Page 150 - Equine Chronicle August Select 2020

horses, Willis considers a few different factors as well. “I ask whether its back is as rounded as it should be, whether it might be sore, or whether it just lacks the talent to do it. Not everybody is Michael Jordan. Maybe some horses just can’t physically carry themselves with their nose out, neck level, back up, and with qual- ity of movement - that’s a lot to ask of a horse. This is where the industry has become specialized with only a certain percentage of horses being able to do all of those things successfully,” Willis says.
All three trainers and both judges agreed that the industry is doing it right, though, when it comes to head and neck position today. The fault cited in the rulebook, that does provide some cha-
Aaron Moses
grin to these experts, however, is horses that carry their head at or slightly behind the vertical. The rulebooks stress that severely bri- dled horses should not place over
horses that carry their head and neck
in a more natural position. Ziegler believes this rule, and resulting faults or disqualifications was well intended, put into place for the well- being of the horse and to help move the industry in a positive direction. However, trainers sometimes feel that a horse carrying its nose at or even slightly behind the vertical does not equate to intimidation, but may instead be a balance point for the horse.
“Sometimes, horses that really lope well are going to be straight up and down in their head carriage; they’re not going to root out way far in their nose. I wouldn’t penal- ize those that lope good and strong and round their backs up if they’re on the borderline of the vertical,” Galyean says.
is one he looks forward to working with. He says, “This is one of my favorite problems to fix because you can usually see a drastic change in the overall horse. I think there are two reasons a horse gets behind the bridle. One is that it’s a higher degree of difficulty to lope with their nose out. When a horse is behind the bridle, it brings their balance point back and makes it easier to perform the gait. Some horses don’t have the strength or ability to lope with their neck in the ‘ideal’ position. The other reason and the easier one to fix, in my opinion, is the horse has been trained to stay be- hind the bridle by focusing too much on the head and not keeping the body doing the work. Those horses need to learn to go forward up to your hand and then raise up in their bodies.”
“I spend a lot of time in a soft snaffle just touching their face and waiting until they accept it instead of hiding from it. A horse has to be connected from nose to tail to move properly, and if the head and neck is too broke loose, you lose that connection,” Moses says. He does make an important distinction, however, saying, “It’s im- portant to note that there’s a huge difference between true softness and a horse tucking its chin every time a rein moves. I think these horses benefit greatly from regaining confidence in their face and being allowed to hold their neck in a way that maximizes their overall performance.”
Overall, judges and trainers alike are happy with what they’re seeing in the Western Pleasure pen these days. “I think the Western Pleasure horses we’re seeing today are better conditioned athletes that are more correct in their movement and headset overall. It takes a long time to move away from a trend, and I believe NSBA, AQHA, and APHA have been working diligently to do that,” Ziegler says.
Bailey agrees, hypothesizing that some of the improvements in the quality of pleasure horses is due to a versatility of use. “I believe the horses we see in Western Pleas- ure are much better today than in years past and that a big part of this is due to all-around use. Many pleas- ure horses today do all-around events, leading to a natural correc- tion of their movement. Horses with head and neck positions that are too high or low will not be able to per- form a plus-one lead change or ne- gotiate a difficult trail pattern. Horses have to move with more for- ward motion and lift in their back, and those things have made a beau- tiful natural progression into the
pleasure pen,” Bailey says.
To bring all of the factors con-
sidered in a Western Pleasure horse together, Galyean boils it down to one sentence: “It’s a vi- sual class, and a horse that has a nice, soft, mostly level topline is
Willis seconds the sentiment. “Some horses can carry a bridle flat-faced and not be intimidated. They just carry the bridle well and yield to pressure,” he says.
For Moses, a horse carrying its nose slightly behind the vertical
just more of an appealing horse than one with a real low or real high headset.”
Summing it up in the most foundational way, Ziegler says, “Re- member that the Western Pleasure horse should be just that- a pleas- ure to watch and a pleasure to ride.”
Casey Willis
144 - August/September, 2020