Is it unatural for a horse to work/show @ the western pleasure gaits?

Question

I have been riding 5 years western pleasure. My friend says it is unatural for a horse to move at the western jog, walk, and lope? My friend rides dressage and owns a horse also but she thinks it is unatural for a horse to move slow like that. Thanks for the answers.

=Tay=

Answer 1

Your friend is correct and wrong at the same time. It's not the speed that makes the movement unnatural, it's the form the horse is asked to take, and it's mostly at the jog. Asking a horse to be moving at a fast trot on it's forehand and a slow lope on it's hind is just not natural. Asking a horse to keep his head so low that all his pressure is on his forehand is NOT natural. Horses were meant to be collected and push off with their hind quarters and asking a horse to keep his neck so low to the point that he's continually pulling with his forehand is in no way sound or natural.

Not only that, but I'm not a fan of the western pleasure "spur stop" it is a main reason why western pleasure horses are hard to resale after the training of this method and often end up in the hands of someone who has no clue how to correctly cue this type of trained horse and only ends up spurring harder while the horse is doing as he was originally trained, halting.

So whomever is giving thumbs down, go ahead, take a hit at mine. Do research and you'll see that what I've said is true.

EDIT: Katie A. That's like saying that a little cart pony can't go out and perform jumps just because that's not what he was bred for or that you can't ride an arabian in reining. I show in AQHA and APHA, and Western Pleasure is at the top of performance abuse as many competitors will nerve the tail so the horse is unable to swish or move their tail which is a sure sign of "displeasure". On top of that over many years AQHA has gone back and rewrote their gait and stepping rules, so obviously they've known they were in the wrong too.

PFFT. But let me tell you, I just LOVE when I'm riding a horse who's tail is limp and just hanging there with no movement. But I guess that is also why the competitors wear those flashy outfits that could make a hooker even throw up- so people won't notice the tail just hanging there.

Answer 2

As my instructors say there are always multiple ways to train, ride, and care for a horse. If you trained your horse to move like that then it is the right way for it to move. But you should be able to transition your horse from slow to fast if that is your wish. Your freind in dressage views this differently because in dressage they are more fast pace. If your horse is healthy moving the way you want it to there is nothing wrong with that. Western pleasure is simply modifying the gaits, not making them unnatural. In a sense a horse can be lazy by going slow, but it can also be lazy by going fast. When you achieve the pace you want then your horse is working as hard as it should be.

Answer 3

Any riding is unnatural to a horse; including anything dressage. I enjoy western pleasure. What I dont like to see in the ring is people who get so caught up in the slowwww speed of WP that they loose a lot of collection with their horse. I see a lot of people trying to ride their horse to what they think the judge wants to see instead of to the horse best abilities; winds up looking sloppy. Also, WP has really changed (and more for the worse I think) in recent years. I makes it hard for someone like me to compete in WP these days when I dont agree with a lot of what is going on with trends in the ring. Same with dressage. I see people in upper levels of dressage who have no business being there simply because their horse just does not have the ability to execute the moves the way they should be. Horses who have the talent to be WP horses do not have the same abilites that dressage horses do. Good question; relates to me greatly.

Answer 4

I do western plaeasure too. I belive it is because you never see a horse jogging unless he is trined to.but neither is keeping a horses head so far in at dressage. at least western headset is semi-natural thats all that counts is balance (: no offence to anyone who does dressage

Answer 5

It's best for a horse that is carrying the weight of a rider to be working with the hindquarter low, back rounded, and forehand light...so one could say that working with a hollow back and heavy on the forehand is less "natural" for a horse that is carrying a rider. Working that way increases the likelihood of musculoskeletal injuries.  Unfrotunately, the trend in western pleasure (now changing) had many horses trained to work heavy on the forehand.

Answer 6

Unfortunately, sometimes people that own and show one breed are kind of biased towards other breeds.  I show Western Pleasure in AQHA, and can say that for some horses, it does look unnatural, but not for all of them.  For example, with the breeding industry the way it is not, you can select a slow legged mare, and breed it to a slow legged stud, and get slow legged offspring (sometimes).  You can get offspring that are naturally slow, and carry their heads lower naturally.  Then, its just about collecting them, and getting them into a frame, and their movement is still natural.

It would be unnatural to take a Saddlebred, and make it move in a western pleasure gait, but the horses that are bred for it do it because its what they are bred for!

Her dressage horses "naturally" do pirouettes and the extended trots, and the piaffes and stuff in the pasture?  I don't think so!  My western pleasure horse "jogs" and "lopes" even when he's playing.

Answer 7

Everything a horse does is unatural.

My horse learns when I am on his back to drop his head. But in the field he holds it a little more higher.

Answer 8

ive been riding for 13 years now, and personally, i dont care for the "i can walk faster than your horse canters" look. its very unnatural and it looks like the horse is limping...unfortunately, judges look for it. it makes me sick, and none of my horses know that.

Answer 9

No more unnatural than it is for a horse to ride around with a piece of metal in its mouth and a person on its back... :)

Answer 10

It is unnatural. Most things with domesticated horses are unnatural. You had to train your horse to stick its head down and move that slow. It's not natural, but it's not bad for the horse either.