any other horse would do under the same circumstances - wander around, maybe roll, play a little…
I’m confused. Is there a particular reason for your question?
Sorry I could have made myself clearer. I wonder if their gaits in turn out are the same as their gaits in a western pleasure class OR if they lope out, gallop, do any sort of faster or extended trot etc. What about headset? To what extent is a Western Pleasure horses way of moving the product of training versus genetics? Also for a dedicated western pleasure horse, is the effort made to always ride the horse as he/she would move in a western pleasure class?
Why don’t you do the experiment?
I would assume at liberty the horse would move more freely but would still have modest gaits.
I can’t as I don’t have a WP horse.
Are you really interested in this question or are you just a bit nonplussed by the show gaits of WP horses? Coming from an English discipline that wants uphill and forward and big trot and canter, they do seem opposite to everything we work towards.
Perhaps you can find sales video that includes footage of a WP horse at liberty.
Yes
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I can’t answer your question, but can offer an observation.
A few years ago I took in a friend’s horse for a few months when she was in a tough spot. He was an Appendix QH; they did open shows, so he did western pleasure and english pleasure. He looked and moved more like his TB side, so the only way he could do the WP lope was to “crab” sideways.
So in turnout, that’s the way he cantered/loped, with his hindquarters to the side about 30 degrees. One day he loped right into the entrance of my overhang and took about a half dollar size chunk out of his hip. Apparently it didn’t register that his hips were not in line with his head and shoulders. He wasn’t the brightest light bulb in the fixture.
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It is true that horses will begin to move in turnout in ways that reflect how we are asking them to move under saddle.
I have watched my mare’s trot get longer and her canter get more balanced in turnout over the years. A while back I noticed that she could now do a “barrel horse turn” at the fence rather than a hop stop and plowing around on her forehand. She’s primarily in dressage training, we’ve never ridden anything remotely like games!
My former WP mare trots, canters and jumps just fine. I have had several that turned into excellent over fences horses. They can also go back to the shuffle if I ask. They move about like any other QH type.
they don’t tend to have big dressage gaits, though. My mare’s walk is a 6-7 and won’t ever be more. Her heart of gold more than makes up for it.
i had one who cleared a 5’ fence from a standstill in the field. She was a regular fence jumper when the herd was running around. Never touched it, either! She won a futurity as a 2 yo and several 3’6 Children’s Jumper championships much later in her life. They can be very versatile.
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A well-bred pleasure horse is going to naturally have a relatively level topline and low-to-the-ground movement (i.e. minimal, if any, knee and hock action). Even very young foals that are truly bred for pleasure will travel in this manner. Now, yes, if the horse is excited, it will move more quickly and with more animation, at least briefly, but these horses aren’t physically built to move with the degree of lift and animation seen in other types (dressage horses, for example). Take these weanlings, for example - even being chased around a field, they still travel in a relatively “long and low” manner, with the “slow-legged” gaits they’ve been bred for: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4HGUK58lbaE.
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Purpose bred western pleasure horses do seem to carry the lower head and slower steps even when working free, but they still have shenanigans when playing. The ones I have had in my care, seem to play a little different: even though they were pleasure bred, they seemed to play more with reining/cutting type moves vs being prancy.
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My heeler carries himself differently than my header. They are bred to be specialists at what they do --you can make a heeler a header, and a header a heeler, but neither will be as good at it as the job he was bred for. The heeler is a stocky, heavy QH who can stop a freight train. The header is a little quick fellow (they are the same height --just built different). When they are turned out, they move differently --the heeler has a choppy, high kneed way of going, the header is lithe and catty in his movements.
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Thank you everyone. Thanks Montana’s girl, the footage of the weanlings was informative.
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Very very interesting. I have a tank of a Paint mare, 16 hands tapes 1275 lbs. She is handy for a horse her size, certainly compared to warmbloods, standardbred, draft crosses, OTTB even. But she can’t dance like an Andalusian. She has high head carriage and high knee action. Really solid horse. I’ve often thought that if she had a role in ranch life it might be as a roper. Now from what you say specifically heeler!
Scribbler --at the risk of coming across as having breed bias, these two QH horses are the easiest going two I’ve ever worked with [could be lots of reasons --I’m older, better educated in horses, more patient, less demanding . . .] But having said that, I enjoy these two and use them a lot for many different activities --no worries about spooking, bucking, rearing, biting, or being fractious if tied to a trailer. They are just two “good old boys” who enjoy doing a bit of work now and then, and [I hope] don’t mind living up to the very high standard of behavior I set for them.
I think it goes back to a combination of breeding and early training: both of my QH were bred to be working ranch horses in ND and AZ. True, there are some stellar lines --one is Poco Bueno Blackburn 40; the other is Freckles Playboy and Poco Bueno --stout working horses. Oh, and a dash of Hancock line in both to give them just enough smarts to figure problems out for themselves.
Both boys were left alone on a ranch until 2-3, worked with and put to work until 4-5, then became specialists in roping, sorting, and (one) reining --the other was a pick up horse at a rodeo. I got them and added fox hunting to their resume. Neither will win awards as jumpers or show hunters —but both can carry me safely around the hunt country, jump when necessary, and never, ever act crazy or become unsettled by what happens out there. Ok --one didn’t care for some sheep with bells that rushed a fence, but he just stopped and looked and snorted.
I think OP question is valid – A WP that’s bred for flat knees and quiet disposition is never going to be as likely as the spirited Arab to fly around the pasture – we have one lady who rides a show (as in Scottsdale AZ) Arab on the hunt field. It is interesting to watch --but not a horse I’d like to hunt.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c9hWDOkqnKE
A few seconds in is video of him in turnout out.
and in the way back machine, An Awesome Mister in 1992- again about halfway through is him at liberty.
http://thehorseaholic.com/what-western-pleasure-horses-looked-like-23-years-ago/#
Thanks T mares. I thought Rock’s gaits were much nicer turned out than under saddle. And I think the 1992 under saddle looks better than more recent WP videos I have seen.
