American show class - head so low.

[blitznbobs]

This is not a criticism but just trying to learn - what is the ethos behind the (I think) American quarter horses showing where they go around with their heads almost on the ground ?

 

[ester]

These are western pleasure horses/showing ethos = slow comfortable gait you can sit on all day and look chill on.
Actual effect not getting anywhere fast.

They’re supposed to be moving away from ‘peanut rolling’ and crabbing sideways canters and I do think some of the more recent videos show some improvement,

 

[meleeka]

As with a lot of things done in America, the more extreme the better it is it seems. The abuse to get there doesn’t seem to matter one bit

 

[HopOnTrot]

Have you seen the pig showing videos from America? Where the handler has to fix the judge with an unwaivering death stare? Those are… extreme.

 

[ester]

They’re quite funny though

 

[Hobo2]

Have you seen the pig showing videos from America? Where the handler has to fix the judge with an unwaivering death stare? Those are… extreme.

We need a link to those .

 

[HopOnTrot]

pig showing stare youtube - Google Search

 

[Orangehorse]

Having owned an american breed - not a quarter horse (actually any horse can do Western) I thought that in western showing the neck should be in a straight line from the withers - not go along with the horse's head on the ground.

I would hate to ride a horse with his head near the floor, it would be like riding a headless horse. And throwing it on the forehand when it might trip over.

In Western riding though, it is the horse that does the work. It is supposed to be a conveyance for the rider to sit on all day with minimum effort. So if you say jog, or lope, etc. it is supposed to keep doing that without further aids until told to stop - unlike a lot of English riding where it is nag, nag, nag with the heels all the time, or grabbing the reins for a contact.

 

[AandK]

pig showing stare youtube - Google Search

OMG, this is hilarious Thanks for sharing!

 

[sbloom]

Physics - head low means more weight on the forehand, a lot of things need to be in place to counteract that and that's only possible for short periods of time. The sounds/healthy lifespan of the typical QH used for this sort of competition is not long.

 

[Burnerbee]

Surely an example of making America great again

 

[moosea]

pig showing stare youtube - Google Search

Omg we should introduce this to showing classes!!!

 

[Cloball]

I don't think I've ever seen a pig with such cankles before

 

[photo_jo]

pig showing stare youtube - Google Search

Do we think that is where Donald Trump got the idea of 'The Stare'?

 

[Alibear]

It started in the pleasure classes where it got rewarded by the judges and just got worse from there. Ranch riding was brought in partly to counteract that and rules state that the poll should be level with or just above the wither and head on the vertical. These classes have taken off and are really popular but now the extremely low head is becoming fashion in the reining. The extremes are less in the classes we have over here thankfully. I’m a ranch fan and that is what Amber and I do.