I don’t think there was any mocking of a “small dinky organization.” I didn’t get that at all.
Edit – ok – found the post. I took it as sarcasm.
2 Likes
It’s really not. Any horse that can do crisp transitions would do just fine in a ranch class. There is no headset requirement, they “judge movement” (based on what? what are they looking for?), you are allowed to keep contact on the curb (actually its preferred!).
Instead of excluding the horses deemed to be too slow, put a time limit on the pattern. Now you don’t have to worry about them thar peanut rollers hurting your chances at a ribbon. Since it’s about excluding the slow horses, that ought to do it, right?
Well, @endlessclimb, I’ll give you credit. There’s no back down no matter how ignorant it may be. LOL
10 Likes
I don’t compete in this discipline, so I don’t pretend to speak for the competitors. However, I do understand the genesis of it, and why it is “separate.” I’m not sure you really do with some of what you have said. 
Those HUS horses in your video were still moving fundamentally differently. The ranch rider you maligned for hanging onto the horn (at the extended trot) had a fabulous seat in all other gates. That is an option for riding the extended trot in this discipline. Sometimes just going to shows and watching and talking to people (when you are becoming involved in a new discipline) is the best course of action. 
7 Likes
3 Likes
It wasn’t sarcasm.
Someone has utterly embarrassed herself fighting an imagined offense. Must be a slow week at the barn; not enough boarders around to mock.
8 Likes
Hey, all I know is when I win a class, I don’t want it to be because half the horses that could have beaten me were excluded. What a ribbon to win!
Again, why not a time limit if everyone is all up in arms about the slow moving WP horses? Then it wouldn’t be a participation trophy.
Maybe I’ll take my QH (my former 4’ hunter/jumper, never competed in anything western related, isn’t a one handed horse but will steer off of legs so I’ll just fake it) to show just how “specialized” these horses are. My TB moves like a HUS horse but alas, is a TB. I’m sure with about a week of work to teach her to “jog” she would be able to put down a nice pattern.
Everyone’s kvetching about the judges and saying that’s why there’s the exclusion, but Bluey is the one who probably got it right on how the exclusion started - how do we make these horses who aren’t show pen ready keep coming back ($$)? Now that it’s a “thing,” where over half these horses are flunk out reiners who have never seen real ranch work in their life (or no-name poorly bred horses, no insult as my QH is one of those), maybe it’s time to remove the exclusion and beat the WP/HUS horses fair and square…
Nah. Why compete against everyone when we can have our little clique?
Yeah, that’s it. Not enough incessant safety issues to talk about… because I’ve educated most of them by now. 
I’m not embarrassed - I’ve never competed in a class where XYZ horse has to be excluded so I can win my 2c ribbon. THAT’S embarrassing.
That is not how organized competitions work.
We never felt we didn’t win a race because it was handicapped so entries would be similar and jockeys were given weight allowances for being apprentices, etc.
Not any more than limiting a class to western attire, shirts with long sleeves, western saddles, etc.
May make for good fiction that someone pulls a horse from a pasture and wins a big race against many other accomplished, well trained and managed race horses, but is just that, fiction.
Rules are there for many reasons, many open classes you can enter with your older pasture ornament if you want to. For other classes, well, you are required to follow their rules and why not, is their show and definitely they don’t need to ask for public opinion comments, especially by some that don’t even know what the classes are about, rules pertaining to them, what judges will judge for.
There is way more than meets the eye to what those managing, participating and judging shows do than those on the outside even realize.
11 Likes
It’s not a question of whether you are embarrassed or not.
5 Likes
Great. PUT YOUR MONEY WHERE YOU MOUTH IS. Go enter an AQHA ranch class and come report back to us how you did. We’ll be eagerly waiting.
Your ego is appalling. You’ve never even shown ranch horse yourself, yet you seem to be pretty convinced you’d win it all. Wow.
I find it interesting that you are creating such a big fuss here, yet EVEN YOU do not know what the judges are supposed to be looking for. Yet you are so convinced you would kick everyone’s butt. Really??
Ignorance at it’s best here, folks.
11 Likes
And so sure these horses are not show pen ready, flunked out reiners and no name breeding she is clueless but has “educated us”
7 Likes
Ignorance, by definition, means lack of knowledge or information. I don’t think she can claim that anymore. She is just a dumb a$$
5 Likes
2 Likes
Is that in the actual AQHA handbook (AQHA doesn’t call it a rule book since you’re being picky) or a notice of rule changes? Regardless if it’s in the section for spurs, anyone who knows anything about western spurs will know what it means.
5 Likes
I know I’m late to the game but the ranch riding division is HUGE here in Texas. The price tags for a competitive mount are mid-to-high 5’s. It seems like a really fun option for people who don’t enjoy the pleasure ring or have a horse that isn’t a competitive pleasure mover. I think the ranch riding horse turnout exceeds the pleasure horses at a large number of the shows.
My DREAM was to own a competitive western pleasure horse that was sane, sound, and can win. It took me two years and six-figures to find the best western pleasure mount possible. What so many people fail to realize is that these horses are carefully bred and trained to move like that. She has the same movement/headset both under saddle and turned out. Before this I honestly had NO idea. Learning how to actually ride a fully spur trained horse was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done. The precision required is beyond impressive.
Anyways, just my opinion from a total newbie looking in.
5 Likes
