Western Pleasure isn't so bad

[OneGrayPony]

Thought I’d start a controversial thread just because I haven’t had enough wine and popcorn but need an excuse.

I have what may be known as the laziest horse in the entire world. Everything checks out, he’s fine, but his default is sllllooooooowwww. He does a jog without it being “trained into him” and his lope gets slower the more I lope him. When I let him truly have his head and push him forward so that I get him moving well from behind? It drops so that he’s seeking out the ground. Maybe not the ground, but his poll is level to below level.

So, while I get that there are evil trainers OMG, my horse just seems to be a natural. Even when I take him outside of the ring, and trail ride, he is just… slow…

He’s not balky though, he goes where you want him to go…you just get there really slow.

[ezduzit]

What breed? Love the doers who are happy in their work.

[OneGrayPony]

He’s a quarter horse. Bred for halter and reining, but man would those circles be slow and I’m fairly sure he’d have a heart attack if I asked him to gallop for more than a few strides. He’s pleasant and willing, but even out on the trail he’s just…slow!

[ezduzit]

Sounds like my kind of horse. Everything feels fast to me on my Morgan. Took a video to prove to me it wasn’t.

I have an over-developed sense of my place in the universe and barreling thru it upsets my sense of speed and ground covered. lol In fact, that’s how I got my coth name…we lope along with me saying easy does it, easy does it.

As long as he isn’t hard to get going…hate the ones you have to kick the bejeezus out of and they STILL won’t go.

[aktill]

Western pleasure isn’t a bad thing if you don’t like getting lost, since odds are you’ll never lose sight of the barn.

[OneGrayPony]

aktill, you are absolutely right. We did 5 miles on the trail today in 1.5 hours.

Not very fast.

ezduzit, he goes, but when you try to force him into a “working gait” that’s when you have to “motivate” him and he’s not happy about it.

[aktill]

Just because its his preference to move the way he does doesn’t mean it’s in his best interest to do so.

[ezduzit]

aktill…not getting your meaning. Like if a bear was after him? Pretty sure that might motivate him! :eek:

[downen]

EZ, I think a naturally slow moving WP horse is a beautiful thing, the problem is that many people try to MAKE a slow moving horse out of one that doesn’t do it naturally. At the last open show I attended, I was horrified to watch an otherwise beautiful mover being forced to lope so slow he had to go SIDEWAYS up the rail. That is sad.

[Bluey]

Be glad he is like he is, that is the kind of horse many today are looking for.

That is ok, as long as he is not sick, anemic or some other reason to be such a slowpoke.

I have seen two horses lately that were like that, one was bought for an arena roping horse and honestly, you have to work much harder than he ever will just to get him to do anything more than mosey around.

We had one such very nice race bred colt, that would amble out of the gates, looking at butterflies, while other horses ran on.
We gave up on him, kept him as a ranch horse and he woke up every day in a new world, one day going to work cattle like he knew what he was doing, then again next day not motivated at all and wore you out getting him anywhere.

You know, he was one of the best horses we ever had, extremely pleasant to live with, every critter loved him, he eventually worked up to being the boss and was so nice you would not have noticed the waters parted when he moved around other horses, there was no sign on his part ever.
He was the horse that, once when a film crew came, got to take the photographer along, as he was unflappable.
As an older horse, he was our therapy horse, utterly bombproof.

I would love to have another like him, those saints of a horse are priceless.

[OneGrayPony]

He’s been vetted, nothing wrong with him, just a laid back guy. His reaction to new things is just to look at them. He doesn’t run in the pasture much either.

He moves off his hind end just fine, light enough in front, just not interested in moving his legs quickly.

[OneGrayPony]

Oh, and I’d feel safe putting my mom on him and sending her down the trail. He’s just that laid back!

[mvp]

[QUOTE=downen;7010668]
EZ, I think a naturally slow moving WP horse is a beautiful thing, the problem is that many people try to MAKE a slow moving horse out of one that doesn’t do it naturally. At the last open show I attended, I was horrified to watch an otherwise beautiful mover being forced to lope so slow he had to go SIDEWAYS up the rail. That is sad.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. As I understand it, people have bred them for this kind way of going. I don’t know whether that means something in the mind or how they move. People call them “slow legged.”

I say if your horse is slow, obedient (if at a snail’s pace) and the sucker keeps his shoulders nicely raised, take it! That’s a nice horse.

[My_Two_Cents]

Your horse is exactly what I’m shopping for. I hope you truly appreciate his lack of need to get everything done fast. lol

[OneGrayPony]

I do, My Two Cents. He’s a pretty special boy!

[S1969]

[QUOTE=aktill;7010560]
Just because its his preference to move the way he does doesn’t mean it’s in his best interest to do so.[/QUOTE]

@ezduzit;7010640

aktill…not getting your meaning. Like if a bear was after him? Pretty sure that might motivate him! :eek:

Haha, thanks for the laugh!!

[Ruby2shoes]

[QUOTE=S1969;7012735]
Haha, thanks for the laugh!! :)[/QUOTE]

No like if he’s so slow that he has a very shortened stride he could be on the fast track to lameness. But if he’s really just naturally slow with a normal stride then awesome:winkgrin:

[OneGrayPony]

He has a normal stride, thanks for the concern though. He doesn’t trope and he does have a bit of suspension at both the jog and the lope. He looks a lot like the videos that the AQHA put out of the way they are supposed to move, I’m not sure if he’s slow enough for the local shows, though.

[aktill]

[QUOTE=ezduzit;7010640]
aktill…not getting your meaning. Like if a bear was after him? Pretty sure that might motivate him! :eek:[/QUOTE]

My point was that a horse that isn’t moving out freely and is shuffling along like a WP horse usually isn’t moving in a way that will benefit them in the long term.

Dull horses that refuse to move out without being pushed strongly to do so are more dangerous than hot horses, specifically because of what you wrote above. They’re only dull because their owners can’t inspire them to move out responsively, but life sure can on occasion! Then they spook or bolt “out of nowhere” when a motivator strong enough to get their attention finally appears.

At least with hot horses you know when you stand every minute of the day, because they’re more honest about how they feel at any given point. Riders of those horses know they have to earn their leadership points or things will go sideways quick.

Those leadership points are just as necessary with dull horses, but there’s less motivation to earn them if people haven’t seen what can happen. YMMV

Still not sure of the point of the thread - is it that WP is okay because there are some horses that selectively move like WP show horses?

[OneGrayPony]

It’s ok aktill - I wasn’t writing this for you. I come from h/j land where any jog that you can sit to is OMGCANTBELIEVETHEABUSECRIPPLE.

Yes, a balky horse is way more dangerous. I’ve had those, and that’s not what I’m talking about here. I’ve also had horses who seem quiet, but they’ve been just stealing rides from them, which ended up backfiring - badly.

This is also different than that.

His strides are long, just slow. He does not shuffle. He is obedient and kind - just not in a hurry. He is leggy. He moves a lot like me - slowly. laughing

The whole point of the thread is that I have never had a horse like him, and always wondered what kind of torture they had to create for WP horses to go that slowly. After buying him, l don’t think that’s the case for all of them. If I were to work harder on getting him to sit on his haunches and collect his energy he would go even slower.

Does that mean that abuse doesn’t exist in WP? No. But if you watch the AQHA judging video, I’d be hard pressed to say that those horses aren’t bred to do that job and aren’t happy doing it.