Complain en-masse. @spotnotfarm has a card with one judge way off base, should have been sent in with a letter of complaint.
They complained enough to get certain types of horses excluded, while still being judged by the same judges they claim don’t know what they’re doing. It makes no sense.
And @spotnnotfarm, I’d guess that a VERYVERYVERY small fraction of the “ranch horses” are actually ranch horses - do they have a figure for that? Speaking of useless - a reining horse stop has very little use in a rocky cattle pasture, too.
I actually do own a quarter horse. I am helping a kid get better response times out of her “ranch horse” who is extremely dull to the leg. I watched a “ranch horse rail” class just a few minutes ago … can you tell me what part of “ranching” that’s supposed to be? Those horses were moving every bit as slow as the WP horses, and at least 3 that I saw were visibly lame.
Anyone that wants to judge can apply for a judging card, go thru the necessary steps to learn what each class demands from the judge, apprentice under a certified judge, attend judging seminars and then pass certification and maintain it with added judging seminars.
Maybe those that know better than judges do should try that?
I hate ranch rail. I see no point to the class, so we can agree there. Also, there was a huge backlash if sliders should be allowed because you do not use them on the ranch. However, many people cross enter in reining and cowhorse so they allow them.
In the East, not many are used on a ranch. Out west, many are. I am not sure of the exact figure, not sure if it is kept. The class is continuously evolving, we will see where it is in the next 10 years.
One thing you will find is AQHA makes no sense in many ways. It is why I stopped showing with them. They do have a good judge training system and the old judges rep (not sure if he still is) had a background in working horses. He did a good job working with these judges.
I was excited about the class when they first started discussing it and followed much of the developments and discussions. There is a lot that went into and reasons behind it. Coming in after everything was hashed out is a bit arm chair quarterbacking. If you don’t like the rules, submit a proposal, they allow members to do it,
If I sent in a letter of complaint, it would have gone nowhere….also the circuit was awarded and they won’t go back and change it so it would have been more hassle than it was worth.
In what universe are those horses “moving out?” They’re not even stepping into their own tracks at the trot. The heads are artificially low. The canter is faster than WP but it is ridiculously slow still.
This is exactly why there aren’t cross-entries, because the AQHA judges think this is how hunter-type horses should travel. None of these horses would pin in HUS in an open A hunter show, with those performances.
The Ranch division was created specifically to give a place for horses who travel with more utility a place to show. It also creates a place for riders and trainers who prefer to work with that type of horse a place to show. Separating them creates a better path for educating judges and rewarding the riders who are correctly meeting the specifications of the class, which has been an issue for AQHA for many years. I think it’s a good thing and I don’t understand why someone who doesn’t own and show Quarter Horses would be upset about this rule.
I realize you’re over on the east coast so the lack of ranch horses over there is probably true. Not so much over here. I don’t show in ranch horse just to show ranch horse but use it as a tool to school my cow horses or get my young ones exposed in a low pressure environment. (No AQHA shows)
I cowboy on my horses too. While I don’t use full sliders, I’ll put a cowboy or baby slider even cowboying depending on the time of the year. Enough so they still have some traction but a bit of slide so they aren’t stabbing their back legs into the ground if I need to shut them down.
Did you watch the WALK? Good heavens, you’d never get the cows checked at that pace. I would not call that “moving out”. And polls are way too low at the lope for ranch. You want the horse looking where they are going. Not looking at the ground 6 inches in front of them.
As expected and predicted, the judges will probably ruin the ranch horse classes over time and turn it into a pleasure class. Which was the whole point of excluding WP horses from the ranch classes - trying to keep the WP gaits (and politics) out of it.
Last year, I didn’t agree with one of the winners from the world show amateur ranch class. I thought the horse looked way too western pleasurey, and did not move out nearly as nice and flowing as some of the other horses. So it’s already happening.
YES. If they also entered the ranch horse versatility reining, then the horse and rider could NOT be able to enter in the regular reining. So there is a prohibition of that entry as well. When offered at the same show, ranch horse reining and regular reining.
But that’s at the same show. They could absolutely do reining at one show one weekend. Then next weekend show ranch horse.
Same way you could do WP at one show. Then the next weekend, show ranch horse. That (to my knowledge) is not prohibited. It’s just cross entries at the same show that are prohibited.
Well technically, if your TB is not registered AQHA, you can’t show at an AQHA show anyway. shrug
And you could do Hunt Seat Equitation and Ranch Classes. Just not hunter under saddle.
Judges are indeed the problem. Quite sadly, the rules ARE in place to protect the ranch horse events from the POLITICS of the judges. I think it’s a pretty proven fact in AQHA history that the judging isn’t exactly honest.
And send letters all you want and complain all you want. You still see the peanut rollers winning WP, which is a blatant disregard for the rule book. Yet it still happens.
Don’t miss the deadline to submit your AQHA rule-change proposals! AQHA members have until December 31, 2021 , to submit items to be considered by AQHA standing committees at the 2022 AQHA Convention February 25-28 at the South Point Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas.
That’s the whole idea though - instead of nipping out a whole ton of people from showing in the “special snowflake” classes, allow them in. If the judges don’t place according to what “ranch horse” is supposed to be, immediately submit a complaint.
The HUS horses, as well as the WP horses, can move out just fine. They’re taught to move that way, they’re TOLD to move that way in the show pen. As soon as the rider relaxes, they move out. They also are capable of … GALLOPING, or “extended canter” or whatever you want to call it.
You do realize that the whole time the peanut rollers were winning over and over again, getting lower and lower, closer to the ground with their nose in WP and HUS the rule book said the poll should not be below the withers, but no amount of screaming that from the roof top changed how the judges placed the classes. If a little exaggeration is good, then lots of exaggeration is better.
And really, there are lots of divisions all over the place that do not allows others to enter. Why is it that you find this one so offensive?
I giggle at this because the WP scream from the roof tops that their horses are bred to move like they move in the show pen and that they are not being made to move like that.
The day of all around horses in the stock horse world are long gone. Let the divisions be divisions. I see nothing wrong with it.
Just like most low level jumping classes do not allow you to cross enter the same horse/rider in some level higher at the same show. Does that make the lower levels a “special snowflake” class?
Good lord…give it a rest. You show your ignorance with every post. I am at a loss in how to even respond. Several of us have tried to educate you, however you are either to daft or obstinate to understand. I feel sorry for the student you are helping because I feel you are incapable of guiding her correctly.
Oh just, that @spotnnotfarm wanted to mock the “small dinky organization” that my lesson “student” rides in (so much for being inclusive, yall), yet the AQHA rule book has an equally embarassing typo in it.
@spotnnotfarm, don’t worry. Even with my snooty dressage and jumper background, I still know what makes a clean “pattern” or whatever you guys call it. You’re not educating me, you’re proving my point. You’re attacking the wrong people. Let’s exclude half of the AQHA horses, then be proud of our ribbon. Yet, we will be ok with being judged by the same judges that caused the “problem” with those excluded horses to start with. Yeah!
@trubandloki, separating horses by experience level is not the same as excluding an entire discipline. Are there any shows that say “hunter horses only, dressage horses not allowed”? What other organization allows this, where a horse/rider is literally not allowed to be well rounded?
Goodness sake, you’re calling the ranch horse classes “snowflake” yet it sounds like you’re the snowflake because you aren’t allowed to play in the sandbox with your toys.
Go show in the other associations if you want to show your WP/HUS horse in ranch classes.
What did I mock besides yourself? I don’t even know where your student shows. You have mocked the class, the horses that show in it as well as the exhibitors. I am starting to think this rule has personally affected you. Maybe AQHA should not only bend the WP and RR cross entry rules, but also allow you to show your TB.
Any horse person can tell a good vs poorly run pattern. However, you obviously do not know what to look for by stating the HUS horses in the video you provided would do well. You claim it’s not two different disciplines, but it actually is. What is being judged are two different entities. Think dressage and hunter hack.
At some point you have to stop arguing and let the other show what they don’t know. So, I am done….
