Western pleasure??! Whaaaat??

[The Irish Draft 2022]

I don't accept the argument that you can only criticise something if you've done it. I've never been a parent but I can still criticise parents who abuse their children.

A lot more scandals in dressage and hunting? I've never heard of any scandal relating to a horse in hunting (a few about the masters! ) And few in dressage. If the US does have fewer scandals that may be because it is more accepted and legal to compete drugged horses.

Why on earth does anyone want to train a horse to look like a knackered lame old crock?
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So are dressage horse are unnatural thinking you can bash someone on what type of riding they do is childish. Also there has been plenty of threads on her about hunting members behavior and breaking the law. Western riding is not abuse.

 

[Nicnac]

That 4 beat lope is very strange and uncomfortable to watch.

I have ridden Western (badly) when I lived Stateside, and now live not far from a famous Western centre in the UK owned by a well known Western rider and QH breeder. I have spent a few hours watching her and a couple of other riders work and train their horses. It is breathtaking - the skill, the partnership and the fearlessness of both horse and rider. It is so fast then immediately still with the horses relaxed at all times. Wonderful to watch.

 

[ycbm]

So are dressage horse are unnatural thinking you can bash someone on what type of riding they do is childish. Also there has been plenty of threads on her about hunting members behavior and breaking the law. Western riding is not abuse.

I'm not bashing anyone on what kind of riding they do, (my best friend does western) , only on the effect of their riding on their horses.

Do those horses look happy to you?
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[Quigleyandme]

I think it looks bloody awful. Almost like their legs are tied together with invisible nylon. Hideous spectacle.

 

[meleeka]

I think it looks bloody awful. Almost like their legs are tied together with invisible nylon. Hideous spectacle.

I agree. It’s hideous and about as hideous as the Walking horses.

You can’t compare this to dressage. If you turn a horse out in a field and it’s having a hooley with its friends you are likely to see some basic dressage movements. Dressage is just an advanced form of what horses do. There is no natural movement in the video above. Why can’t some Americans especially have any sort of love or respect for what a horse is, instead of modifying it in such an extreme way?

 

[Caol Ila]

Western pleasure's gonna Western pleasure. It's as contentious in American horsey-land (more so) as it is here.

But reining and working cow horse and other Western disciplines can produce amazing riders/trainers. Great Western riders (Stacy Westfall, Buck Brannaman) achieve collection and lightness with virtually no contact, and the horses are so relaxed, uphill, working through their backs. I've seen Stacy riding a demo in real life at a horse expo in Denver, and I was in awe. She did a whole reining test with a neck rope! A lot of English riding is so handsy, trying to pull the horse together from the front end, and I think there's a lot to be learned from the great Western riders.

Not so much pleasure, though. It's just weird and over-exaggerated and there are probably a lot of drugs involved.

 

[SilverLinings]

I agree. It’s hideous and about as hideous as the Walking horses.

You can’t compare this to dressage. If you turn a horse out in a field and it’s having a hooley with its friends you are likely to see some basic dressage movements. Dressage is just an advanced form of what horses do. There is no natural movement in the video above. Why can’t some Americans especially have any sort of love or respect for what a horse is, instead of modifying it in such an extreme way?

I agree, that lope just looks like the horse is incredibly lame and pretty much on three legs. I don't understand why you (one) would want a horse to move in a way that in nature is only shown as a pain response. From the clips of horses loping on this thread I wouldn't even be able to tell you whether they were actually sound or not, whereas I would have a good chance of identifying even subtle and/or bilateral lameness in any of the paces shown in dressage etc.

 

[stangs]

You can’t compare this to dressage. If you turn a horse out in a field and it’s having a hooley with its friends you are likely to see some basic dressage movements. Dressage is just an advanced form of what horses do. There is no natural movement in the video above.

Let’s see, the last time I saw a feral pony doing a capriole was… never. Whereas I’ve seen a normal, slow lope many a time.

Like most equestrian disciplines, western pleasure has become increasingly extreme over time. That doesn’t mean that there is no natural movement in it, but rather that the natural movements - like the lope - have been made caricatures of themselves. Let’s not pretend a bunch of cowboys were bored one night and decided they’d start forcing their horses to do a 4 beat lope out of the blue.

 

[shortstuff99]

Technically capriole isn't allowed in FEI dressage as it is not seen as a natural movement, neither is Spanish walk, but mine bust those moves out naturally anyway ?.

 

[TPO]

I am rubbish as multi quote so I'll try to answer all the questions that were asked of me in response to my reply.

Thankfully I have no first hand experience of Pleasure horses so everything I know is through reading and watching.

Although Quarter Horse is a breed and the most common type is easily identifiable there are different types within the breed. The Pleasure type tends to be taller, around 16hh iirc, and leggy- more of a TB with a bum type.

I don't know specifically about the shoeing of Pleasure horses but Halter horses tend to have very short hooves that are shod tight from a young age. The apparent reason is that a smaller hoof makes the forearm look bigger and more muscled.

At the beginning of Halter horses it was the "perfect" QH and funnily enough it looked like a useful horse. Here's an article about the 60s "ideal" QH https://www.aqha.com/-/the-mixer-horse

However humans being what they are the breeding to extremes started. That's when all the post legged QHs with the butt of beef cattle started being produced (& still are). Then there was HYPP that was through through Impressive bloodlines. People knew about this but still bred from Impressive because he/his stock won in the ring. I had a UK granddaughter of Impressive. She had been shown Halter in the UK and had the typical tiny hooves and developed navicular; two of foals she bred were also PTS around young ages due to navic. For the record we didn't breed from her and she was lame (but doped) when we bought her and barefoot just wasn't a thing and I did try it but a hopeless trimmer sent me back to remedial shoeing.

Anyway, getting to my point I was looking for pictures to illustrate what I was meaning about the disgusting Halter industry and found this article that perfectly illustrates how QH originated (King-P234) and how its ended up (the post legged yearling) https://equineink.com/2011/04/24/have-halter-horses-become-the-bodybuilders-of-the-equine-world/amp/

I've read a handful of exposes on thr Pleasure/QH would in magazines like Equus, Horse & Rider and Western Horseman from the US. So people are speaking up about it. Fugly Horse of the Day blog used to go hard at breeders of deformed QHs, HYPP breeders and the cruelty of the show ring. I think they possibly exposed Cleve Wells too.

Pleasure doesn't look very pleasurable to me but I'd imagine it's like every sphere in that there is the good, the bad and the ugly. From "happy hacker" and RC level up to the highest level of competition there are riders/sports/combinations that blow me away with talent and feel and the same that make me sad/angry/disgusted.

I don't know much about "The Big Lick" or saddle seat but I know that there are people trying to, and doing, good while trying to change the ugly and I'd imagine it's it's same within the Pleasure industry.

There isn't much of a circuit up here and most people just have a go at everything so I haven't seen a specifically produced Pleasure horse in the flesh. I've seen a handful via fb in the UK but they don't look anything like the videos on this thread.

Western is really big in Europe and they tend to be closer to the Americans than here in the UK. Again I don't like Pleasure so don't follow it closely.

Just like "modern" dressage horses are bred with more, emm, expressive paces that they display naturally horse bred specifically for Pleasure from Pleasure bloodlines move in a specific way naturally too.

I know it's been argued about on here before but well bred QHs do move with a flatter topline and a lower head carriage than is typical in English.

I don't know of any specific muscular injuries in Pleasure horses. The saddles used in Pleasure can be well over 25k so I'd hope something was spent on some sort of bodywork.

I know in reining that SI and muscular injuries in the quarters are common as well as hock issues. It's worth keeping in mind that there are a LOT more drugs freely available in USA than here and lots of self medicating (legally). There does appear to be a completely different attitude towards jagging and buting in the US than here. I recall an uproar about buting a tired horse for a clinic ?

Did anyone watch The Last Cowboy? It was on Paramount but we could watch it on Facebook watch. Anyway the premise was the lead up to a big reining competition "The Run for a Million" (put on my Taylor Sheridon who's directed some excellent films and created Yellowstone ?). They didn't appear to do much in the way of a warm up or cool down. One of the horses came out stiff so after doing a few slides a vet came to see it. The vet just jagged it and recommended they do some cool downs. Just totally different from "our" attitude towards horses. But yeah it's a bit of an insight into reining.

I'm sure there was a disagreement on here before (seeing a theme?) about reining horses. They start then really young and I've seen big name trainer doing slides on 2yr olds. When reining became an FEI sport I *think* there is some sort of rule that the horses for WEG that they had to be 7 or 8? Allegedly there was a bit of a panic to try to find older sound horses that wouldn't have anything in their system <don't shoot me>. Tarrsteps was the authority on it but she no longer posts on here. So yeah, in agreement with the poster above who said about starting them too young and their career being over while still young.

Emm, what else was said ? yeah "cowy" horses are something else to sit on. Cow sense is just in them and sitting on a horse that can read and work a cow is the best feeling I've had on a horse. A well schooled western horse is so light and just there ready for the slightest command. I guess its a credit to riders and trainers that it looks so easy!

IME the attention to groundwork with western trained horses is a whole other level than what is traditionally done in English training or starting. However the importance and benefit of groundwork, and how that transfers to ridden work, is starting to seep into "every day" horsemanship over here I think?

Trainers...I've only seen three western trainers in the flesh. Joe Midgley is right up my street, just his way around horses even when he's standing next to one while teaching is just "it". I've written before about my bad experience seeing Warwick Schiller way back in 2015. In his defence he's had a breakdown and an "epiphany" since thrn and had totally changed this ethos and approach which he speaks about at great length in his newer videos and his podcasts. Another UK BNT was doing a clinic up here and totally lost his temper resulting in him chasing the horse around the arena while whipping the horse with its reins across its chest. So can't say that I'm a fan!

I know second hand about some not so great trainers but then I also know of loads of hopeless/horrible English trainers so...

<dons tin hat> western in the does seem to attract some "wannabes", people walking about with big jangly spurs and Cowboy hats on 24/7 for no apparent reason. There are a few older males involved in western over fb spouting very strong opinions in alignment with republican and Conservative extreme views.

I got banned from the Cowboy Dressage page because they were posting a lot of Pro Trump stuff and I very politely asked if they could leave politics out of it. Needless to say that it did not go down well!! But yeah there is a lot of "that" type of thing with the wannabes too.

Personally I think it tarnishes the sport in the UK when the BNT are endorsing sending refugees to Rwanda and spouting "all lives matter" vitriol. But I feel I may have spiralled off on a tangent ?

 

[Lois Lame]

Western Pleasure has sunk to a new low.

There is good and bad in most things, but I've never seen good in WP.

 

[SilverLinings]

...Anyway, getting to my point I was looking for pictures to illustrate what I was meaning about the disgusting Halter industry and found this article that perfectly illustrates how QH originated (King-P234) and how its ended up (the post legged yearling) https://equineink.com/2011/04/24/have-halter-horses-become-the-bodybuilders-of-the-equine-world/amp/

Pictures of horses deformed like that make me feel a bit sick- it is immoral in my opinion to intentionally breed for deformities that have a negative impact on the health of the individual or their natural way of moving (see also 'dwarf' ponies and flat-faced dog breeds). Aside from the ethics, I cannot see why anyone would think a large over-muscled/fat body on straight, thin and weak-looking post legs is attractive in a horse? I mean, I can look at a lot of breeds that I would never buy (because they aren't to my taste particularly) but appreciate their attraction to others, but this kind of look is beyond me.

 

[SibeliusMB]

I agree. It’s hideous and about as hideous as the Walking horses....

.....Why can’t some Americans especially have any sort of love or respect for what a horse is, instead of modifying it in such an extreme way?

Maybe I'm just tired, but as an American who puts my horse first and goes without things so he can have the best, the "some Americans especially" phrase is maddening for me to read. There are plenty of abuses to unpack across every discipline and horse culture. We can talk for days about Rolkur, and the widespread kissing sprine issue over here which I have never seen to such an extent in 30 years in horses in the US, or schwacking horses on the legs to get that "expression" everyone was so keen on after Totilas...

Basically, humans are the worst.

Some Americans absolutely do care and this might be news to some: Big Lick is a horrific fringe activity that is regularly protested and which real horsemen in the US have been trying to get it eliminated permanently. Congress even got involved for crying out loud to make the practices used by big lick trainers illegal. But please...people are welcome to come help enforce those laws with underfunded, ill-equipped resources and see how easy it is. We'd welcome the help, truly. Would love to see all those abusers in jail.

Western pleasure has been a joke in the US for decades. I'm not a QH or stock breed person so I have no experience with it myself and don't understand it. Every time the AQHA says they're going to fix that division (and the equally absurd hunter under saddle or HUS classes), nothing actually happens. Horses still look like broken robots. Judging standards aren't changing or aren't changing enough.

 

[SEL]

Why can’t some Americans especially have any sort of love or respect for what a horse is, instead of modifying it in such an extreme way?

I think we could pull out any country in the world and find bad practices - the UK isn't immune.

 

[ycbm]

Let’s see, the last time I saw a feral pony doing a capriole was… never. Whereas I’ve seen a normal, slow lope many a time.

https://forums.horseandhound.co.uk/...-display-these-pictures.817640/#post-14897469

It's a fairly normal movement in a boisterous herd of young stock. I've never seen a sound horse canter like in those videos.
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[palo1]

Maybe I'm just tired, but as an American who puts my horse first and goes without things so he can have the best, the "some Americans especially" phrase is maddening for me to read. There are plenty of abuses to unpack across every discipline and horse culture. We can talk for days about Rolkur, and the widespread kissing sprine issue over here which I have never seen to such an extent in 30 years in horses in the US, or schwacking horses on the legs to get that "expression" everyone was so keen on after Totilas...

Basically, humans are the worst.

Some Americans absolutely do care and this might be news to some: Big Lick is a horrific fringe activity that is regularly protested and which real horsemen in the US have been trying to get it eliminated permanently. Congress even got involved for crying out loud to make the practices used by big lick trainers illegal. But please...people are welcome to come help enforce those laws with underfunded, ill-equipped resources and see how easy it is. We'd welcome the help, truly. Would love to see all those abusers in jail.

Western pleasure has been a joke in the US for decades. I'm not a QH or stock breed person so I have no experience with it myself and don't understand it. Every time the AQHA says they're going to fix that division (and the equally absurd hunter under saddle or HUS classes), nothing actually happens. Horses still look like broken robots. Judging standards aren't changing or aren't changing enough.

Yes, thank you for posting. I never wanted to suggest that abuse of horses was an 'American' thing in my original post. I have seen extraordinary empathy, understanding, skill and devotion to the horse from many people across the world, even in places and situations where there is no time, money or external imperative for those things. I like the fact that American culture still (in places and kind of generally) feels attached to the horse and what that animal symbolises; I think that is a good thing though there are, everywhere, easy ways to abuse that relationship. I think it is reassuring that WP is seen as a bit of a fringe/grim end of things by Western riding folks (and even Americans lol!!).

 

[eahotson]

I was told face to face by a trainer who makes fistfuls of money training western riding in England that their clients only take up western riding because they are such useless riders that they can't do anything else .

Nice, eh?

I've spectated at a few western clinics. The walk stuff is really quite good but as for the jog and the lope...

T

I certainly won’t argue that point. As a rider who rides amateur both North American hunter (which has its own set of people against it here), classical dressage, working cow and cowboy challenge, as well as a bunch of other disciplines, the western lope is terrible and one that I have openly spoke about at competitions, clinics and at the local federation level. It is wrong and not mechanically correct, and causes other problems. I just don’t want people to start slinging mud around at all western disciplines which was in danger here. All disciplines have something wrong and there really is no right way, only peoples experiences and what has worked for them. I’ve always kept and open mind which had served me well in my life and I hope that we do here too as we all love these huge and beautiful animals, and as always they are the victims.

100% Agree.

 

[eahotson]

That 4 beat lope is very strange and uncomfortable to watch.

I have ridden Western (badly) when I lived Stateside, and now live not far from a famous Western centre in the UK owned by a well known Western rider and QH breeder. I have spent a few hours watching her and a couple of other riders work and train their horses. It is breathtaking - the skill, the partnership and the fearlessness of both horse and rider. It is so fast then immediately still with the horses relaxed at all times. Wonderful to watch.

If they are the people I am thinking of I agree.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

You can’t criticized when most English riders have never done western riding and are uneducated on the topic . They could say the same for dressage and hunting there is a lot of messed up things in the English riding and a lot more scandals.

I agree with you in some ways, I lunged my IDX mare and she always did western jog on the lunge and the lope, and would switch between Joggggggging comand and Trooooooting comand. I would get comments from others who knew nothing about the western movements, They would say " she needs to go forward more she is too slow. " or " make her trot faster that is a lazy trot" I would say " No she is correct she is doing western paces"




I cannot see the first video as it has been removed but can guess it is like half trot half lope . Second video personally I don't like that lope I prefer slightly more smooth type I have done western, my mare would not lope like that due to her breed, but most horses doing western have no gadgets to make them lope like that . Unlike dressage riders who use many gadgets to get their horses on the bit, like draw reins, bungees and more. Also the contact on a British ridden horse is a firm contact where as a western as barely any contact. Given the choice of western and English riding, give me Western anyway. I hate English schooling but have to with this mare. My late mare i did no English schooling for years but loved western schooling and side passes and back up etc.
Due to me not having the video unable it is hard to comment

What I don’t get is what purpose the pleasure jog serves? They say it’s economical. But they have taken a ranch horse low impact jog and lope back and back and back until it’s way slower than a walk. So why not just walk? If I want to get somewhere I walk, if I want to get there faster i trot. These seem to have it the other way round.

The jog is not only mega comfy to sit on, it tires the horses very little and they can go for miles without exerting much energy. I love pleasure riding but rarely do it now due to loss of my mare. Why not just walk?? cos jog is two time so again comes naturally to the horse. I mare loved to jog next to a walking horse.

Personally comparing this very slow lope saying it looks wrong, in my mind is no different than making a horse trot on the spot, to me that is more pointless

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

they use weighted bits sometimes.

Have you any evidence??

I have never come across anything like that during my time doing western, jee my ID now prefers going along with her head almost that low out of her choice.

 

[[153312]]

Have you any evidence??

I have never come across anything like that during my time doing western, jee my ID now prefers going along with her head almost that low out of her choice.

COTH/other US forum posts predominantly - I don't know if it happens here - but in the US, yes. You can buy ones which weigh 2lbs.

 

[ester]

What I don’t get is what purpose the pleasure jog serves? They say it’s economical. But they have taken a ranch horse low impact jog and lope back and back and back until it’s way slower than a walk. So why not just walk? If I want to get somewhere I walk, if I want to get there faster i trot. These seem to have it the other way round.

I love a ‘proper’ working QH but having ridden a couple of pleasure horses I found no joy in it at all, and I didn’t feel the horse did either.

Quite, and I’ve always thought the lope looked pretty uncomfortable to ride too, all that hip popping.

 

[MagicMelon]

You can’t criticized when most English riders have never done western riding and are uneducated on the topic . They could say the same for dressage and hunting there is a lot of messed up things in the English riding and a lot more scandals.

I agree with this - both are as bad as each other. I like how relaxed a lot of the horses seem in USA doing Western, or even just their English way of riding seems more chilled - watch their version of working hunter and it looks so calm compared to how we ride horses here. But a lot of them are started way too young (but hey we do same with racehorses which I massively disagree with) and a lot of aspects of western competition do not look nice at all. Im a member of that non violent equestrians FB page and it seems to just be full of Western videos where the horse looks utterly miserable and it actually looks pretty horrific!

 

[Errin Paddywack]

I always thought the Western jog and lope were paces that you would use to cover as much distance as possible as effortlessly as possible for both horse and rider. Western Pleasure seems a million miles away from this. Their jog and lope appear to be a way to go as slowly as possible and cover no ground at all, totally pointless.

 

[CanteringCarrot]

I always thought the Western jog and lope were paces that you would use to cover as much distance as possible as effortlessly as possible for both horse and rider. Western Pleasure seems a million miles away from this. Their jog and lope appear to be a way to go as slowly as possible and cover no ground at all, totally pointless.

Originally, yes. Then Western Pleasure went to odd extremes.

Back in the mid 2000's I kept a horse at a livery yard in the US that was primarily Quarter Horses and the owners competed in all the AQHA Western Pleasure stuff all the way up to QH Congress ($$). Some of the stuff at the local competitions wasn't too bad. I remember one of their sons had a few horses in an effort to be competitive. Basically the trend was moving toward the lopes like in the OP, and his 2 horses didn't move that way, so he bought a 3rd that did. I rode a few of these horses and that lope was like sitting in a slow motion blender of sorts. Not comfortable or functional. The family did quite well at competitions, mostly because they had the cash to buy top dollar QH's already trained and you just had to sit there and push a few buttons (they really weren't difficult to ride and hardly flicked an ear wrong!). They still had some older and/or more functional moving horses, but they were mostly for lesson kids, small local shows, or 4H stuff.

I'd often hack with a friend at another yard and the YO's would lend me their QH mare. Now this horse exemplified what the jog and lope should be, IMO. At the jog, or even a brisk trot, she was smooth as glass. You did not move, even though she was covering ground easily. Her lope was like a cloud. Even when you kicked it up a few notches. We played with some cows one day and I felt like this was the type of horse that you could work all day. She was comfortable, had a work ethic, and was just a hardy properly built QH.

I imagine that some still own, use, and breed this type for ranch work and other Western disciplines. She was a true Western Horse IMO. These types are also incredibly light in the bridle and subtle aids are used.

I feel like Western Pleasure could still be a thing, but just not like this. I learned a lot from some Western folk (pre QH yard). I still use some of it today, and I like that I have a varied background, but not all Western riders or trainers are created equal. Some of the functional training they do is so valuable though. So don't let this video sway you re Western and Americans in general ?

Edit: autocorrect stuff.

 

[ycbm]

Have you any evidence??

I have never come across anything like that during my time doing western, jee my ID now prefers going along with her head almost that low out of her choice.

Back in the 80's you could buy a weight to hang from the bit rings to "encourage the horse to drop his head". Thankfully they weren't around long.

ETA it was a white cylinder that sat in the chin groove, anyone remember it?


ETA, I found a 1989 patent application for something very similar.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US5231818A/en

 

[fiwen30]

The idea is that the horses must appear to be completely switched off to the cattle they are herding, so as not to razz them up. So I was told.

But then reining and cutting is all speed, and precision, and fire, and hard, snakey eyes? I get that a good cattle horse needs to quickly flex up and down in energy, but that still seems like a lame excuse (pun intended) for what currently constitutes ‘western pleasure’.

 

[ILuvCowparsely]

Back in the 80's you could buy a weight to hang from the bit rings to "encourage the horse to drop his head". Thankfully they weren't around long.

ETA it was a white cylinder that sat in the chin groove, anyone remember it?


ETA, I found a 1989 patent application for something very similar.

https://patents.google.com/patent/US5231818A/en

eeek that is horrid forcing it down like that. How could people use things like this in all aspects of training horses, which ever floats your boat in the equestrian world.

 

[TPO]

But then reining and cutting is all speed, and precision, and fire, and hard, snakey eyes? I get that a good cattle horse needs to quickly flex up and down in energy, but that still seems like a lame excuse (pun intended) for what currently constitutes ‘western pleasure’.

WP has nothing to do with working (on) cattle.

I believe it originated because ranchers had hundreds of thousands of acres and would have to ride out for hours to check fences, troughs and stock etc. So you wanted to have an economical and comfortable ride so a smooth jog and lope was the thing.

Just humans going to human that they've taken everything to the extreme.

All western competitions started as ranch hands trying to out do each other and a while load of events came out of that. It originated from skills that were necessary for work and then who was the best at them.

Thats sort of how the quarter horse came to be because they bred a type thst worked on the ranches and then ended up racing them over 1/4 mile tracks for fun. QH racing is a big industry in America. I don't follow American TB racing so no ides how they compare monetary wise.

Re "exciting" western events* like reining/cutting/reined cowhorse the horses are so well trained thst after the high of a run the horse comes back calmly and leave on a very loose rein walk and in some cases reiners take the bridle off on the way out. Not something you see at English events!

*excluding barrel racing. They seem pretty hot and tied down all the time. Not a fan of that either or that it's gaining traction over here.

 

[cariadbach10]

It's such a shame that WP is the image that some people have of Western. As so many other people have said, this is not representative of the majority of people/horses within the wider discipline. It certainly doesn't float my boat.

After a lifetime of struggling with English 'handsy' (LOVE that adjective!) riding (which now feels to me like OVERriding) I feel like I found my natural home in Western and genuinely enjoy my lessons. I know I've learnt more about horsemanship in the last three years than the previous thirty- the emphasis on groundwork, riding from the seat, voice cues, neck reining/light hands, self collection'...I could go on. I caught the bug when I went to watch a reining clinic with these incredibly calm horses who can run a blistering pattern, slide to a dead stop and then stand in the arena on a loose rein like nothing happened. The training that goes into creating these horses is phenomenal.

Honestly, I could bang on about it all day. So don't watch those vids and think that's where it's at.