So I figured I would pick a topic that almost anybody can answer. What would you change in the equine show world?
I would make sure there are stiffer penalties and fines to trainers and competitors who knowingly put their horse in harms way and also bigger fines for showers who use dangerous techniques to win more in the show ring.
So what would you change?
If you do show- please list breed and discipline!
If you don't show is there something you would change that perhaps would want to make you show?
Fugly Wench of the Day
- The Wenchster
- This is a philosophical blog about.....oh, screw it!!! This blog is dedicated to calling Cathy, the FHotD writer, out on her bull sh*t!
31 comments:
I would make it illegal for snobs to enter!
Ha, Saturday Night Fever is playing...sorry...it wrecked my train of thought...
I don't like what HUS has become...it's WP in an English saddle! The point of HUS is to display what a hunter should be. I'm sorry, but a hunter should be alert and looking ahead, and with that peanut roller headset that is oh-so-popular now, the horse would run into a fence before it even saw it coming, much less jumped it. That is by no means the way I think a proper hunter headset should be, IMO. It drives me crazy. HUS needs to be brought back to its origins and away from its current leaning toward WP.
I hate how everyone seems to be moving out of the thicker set welsh mountains in Australia, they are getting thinner and thinner boned and just look like arabian derivatives....I used to show them but now the older style is frowned upon, it's sad for the breed
AQHA WP classes, horses that are unable to move other than in a very artificial, head bobbin' way. WP horses, good ones, that can be had for six figures....puts it out of reach for many people. That's not what it's supposed to be about!!!
Have been watching this go on for over 40 some years and it's not getting any better... a dam shame.
Agrred Banner......Im gonna pick on WP and lets get truer gaits....stop the traloping and broken lope...let our horse move a little bit.....nothing lower than the withers...stronger toplines...but upper end has got this pretty well just hope we get away from tooooo slowwwwwww
Hoe to be surprised when we get back into showing...would like that.
yeah whatever happened to watching a horse move, i hate the human interference and unnatural strides
would....ha ha ha hoe.....sorry
lol have you got a secret you'd like to divulge?
Fatlip...someone once said about WP that a true cowboy's horse would never move that slow because they actually wanted/needed to GET somewhere so it is agreed that the slow WP gaits are really kind of silly. Just another thing that applies in the show ring but not in the "real world"...like those beefy halter horses.
Guaranteed that a good cowboys horse can lope a nice slow comfortable gait...but these ridicules artificial, super slow broken lopes are comical.
"BUCKAROOS" in a hurry have adopted the long trot (at least in the Great Basin area)of getting from one point to another. They sure wouldn't know what to do with a horse that could lope under the shade of a tree for an entire day and not get anywhere.
Roanhorse is the expert though.....been in AQHA forever and is the go to person for anything AQHA.
LMAO!!! isnt that the truth!!! I know that to be true that a nice ground covering trot was means to get you places....
WP and Halter horses to start with. I think halter horses should be usable. I also think most WP horses look lame. Hunters with the low head set is a laugh. Now let me get into my specialty, barrel racers. I think that a horse has 3 chances to get in the alley. If they are acting out and will not go into the alley they are DQ'd have a nice freaking day. If your horses is going nuts in the warm up pen, you get asked to get off and stop endangering people. Those who crowd the gates need to get a warning then dq'd for being dangerous if the keep it up. Unfortunately barrel horses are some of the most brain fryed horses ever. Why? Because for some reason riders think their mounts should run the pattern over and over and over. You get my drift...
interesting point....dont get much info from barrel racers.....but agreed.
I have a big problem with the AQHA halter horses. These horses are being bred for nothing more than to stand there and look pretty (if you can call those beff cakes 'pretty'). When did it start to become popular for horses to stand on their tippy toes? All I see is huge-bodied disfigured horses with bull necks and no pasterns. I think that needs to change. We should be showing horses who have correct performance conformation. Horses that can not only look pretty, but can also perform.
Agreed......would like to see both, horses holding and earning performance points and halter points....as a pre Req for a stallion to hold both.......shows versatility.
I hate the discrimination against smaller horses in the dressage ring. Smaller horses who are working properly should be welcomed. I hate seeing tiny women on ginormous Warmbloods. It doesn't make sense, and I do think it's the reason that a lot of riders resort to gadgetry to control their enormous big-gaited horses.
I'm 5'2", so my 14.3 mare is a great size for me. Nearly every trainer I've worked with (with the exception of my current one) has told me "she's too small...buy a different horse...etc."
hls... Yeah, I agree with you on that one. I don't know much about dressage but I have noticed almost every horse entering higher level competition is at least 16hh or so. I don't understand the reasoning behind that. If a horse has excellent movement and can demonstrate that in the ring, who cares how tall they are?
HLS I have noticed that about dressage as well. I asked one lady and she said it was for the stride, and also longer backs are wanted. Blink blink. My former APHA stallipn (RIP Diablo) was 15 hands and had a super stride and tons of suspension. I have had two other dressage riders tell me this, but I still wonder. It seems like unless you are riding a cutting horse everything needs to be over 16 hands, halter, wp, hunter, dressage. Barrel horses are starting to go that way?! Why? A horse needs to be able to pour on the speed and collect for those turns pretty quickly. Long legs tend to get in the way.
I thought of another. Tail blocking. If we talk raising, I think no drugs should be allowed. If a horse needs them to breath (Laxis) they don't need to be racing.
i've noticed a disturbing trend in aussie halter QH. they seem to be going for the goose rumps and awarding them top prize.....it's sad
One thing that I find rather misconstrued is the true meaning of an Amateur. In the Saddlebred/Morgan world and I'm sure many others, you have "trainers" (non-renumerated) showing in all these Amateur classes. Perhaps they don't receive greenbacks but I'm sure there are other "trade-offs".
I think new criteria needs to be established so true Amateurs will show against other home trained horses and not people that are "professional" but because they don't "get paid" are still able to show in these same classes. They belong in Open classes or perhaps new Professional classes be established to keep the classes true and clean.
At least in AQHA there is a distinction....ProAm...as in Mandy McChuchen...not sure spelled right.....Raised in a professional training family and married to a pro trainer...seems a little unfair if even beginners had to compete with that.....Roanhorse would be a good one to break down the AQHA Amateur status.....would be interested to know...
I have no idea about showing, how to show, what to expect, what the rules are or anything of that nature.
What I do notice that bothers me:
1. Peanut rollers. What is up with that crap??? They are gonna trip on their noses. It must make the person riding feel like they are on a neckless, headless horse!
2. That lope they do. How in the hell can anyone get a horse to go that slow without falling over? They look like their backs are broke or a leg is all twisted up in the game!
3. Ok..how many sparkly friggin shirts are in the arena and can you even see the horses without being blinded? I think plain black/white/tan/blue/gray/green/red/brown should be all that is allowed. No bling. Chrome only on saddles and bridles.
4. Tennessee Walkers in the boots. I seen my first show and was totally disgusted. Those horses were in obvious pain. Their eyes wide and mouths gaping...frothed up from head to to.
They gait like a German Sheppard. One of those long backed, short back legged things....yanno which ones I mean right?
5. Us beginners get a free CD with lessons on how to properly show our horse with all of the in's and out's (where to go, who to pay, what to wear, etc...) and then our very first show, we get someone assigned to us for the day to help us out :)
Yeah yeah..wishful thinking. I'm not showing and this is what would hold me up...SCARED!
Bucky, I agree with most but peanut rollers are now becoming a thing of the past....It is not how I have ever trained, not desired and judges penalize any thing below the withers for more than 3 strides...New AQHA rules....conformation dictates head placement and there is just no reason to have heads dragging on the ground...there never was.....It was a trend that was awarded by being placed because some popular trainer did it. Im sure your still going to find that in amateurs, low level, open classes but certainly not in Congress and World level showing anymore.
I agree with SaddleSeater, They need a true amateur shows. No drugs. & The trainers who get caught doing awful things should never be allowed to show or be the trainer ever again.
I question Mandy McCutcheon's amatuer status....Apparently she's been able to con the AQHA big wigs...I don't know how she gets by with being married to a pro trainer and not accepting some form of remuneration, or trade out, if she works other horses....I guess it boils down to "who you know"....POLITICS as usual. File it under "Bullshit".
I totally agree!!! How do you get away with being Tim McQuay's daughter and married to a McCutcheion and still hold a Non-pro status....hummmmm have always wondered that....There must be a different division that a just starting out Am......I dont know? But darn good question.
The stock horse breeds need to move back towards a true all around horse. All those wonderful old champion stallions used to show in lots of western classes and rope and then go to be judged at halter. Halter is supposed to be about being close to the breed standard. A little extra fat and conditioning is fine, but it should be using horses that are winning, not big fat hogs with no legs and feet. I love halter, I love seeing pretty horses presented at their shiniest best, but not when you know you are looking at a horse with no future as a riding horse.
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