Wednesday, March 13, 2019
One of Lenas Finest
This pretty DQHA stud was shown to garner breedings. "Don't just buy another whip today, who needs 7 whips! You need a breeding to this stallion!"
He gave the impression of misery in his job more than any other that day. Sure the dressage horses swished their tails nonstop and frothed all over themselves, but he was a robot, with a dead expression on his face.
My perception was confirmed when the lady finally jumped off his back. He transformed into a real live horse at that moment. He lifted his head, pricked his ears, and opened his eyes fully for the first time. He was suddenly alive again. He was beautiful.
With the dearth of Quarter Horses in Germany, making them luxury models, I wonder how many people actually took the guy's advice to hand over their credit card for a breeding.
He said these horses are so intelligent, have such cow sense, they have been witnessed chasing butterflies around their pastures. (If this is true I expect someone has put that on the Internet - show me!)
Here he is, One of Lenas Finest. As you see he goes with a pretty level head, and only drops his nose to the ground occasionally.
In contrast to Warwick Schiller's horse who never gets his nose above his knees:
He defended himself that the horse is relaxed, supple, and in balance. I think it's a fad taken to an extreme. If a low head is good, an even lower head must be better. I'm sure his horse has a naturally low head, but as you watch, note how the horse drops his head even lower after each spin. That's him submitting to training, and I cannot see it as relaxation.
If Stacy Westfall is correct, the AQHA rulebook says:
"His head should be level, with his nose slightly in front of the vertical, having a bright expression with his ears alert. He should carry his head and neck in a relaxed, natural position, with his poll level with or slightly above the level of the withers."
Bright expression and ears alert? I'd love to see that. Poll above the withers would be nice to see as well, where the horse gives the impression of being able to see what is in front of him. Or is sight only important in the Hunter classes?
Please note I have not mentioned the word cruelty in any of this - these horses are probably not abused. I just see a miserable expression and it hurts to watch. I'm a big fan of WS; this is the first time I've been disappointed in him.
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8 comments:
This could make for an interesting debate.
Long and low is not just a western concept ...it is a requirement of many dressage tests where the horses are asked to stretch into the contact. Its not easy to do while encouraging hindleg impulsion. All the videos showed horses wih strong impulsion amd quick transitions which would be difficult if they were “on the forehand”.
The second horse in the WS video had a more even headset, referred to by AQHA guidelines.
The bigger issue I have is with “peanut rollers”, none of which I saw in these videos. Some of the headset you are witnessing is from breeding and conformation. My QH bred for pleasure naturally was low. He also was a daisy cutter and tripped on trail all the time. He has now passed, and Ive since left the AQHA in favour of the iberians.
As for the first horse and video. You see dead expression, I see compliance and perhaps a horse that has been drilled too much. SOme horses do like the constancy of repetitive work. I dont, neither does my new horse.
I love an uphill carriage, a bright expression and a curiosity. But that does not always make for the best performance show horses. And people pick breeding stallions based on show records.
Until we start changing our buying criteria, the industry will not change.
ND, thanks for the lack of flaming: ) I purposefully left out that awful viral video of the Congress Western Pleasure class, I don't want to disparage, I just want to share my reaction. And I will share alike with the PREs we saw later!
Is it true that AQHA desires a bright expression? I guess I should remind myself I'm not in America, and neither is Warwick Schiller, so the rules are probably different here/there.
I'm glad you agree that the horse is "overtrained" and I hope you can imagine how the horse's natural beauty was diminished by this. Of course you didn't see him "come to life" later.
I'm curious how they get these horses to comply (I see compliance) without tail wringing - never a flick of the tail, even though he gave a little crow-hop/bounce with each lead change. Why are all the PREs we saw the opposite? I guess the better question is why is it acceptable for PREs to express their stress even on the rail waiting their turn? I guess I expect too much of Germany's biggest horse fair.
You mentioned long and low. I'm thinking of the part of the dressage test where they want to see a free walk. I'm always amazed at how "not low" the horses are, and that is OK. If one of these Quarter Horses did the free walk part of a dressage test, they would be truly low! *lol* But perhaps I've confused low with free in my mind.
Also, good job on spelling the word conformation. I'm on a conformation Facebook page that has the word conformation in the title, and you'd be amazed how many people talk about confirmation with the correct term right in front of them!
Anyway, since you know QHs, what do you think of this Lenas Finest? (Barn name "finest").
I'm a fan of S Westfall's Jak, and enjoyed every minute of her YouTube videos showing every minute of his reining training. If you haven't seen it, go! I've never seen such lovely movement on a QH, he blew my mind.
I pretty much agree with Nat D. I think the first horse of Warwicks has been taught to carry himself like that- many of the top reiners are bred to be that way and I really don't like it. He is however, not heavy on the forehand like you would expect if he was a "peanut roller". He is balanced and relaxed.
I much prefer the look of the horse in the first video. I don't think he looks dull, just looks like he is doing his job. Paying attention to his rider. Good self carriage and he is relaxed. Perhaps he does not particularly enjoy it, maybe bored by it, but like a good quarter horse he isn't complaining about his job. Of course he would come to life after his task is done- then he gets to look around and enjoy the sights and sounds.
I'm sure some people love this type of movement. I agree that they look a bit like automatons/overtrained, and I still like a bright eye and forward ears (even when concentrating, this seems like it should be the case at least occasionally, not just when stopping). This would certainly not be what I was looking for in a trail horse. I'm they're great at their jobs, good for them. I guess that is why there are different horses for different folks!
I agree that a lot of the first horse's "demeanor" is breed type plus (over-)training plus some boredom. His hop facilitates the lead changes, but shouldn't be so exaggerated. I thought Schiller' second horse carried its head and neck much better, but the first one did much better for the spins, did you notice?
Kate travels really low if I let her. Currently, as we work in Cowboy Dressage, I'm actually correcting her upward a bit, and it's made an amazing difference in her balance, getting her off her forehand! She's been complimented by judges on her "free walk" because that's what comes naturally for her, but her "working" frame is a work in progress.
I agree with other posters here: the low head set is a result of (mostly) breeding plus (some) training. You could train for years and never get a Friesian to move like that (or a Standardbred, either). I do appreciate that the video horses have a (mostly) three-beat lope, which is becoming more rare in show horses here.
We've talked here before about animals that "tune out" because they are bored and/or because the stimulation of the event is overwhelming. You can see Foxie doing a version of that in my video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vlhmly_GYhE He is trying his very best to do what I am asking, while still keeping himself "tuned out" and "shut down" to not be overwhelmed by the noise of the building we were in. Outdoors, he doesn't do this at all! So, too, with horses: take away enough of the stimulation, and they can allow themselves to wake back up.
So many topics for debate! I will say that you can not judge the horse without judging the rider and trainer. Im looking forward to the PRE video with tail wringing. I will say that PREs are bred for high sensitivity. But will pause on further comments until the next post. ;-)
So far from what I knew as a kid... We attended a AQHA show a couple years ago & left after the first go-around...
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