# Critique Western Riding/Stock horse Video



## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

Sorry about the quality...I will try to replace it with better, but that takes so much more memory and time


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## ponypile (Nov 7, 2007)

I woul like to see him with his head down more. Most of the video it was quite high. Like you said, you need to work on his changes. His transitions need more work too so you can get the lope without speeding into it. I personally would suggest going back to a snaffle and teaching him to collect more before going with a curb again. Other than that, he has nice movement, a nice ground overing lope even when he's going slower. Your back ups are nice, straight and have even steps.

I watched your other videos, lol I love the cominaty


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## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

Yes, my husband can be an interesting video man 

I am actually riding him in a snaffle in the video, and all show season. I have not transitioned to a curb yet, as he was five this show season. I have to get these things down by spring because I will have to ride in a curb next year. I have been working on his head, lead changes, and transitions a lot, but hopefully winter will give him some mellow time to really get solid with it. It seems like the mellower training of winter can be almost more effective than intense summer training. 

He was getting much better about his head at the walk and trot at home, but the show seen, he forgets all of his training :? I still haven't gotten him there with his head at the lope. I was thinking of doing a lot of lope circles (large and small) focusing on headset and smoothness. 

I hadn't noticed the speeding into the canter, that will be good to work on also. 

Any other tips?


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## ponypile (Nov 7, 2007)

He just takes a few quick trot steps sometimes, but that comes with experience, and he's still young yet.
As for the head set, I'd recomend doing some bending and latteral excersises. Things like leg yeild (not sidepass, still moving forward), taking his head (and eventually front end) to the inside and the outside while keeping his haunches on the rail. This helps loosen their back and relax so they feel more ready to collect. There are suppling excersises you can to too. I don't know how much he knows, but this is the basics. Try , first while standing, take the rein and hold him, wiggling your fingers. When he drops his head to get away from the pressure, imediatly give your hand. Try this at walk and jog too and eventually lope. You can also give a series of half halts until he drops. Most horses after theyve gone round will stretch down after. These will help you when you go tot shows too. The bending especially. Don't be afraid to take rein. He doesn't want you to touch his mouth, but you have to teach him that if he doesn't keep it down, you will be touching it. When he's getting distracted in the warm up ring, do a LOT of bending and leg yeild, kkeep him BUSY. Never do more than a lap just going on the rail. It's also helpful to bring him to as many new places as possible so he soon gets used to being riden away from home. Young horses are tricky this way, but if you can expose him to as many different places as possible now, and work him like you would at home (consistancy is key when something changes), you'll have it much easier later.


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## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

Thanks for the tips. I actually do a lot of flexion exercises with him, and it really helps with his headset and collection after about 15 minutes of it, but it only helps so far in the walk and trot. He also relapses constantly, and needs to be re-softened and suppled. 

I am hoping experience and time will help with his headset. He is getting much calmer in new places, but still pretty distractible.


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## fordchic2011 (Nov 22, 2007)

*tips*

Some thing you need to work on are collecting your horse up and trying to get it's head down. Maybe sitting deeper in your saddle having your shoulder, knee, and heel line up to be straight with your albow in, one hand on the rein and the other at your side and i think that would be it i hope you take my advice becuase i think you horse would be really good at pleasure if you get him collected and his head down!!!


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## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

Thanks for the advice, I will keep working on myself and him. 

what makes you think he might do well in Western Pleasure? He can do a nice smoothe, pretty slow jog, but to tell you the truth, his gaits are nothing like those of the WP horses I have seen around.


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## Tessa Bear (May 15, 2007)

ok, first of all glad to find a wp rider. haha

i would like to see him get off his front end. he also need to lift his back more, and that will automaticalle bring his head down. 

the biggest thing i saw is he is going off his front end, when he needs to be propelling off of his hind end, hes got a big butt make him use it! (gotta love the paint hips)

absolutly beautiful horse, just needs some trweeking, and i'll meet you at the 08' paint congress


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## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

Thanks Tessa Bear  

Any suggested exercises for getting him working of of his hind better. I do a lot of serpentines now, and after I work really focused on them for about 20 minutes, I can really feel him start to round out and carry himself better, but he defaults back to the heavy on the front mode quick


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## Tessa Bear (May 15, 2007)

well my mare is spur trained, but just you don't have to use that.

press a finger into where (if you were wearing spurs) your spur would be, watch his back automatically pick up, this is howi started my mare, it took her a while to get the idea, (she too is a paint ) the fact that he is getting off his hind end, is a really good start.


what are your paints lines?


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## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

I have read a little bit about spur training...the spur stop? It seemed to be quite a controversial topic (negative effects if used/taught incorrectly). 

He is starting to understand the idea of self carriage and getting light on the front...so I suppose that is a start. He is just a very lazy boy, and would prefer to exert the least amount of energy possible  I have to really build it into habit with him (hours and hours of practice and conditioning I think) to make it a well developed habit so that he won't default to moving heaving on the front and leaning on the bit. 

Dez goes back to Skipa star, Three Bars (in many places ), Skipper W, and Leo.

We bred him for a spring baby to our Doc bar, Docs cutty sark, dry doc, poco lena/poco bueno mare. 

I suppose a lot of those are cow/halter lines (Skipa Star), but I do dabble in WP  Though I am getting very interested in reining, stock horse, etc, so both of them, and the baby seem well fitted. Headset and carriage are as important in Reining and such as in WP anyway, so either way I have something to work at!

What are some of the better WP lines when it comes to paint breeding? Is your paint mostly white?  Is that your paint in your avatar, or a different horse?If so, what fun that must be to keep clean  I complain about white stockings. 

I wish I could go to the 08 paint congress! But, sadly that would be a very long and expensive trip for me to make from Alaska, so I would have to really plan ahead (haul horses in and out with my own to make gas money), and I will want him to be really finished before I take such a pricey and time consuming trip. The good thing is that I am a teacher, so I have summers available to make such a long trip possible, but isn't paint congress later in the year? Oh well, hopefully in the next few years...my boy is only five yet


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## Tessa Bear (May 15, 2007)

No that is not my paint in the pic, that is the first colt i ever broke named tango.

yeah darby is pretty much all white (too much so i hear) i think she is really pretty shes a -takes deep breath- strawberry roan, medicine hat, tovero paint. one blue eye one brown eye, and yes she is very hard tp keep clean. lol i will try to post some pics of her.

i'm in missouri so its a pretty easy trip for me to go, but darbs is no where near finished, so it will be a couple years before we get there. 

well i know Zippos Sensation is supposed to be awesome (not a big fan of him however) erm my mare has Mr.Norfleet in her, and i've seen some awesome horses out of him.

your stud actually has some of the same lines as tango (the colt in my pic)


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## DressageOrBust (Apr 15, 2007)

This is kinda off topic and I have nothing to add about the video other than he's CUTE. But I think it's SO stupid the rules about bits.......I argue this every year at the horsemans get together. I feel and so do alot of people that you should work your horse in what WORKS best for the darn HORSE not what some dummy in the upper upper SAYS you should. This the main reason horses are so mistrained in bits because of this. If the horse is happy in a snaffle, KEEP it in a snaffle. If the horse likes the bosal, USE the bosal. I had an appaloosa gelding who would have made an AWESOME show horse but he was never trained in a bit, always went in a bosal.

I see now the Dressage federation is trying to lessen the use of the double bridle at the upper levels and let horses go back to snaffles. At least that's what I just read in a magazine. MY personal opinion is bitless.....but that's just me. Both of my horses ride in french link egg butts.

Sorry, rant mode off, carry on! 

Jenn


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## AKPaintLover (May 26, 2007)

I do think it is weird that in western you are supposed to move out of a snaffle and into a curb by the time the horse is six years old. This is silly to me because good training dictates that you should be able to do all of your maneuvers in a snaffle that you would want to do in a curb...so if you can do it in a snaffle, why move to a curb? Maybe it is a band aid for horses with holes in their training, and became rule by popular desire?

It seems that people invent all sorts of horrible bits to make their horses do maneuvers that they are just not properly trained to do. Even when I have to ride in a curb next year, I will train outside of the show in a snaffle...and only use a curb in the days before the show. Why go overkill when not needed. The shank on the curb does make it so less pressure need be applied to achieve response, and many western classes are all about subtlety(?). 

In short, I am not sure why the bit rules exist to require certain bits. I am glad they ban certain bits that are obviously torture devices. But is does seem that some of the required allowable bits are often overkill as well. GOOD Question


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