To ride and show your horse in the western pleasure class it’s important to understand what the western pleasure gaits are and what they look like. AQHA has released an excellent video showing these gaits.

This is a great video from AQHA on the Western Pleasure Horse. Even though it is a 2006 video the principles are the same. Take a look at it.

Western Pleasure Horse

Winning Your Class Begins with Choosing the Right Horse

Showing to win begins with choosing the right horse.  Often we try to make the horse do the event we want them to  rather than choose a horse who is born with natural talent for the event in which we want to compete.

It’s a little like attempting to make a scientist out of a painter. Rarely does this work. Just like you, your horse has to have a natural talent and ability and then you build on this natural talent with training.

If you want to compete in western pleasure it’s important to learn what the judges look for in a western pleasure horse. Then when you buy a horse make sure you buy one that has the desire and ability to show western pleasure. This goes for any other event you want to show in.

However, you may find a horse who is talented in more than one event. There are many horses that are considered all around horses who have the talent and mind to compete in multiple events. The All Around Horse is  popular because many people like being able to show in multiple events when they pay the cost to attend a show.

Take a look at this video of an All Around Horse…his sire is Willy Be Invited. Willy Be Invited was top ten in the nation in western pleasure and hunter under saddle. That’s hard to do but he did it!

Choose your horse for the event you want to ride!

All Around Horse

With over 25 years in the Horse Industry I’ve seen 3 main methods used to get your horse trained.

Buying an already trained horse is not on this list. Let me explain why: First of all no horse is ever 100% trained. They need continual training and reminding of how to perform just like you and I need continual practice and exercise in anything in which we want to excel.

Second: I’ve purchased many horses that are supposedly trained only to get them home and find out they didn’t know nearly what I thought they should. Therefore they needed to be trained to my way of wanting a horse trained.

Not to say that you shouldn’t buy a trained horse, just remember that a trained horse is a subjective term. And even with the best of training, every horse needs continual training and work to stay in tune.

The 3 methods to Get Your Horse Trained:

1. Send them to a Professional Horse Trainer for Full Time Training
2. Train Your Own Horse
3. Combination Method >>>Work with a Professional Horse Trainer on a Part Time Basis and Train Your Own Horse on a Part Time Basis

I’ll cover each of these Methods in more detail in upcoming posts. Until then>>>

Take the Reins to Your Success

My advice; never close your mind to a particular kind of training just because that trainer doesn’t compete in the same events that you do. A good horseman is a good horseman.

I hope you enjoy this video.

You can find this video on You Tube

I still ride but he has given up riding but loves going out to brush them, talk to them and teach them from the ground.

Which of course works out for me because he keeps them all clean and shiny for me and I don’t have to do the brushing.

So whatever your age you can still enjoy your horse. Keep at it because they keep us young.

My husband does the same thing for me. Just having another set of eyes to tell you what something looks like and how you can improve it is very important when you’re riding.

At the end of our playtime  I couldn’t help but think that we can help each other out a lot with achieving our horsemanship goals. It doesn’t always take a trainer to tell us what to do, it just takes another set of educated eyes to help us along.

I encourage you to help your friends, be their eyes and you be theirs. You may be surprised at how much you can accomplish on your own.

The mare stands 15:3 and the gelding  stands 16.3. It just goes to show that just like humans siblings can be very different. One hand with horses can mean a big difference in many ways.

The gelding, Snickers got way bigger than we expected. I’ve never owned a horse this big before let alone ridden one this size. He is a gentle giant however and one of the best minded horses I’ve ever been around.

Last year he picked up 6  Hunter Under Saddle points in Green HUS. This year we have him going in the pleasure and we think he is phenomenal.  He won the Western Pleasure Maturity Class at Monroe, WA in May  and the Green Horse Western Pleasure in Sept.