change for the sake of our discipline, and
the health and wellness of our equine
partners.”
Due to the event’s specialisation in the
last 20 years, today’s Western Pleasure
horses are bred to be the best movers
that we’ve seen in the history of the
breed. The best mares have been bred
to the best stallions in order to compete
for thousands of dollars in Futurity
money. Even at three-days-old, these
horses show they have natural forward
and fluid movement as they’re loping
alongside their dams.
“If you watch a lunge line class, you see
that natural movement, and the judges
judge them that way,” Chown says.
“Then, you see them in the two- yearold classes and they look completely
different. For some reason, people think
they need to reinvent the wheel just to
get them around the arena, when all
they really need to do is stay out of the
horse’s way, figure out a way to get them
trained to let them show their natural
self carriage, and god given, individual
movement”.
Before the staggering Futurity purses
began to pave the road for specialisation,
Western Pleasure was seen as a ‘stepping
stone’ class for horses to get their feet
wet in the show pen and begin their
careers. They often went onto become
Youth and Amateur horses and excel
in Horsemanship, Trail and Western
Riding.
If it wasn’t a stepping stone to more challenging events, it was used as another
class for working horses in the 60’s and
70’s to show their versatility. In these
days of specialisation, Western Pleasure
is the destination for many horses, not
just a stop along the journey.
“Any time you put money up, things get
tougher, and people work a little Harder,”
he explains. “This is one of the main
factors that led to the specialisation of
the class, which doesn’t have to be a bad
thing. Look at the horses at the World
Shows. They are much more forward
moving, natural, and correct per the
AQHA handbook. We need to see that
same kind of Western Pleasure horse
across the board, from the top shows on
down to the local level.”
On the surface, it seems like ‘fixing’
Western Pleasure should be simple:
allow them to move forward correctly,
naturally, with a level top line, and
with self-carriage, and judge them
accordingly. However, as with all things,
change can be a long and slow process
and as much the adjusting of a mindset
as an actual physical shift. So many
Western Pleasure trainers and riders
have ridden and shown this way for
so long that they need to be willing to
relearn effective training techniques,
which will allow our Western Pleasure
partners to carry themselves the way
they were meant to; with self carriage,
forward and beautifully.
Some judges will also need to be
educated as to what correct Western
Pleasure horse movement looks like.
This is not something that anyone can
expect to happen over-night, but if each
judge/trainer/exhibitor takes ownership
of their role in and focuses on the
solution, this is something that can be
changed. Those trainers who currently
show Western Pleasure horses with
correct movement and forward motion,
should continue to do so, regardless
of sometimes being placed below the
broken, mechanical movers. Others can
work toward correcting the incorrect
movement and work to enhance what
is more natural for the horse and
begin working with and not against his
self-carriage. With the naturally gifted
horses that the industry has bred, these
horses will o