with a natural wide split between his
inside and outside hocks, and everyone
wanted that. However, if all people think
about is the deep hock, then, they tend
to overlook the other components that
we’ve mentioned. Cocking the hip that
far to the inside to attain the illusion
of the ‘deep hock’ is just a gimmick;
it doesn’t actually mean the horse is
coming that far underneath themselves.”
excessive movement. This is what we
refer to as self carriage and is how our
western pleasure horses should look as
well.”
As earlier mentioned, the horse must
use his back, or, ‘core’, for lift and for
suspension, but the power comes from
the drive in his hips and loin. Any
correct movement, whether it is a lead
change for western riding or a proper
spin for horsemanship, requires power
and forward motion from the hind end of
the horse, which powers the lift and the
step up front needed for speed. When a
horse doesn’t properly engage his hind
end, allowing him to lift his ribcage/back,
or ‘core’, the result is a loss of power or
impulsion, with the front end moving
separately from the hind end preventing
him from building any momentum to
continue to move forward, speed up or
slow down even more. When the horse’s
front end is moving separately from
the hind end, he struggles to maintain
his balance, which results in the ‘head
bobbing’, or exaggerated up and down
movement in the head and neck that we
see going down the rail at many shows
today.
“There are two reasons a horse bobs his
head,” Chown states. “He’s either lame
or he is labouring, or struggling, to move
forward and maintain his balance. his
head and neck is his balance period!
I don’t care what event it is. When his
head and neck is moving up and down,
he is not balanced at all and appears to
be lame.”
So, is he in fact lame or is this what we
have all agreed to accept as a true lope?
Chown says, “Absolutely not, the rule
book states otherwise. As owners and
trainers we all know to look for lameness
when we see a horse move, even at the
jog or trot, with his head bobbing up and
down, or excessive movement. Why then
do we reward this same presentation
in the show ring at the lope? This is
wrong!”
Chown goes on to question the jog.
“The jog is a two beat gait, which also
requires the same lift of the ‘core’ that
allows the horse to suspend himself to
keep his diagonals true.” The lift, Chown
explains, is what he believes provides
us with the definition of ‘self carriage’.
He also states, that ‘the more a horse
is allowed to lift through his back, or
‘core’ and bring his legs underneath
him creating suspension, the slower he
can actually jog and lope correctly and
naturally’.
It is now more common to hear the
announcer ask for an extension of the
gaits in a Western Pleasure class, and
only one or two of the horses actually
show a change in the speed of the gait,
which leaves a lot of spectators, as well
as judges, scratching their heads.
“So many people I’ve worked with are
afraid to push their horses forward
even a little bit,” Chown says. “I travel
all over the world and one of the first
things I always ask my students to do is
push their horses forward at both a jog
and a lope and then have their horses
come back to them and slow down. Most
folks that I work with have never felt the
lift in their horse’s back and core that
comes with the forward motion of a well
balanced, and correct lope. Many worry
that there is something wrong when they
first feel their horse engage his back and
core, creating the ‘lift’ that is required of
him to be able to lift, or suspend himself
up enough to proper-ly move his legs up
underneath him creating a true jog or
lope.”
When watching a pleasure class, one of
the first things many people notice is
how many riders have their horse’s hip
pushed inward in order to emphasise a
‘deep hock’.
“People really started talking about the
‘hock’ when Zippo Pine Bar was around,”
Chown remembers. “He was a horse
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22 •• The
The Australian
Australian Quarter
Quarter Horse
Horse Magazine
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