It’s all about collection: Horses and Idiots

The beauty of writing a blog is that at some point someone will stumble across it, take everything said on it completely wrong and then blunder off to another blog or forum and pitch a fit. Their first hysterical accusation is that I, as the evil blog writer, am hysterical. Of course the fact that they took every single thing out of context, or took every statement personally, doesn’t matter. I’m the problem, not their inability to read or comprehend.
Let’s look at several of the last blog posts I’ve made and then review the responses. The Icelandic post has inspired comments from here to Siberia. There are entire forums in Finnish, Swedish, German, Icelandic and other languages just bitching about me. Of course they deny the photos show real abuse, and they are filled with indignation that the sight of straining mouths cranked down with dropped nosebands would offend anyone. Silly us, to think we’d be upset! We’ve had Iceland residents stop in and defend some of the practices, and we’ve had them stop in and decry the practices.


Doesn’t this little guy look “thrilled”? That gaping mouth, those shuttered eyes, the fact his head is rammed back into his neck. It’s tradition! So it must be okay!
One thing that keeps getting belabored is how “strong” Icelandics are, like being ridden by a big tall person isn’t a problem. I “get” that Icelandics are strong. They are a small horse and have a dense bone structure. But there is still no reason for a very tall adult to be riding a horse that is the width of a QH yearling. We can see the size of the horses in the pictures. Some of these horses are “not” the heavier draft looking Icelandics. They are thin, fine boned and look like they have giants on them. It simply makes no sense. I even tortured myself and watched Beowolf and Grendal, which had Gerard Butler in it. I would watch anything with Gerard in it, especially hot, sweaty, half-naked, draped in skins Gerard. The movie was filmed in Iceland and there were several scenes of these huge American, British, Danish and Icelandic actors just tolting along in their little short horses. It was embarrassing to watch. I’m sorry, but Gerard is 6’2”. He does not need to be riding a 14 hands tall horse; even if did make his manly parts jiggle appealingly. http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0402057/
The riding over the kidneys is just horrible. And despite claims that an Icey has a mysterious 19th rib ( by someone from Iceland), the fact remains that if you’re sitting right in front of the pelvis you are right on top of the kidneys! There is no excuse for the hyperflexion of the neck. There is no reason to be pulling that hard on a horse. If the horse were trained properly he would yield, slow down and collect. Instead these horses are taught to gait fast, without being taught how to work in the bridle. I see evasion in just about every photo. But it’s okay because it’s tradition!





The blog posts that brought howls of dismay from the prowlers were the drecquitation posts. People are mad that it was pointed out that top trainers ride like shit. Like it was a shock or something. Like someone just happened to catch the trainer on a bad day, when all was wrong in their world and they weren’t riding up to par. Bullshit. Trainers put these ads out with the crappy riding and in some case inspire copycat fads, like that leaning back crap the mechanics in motion guy does.



Some of the keyboard jockeys went so far as to spout nonsense about trainers not needing to ride correctly. WTF is that about? Of course trainers need to ride correctly. My favorite comment was “I’d rather be an effective rider than a pretty rider.” Wake up Barbie! If you are an effective rider then you are riding pretty. Equitation means more than the Stepford Wife robot-armed shit we see in the show ring. Equitation is based on the horse’s skeleton and musculature and how the rider has to react to them. It’s not about who has the most spangled shirt or who holds their hand the stiffest. Equitation is about “riding properly”. If you ride properly then good things will fall into place. If you’re riding like shit and still getting a good performance it is because your horse is good enough to compensate for your flaws. He’s forgiving you for your stupidity and making you look good. If he had a good rider on him he’d look even better.


Then there are the little forum monkeys that just love to bitch about the blog but are too chickenshit to post on it. The Horse City Forum, Pleasure Horse Forum and FHOTD Forum come to mind. I have never been so amused in my life to read all the conspiracy theory bullshit that people threw out there.

Them: She hates stock horses.
Me: I grew up owning stock horses and love them dearly

Them: She’s never shown. She knows nothing.
Me: I’ve shown all my life. And when I started showing it meant you went in every class you could, not specializing in one single event.

Them: She doesn’t draw the shoulder lines right
Me: The shoulder lines are drawn “above” the actual shoulder to show the angle, and allow people to see the actual bone structure of the shoulder below. If you seriously thought I was putting the shoulder line to show where the shoulder actually was then you are dumber than dirt. If you look at where the gaskin and hock lines are you can tell the lines show the angles, not the actual structure. DUH!

Them: She’s hysterical.
Me: I’m in one spot, where anyone with a set of balls could comment. You, one the other hand, are running around, frothing at the mouth and having a conniption fit on various forums where all your similarly hysterical friends can back you up. You remind me of smart ass kids who talk big as long as they know a chain link fence separates them from the person willing to kick their ass.

Them: She doesn’t know anything about WP/EP/Iceys etc
Me: I’ve got the photographic and video proof on my side.

Them: I’m disgusted with her blog.
Me: But you’re still reading it and spouting off about it elsewhere.

Them: She cited Black Beauty so she has no credibility.
Me: Why don’t you just get a neon sign showing how ignorant you are? It would make it easier for anyone that meets you to understand you've never read anything more complicated than a comic book.

Black Beauty was written in 1877 by Anna Sewell. Prior to this time there were no animal welfare laws in England, beyond it being frowned upon to slaughter cows and pigs near a church on Sunday. Black Beauty brought an awareness of animal welfare to the general public and then to the members of parliament. Because of the public outcry, the Black Beauty Laws were put into effect, and equine welfare was finally being addressed. Black Beauty was instrumental in getting laws passed that abolished bearing reins(very tight over check reins), limiting the work days of the cab horses and making it possible to jail, or fine, someone that abused, or criminally killed, a horse. In other words Black Beauty did a hell of a lot more for the horse than any of the whining keyboard jockeys.

Them: She generalizes and makes us all out to be abusers.
Me: Get a fricking grip. Unless I specifically name you or use your photo I'm not saying shit about you. If your skin is so thin that nothing even remotely related to your life can be discussed then I suggest you order some kevlar for Christmas and learn to STFU. I can generalize abuse because we all know it exists. We know who abuses and we know who doesn't. If you're that bugged by me mentioning the shitty things that happen in the stock horse show ring then get off your ass and put a stop to them. Don't support the organizations that allow the abuse. And don't pretend that just because an organization has a rule against something that it is being enforced. Make sure the rules are being implemented and don't leave it to the organization to do the right thing,


What is really humorous to me are the little 18 years old know-it-alls that argue about breeds they show, but have no concept of the history. Seriously, shouldn’t there be some kind of test before you can own a horse? Maybe, something that requires that you know a bit about the breed, as well as how to handle it. I have never read so much uninformed shit in my life as I did reviewing the posts about this blog. Look in the mirror people; you’re why this blog exists. You provide me with an endless supply of material! This blog could go on forever and never run out simply because of the people bitching about it.



According to the polls most people think tail blocking and halter are problems. People seem confused that anyone would even consider putting a lip chain on a baby. Oh! It’s for safety! Yes, because it’s so much safer to flip your baby over and wrench his back and neck than have him fidget a bit. But then again a few wrenched backs might cover up the hideous conformation like this halter horse exhibits.








See here people, the line is “above” the fricking shoulder, but follows the angle. The back looks like something a snow boarder would like to take a try one and the neck makes me think of cinder blocks stacked on a horse’s body. Halter champions. Gotta love them.


It’s easy to see why this blog has collected some idiots. They rarely post here, being fearful of having their asses handed to them, but they do bitch, moan and whine on other forums. They are the reason this blog exists.

Now on to collecting horses. There are a lot of people out there under the false impression that a horse can collect himself with his head and neck lower than his withers. They are misinterpreting being in a frame, and being responsive, as being collected. Horses can be strung out like a Times Square crack ho and still be responsive. Just look at any barrel horse or open jumper. Collection is all about the skeleton and then the muscles. It is not about over flexing, bunching up the butt or hindering forward movement.
To quote Dr. Deb Bennett: “(1) the loins coil (2) the part of the back that would be under the saddle arches upward (3) the base of the neck is raised relative to the loins.”

If your horse’s head and neck are lower than his withers then he’s not collected. He’s in a false frame and he’s responding to your cues.

To further quote Dr. Bennett: “For the horse to go correctly "on the bit" or to "look through the bridle," he must raise the base of his neck. The scalenus and longus colli muscles, underslinging the base of the neck like a hammock, lift upward from below, raising the neck bones above. In a horse whose topline muscles are sufficiently relaxed, the uplifting action of the scalenus-longus colli complex comes to be aided by the coordinated contractions of the front part of the longissimus dorsi muscle, which pull the base of the neck upward”

Raise the “base” of the neck. So WP people, can you explain to me how a horse can raise the base of his neck when his chin is at his knees? He can’t. He is not collected. He may be responsive, he may be your personal dream ride, but he’s not collected by any means. I recommend everyone read this page and learn it by heart. http://www.equinestudies.org/knowledge_base/true_collection.html

Then have the balls to tell that trainer on the low-headed WP horse that it isn’t collected, it’s framed. And those of you insisting Icelandics must be hyper flexed need to read the part about gaited horses.

Here’s where the reality of the matter sets in. If you don’t like the blog then don’t read it. Going off to a forum and trying to defend the people that cause the offenses only perpetuates the problem. The show ring has some severe issues that will have to be addressed within the next few years for the horse industry to come out of the rut it is in. People see the show ring as a political arena where abuses are endorsed. People are tired of having to compete against fads, drugs, tail blocking, poor training, gimmicks and trainer/judges that kiss ass to other trainer/judges. So bitch about me if it makes you feel better, but it’s not changing a damn thing. I’d prefer to bitch about the problems and work on getting them fixed.

Proof that the halter industry sucks......

I had a debate with myself about what to write about next. The Icelandic crowd has been so interesting to deal with, and of course the TWH groups gives me endless fodder, that I was originally going to leave the stock horse industry alone for a few posts and focus back on the gaited horses. That was until I saw this picture.



WTF is the exhibitor that is showing this horse thinking? Here’s what I’m thinking:

1) You suck as a trainer. You have no business having a horse at a show. There is absolutely no excuse to hold a lip chain that tight. I don’t care if it is a stallion, if you can’t train him to mind then leave him at home.
2) Your stallion has no business reproducing, ever. He could be the best conformed horse on the planet but you’ve just advertised to the entire world that he’s has such a shitty disposition that he can’t be controlled without having his gums ripped up to his eyeballs.
3) Most breeds do not allow lip chains. Even the TWH industry, which caters to the dregs of the horse world, doesn’t allow you to stick a chain in a horse’s mouth and numb his gums.
4) I find it highly ironic that stock horse trainers talk about how flighty and stupid Arabs, Saddlebreds, Morgans etc are, yet I have never seen one shown in hand with a chain in its mouth. I have seen classes full of stallions, babies, amateur handlers, you name it, in all the above breeds and never seen a horse with a chain in its mouth.
5) I actually have to commend AQHA because they took lip chains out of the gelding, mare and yearling and younger stallion classes. I wish they had taken it further and banned them completely, but at least they finally did make some effort to clean things up. APHA and ApHC have done nothing about lip chains and because of this they allow trainers, and judges, to promote the public image that the Paint and Appaloosa are not good, quiet, family horses. No one wants to buy a horse for their child that has to be restrained by a lip chain. Long-term lip chain use causes damage. It can result in atrophied gums, lost teeth, bite misalignment, as well as damage to the nerves in the corners of the lips. It can also result in injuries from the horse being shanked and flipped over, as this next photo shows.




Don’t you love it? The horse has had enough shit and he’s protesting. His lip is being ripped up and he’s doing the head jerk that you rarely see in horses that don’t have chains on their heads. Think about this poor bugger. He’s been fed feed that’s too high in protein, alfalfa hay, kept in a stall 22 hours a day, stuck in a trailer, hauled miles and miles, kept in a strange stall, maybe lunged for 15 minutes, and to punish him for his energy he gets a lip chain. Don’t you just wish he’d rear up and fall sideways and smash that idiot on the end of the shank?











Oh look, two for the price of one! Don’t you love seeing lines of miserable horses standing around just wishing to hell they could knock their handler in the head and run for freedom? Who’d have thunk that a halter horse would be jealous of an Amish plow horse simply because plowing is so much more appealing then getting a lip-ectomy at the hands of some jerk-off trainer? Who promotes this kind of crap? Why it’s the little group of Satan’s minions that not only place poor handling, but they do it themselves when they show their own horses. Let’s just advertise to the entire industry that stock horse halter people can’t train a horse to stand still long enough for a 15-minute halter class. Pretty funny when you consider that Gunther Goebel Williams used to run 7 Arabian stallions around a 45 foot diameter ring, at liberty, and fully capable of killing each other and him at any tim, and never had a problem. Good thing for the halter trainers that he’s not around to show them how to train a horse, he’d embarrass the hell out of them.







Oh look, another line of Satan’s minions just adding to the misery of the horse world. Notice that the second horse in the class looks relaxed and casual, of course he’s not wearing a lip chain.
The first horse’s expression says it all: BLEH! The third horse is probably dreaming about how much more fun it would be to have a job that didn’t cause such misery; say a taxi-horse in the brothel districts of Thailand or maybe the horse that drags the canal barge along the Nile. Those tourist barges are looking very appealing next to having your upper lip removed via chain gang surgery.






Bet you can’t guess from the mottled skin what breed this is?
The Breed of Choice is choosing to allow lip chains to continue to permeate the show ring at every level. Doesn’t matter if the horse is a mare, gelding or stallion, weanling, yearling or aged. Even the youth and non-pros can show a horse with a lip chain. I have personally see youth exhibitors flip over their lip chained horses. The horses have almost hit the youth exhibitor standing behind them. It’s such a bunch of stupid crap. No child should ever have a lip chain in their hands. If the horse is that unruly then it isn’t safe for the child to show! How much further down the road to bad parenting can you get? Let me guess; you let your child ride without a helmet on a green two-year-old through a fireworks display?
When I started showing using a lip chain was a public advertisement that you were a piss poor trainer or your horse was a complete idiot. It’s actually still the same. People who aren’t in the stock horse industry don’t get it. Hell, even draft horses aren’t shown in lip chains and they can drag your ass down the road.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QV8VEOoHY-s



Here’s another one of our little mottled skinned darlings. This is a yearling. A yearling! So this poor little guy must be such a big scary horse to handle that Satan’s minion can’t even risk leading him around without his torture chain? Can you just see what would happen if the US government instituted a “truth in advertising” clause for the horse industry.

Here’s how the ad would read:
ApHC yearling, gums destroyed from lip chain abuse, attitude not much better, kept stalled, fed too much, exercised just enough to make him halter fit, but not enough to let him be a horse. Flips on command. Head shy and hates to have his mouth handled. Don’t worry about him being productive, he’s so specialty bred he’s not good for anything but halter any how!

I can see people stepping up to buy that one

Oh, and aside from the lip chains WTF is the deal with bending over to place the horse’s feet? The non-pros and youth can’t do it in showmanship. Are you telling me some big time trainer can’t even handle a horse as well as a youth exhibitor? It used to be illegal to touch your horse, you remember, back in the day when you actually had to train a horse before showing it.

Failing! The halter industry is failing and the people in it are just making it fail faster by allowing this kind of abuse to happen. You cannot promote a section of the horse industry that allows blatant abuse to go on in the show ring.

Halter; an industry built on greed

Halter. Just the word conjures up images of well-built horses that are the epitome of a breed’s standards. Visions of horses trotting past a discerning judge fill the mind. Reality? No, fantasy! Face it, most halter horses today are such extreme examples of what a breed standard espouses that they should be barred from the ring. Why? Because every single breed standard out there, including the mini horse (which I looked up and read) talks about a horse that can work or perform some kind of duty. Halter horses usually don’t. Don’t inundated me with “but, but, but” because you know one or two halter horses that perform. So do I. I also know of a majority of halter horses that end up finished with their careers at ages when most horses are just starting to work. They are retired early due to “injury”. What injury? Did they sprain their jaws eating all that high protein feed and alfalfa hay? Or perhaps they drove their post legs into the ground too hard and injured their joints. Sounds plausible.

What is halter judging? It’s supposed to be based on these six criteria; breed and sex characteristics, balance, structural correctness, refinement, and degree of muscling. Balance is the single most important characteristic among all breeds.

Let’s look at the AQHA breed standard:
The ideal American Quarter Horse shown at halter is a horse that is generally considered to be solid in color and possesses the following characteristics: the horse should possess eye appeal that is the result of a harmonious blending of an attractive head; refined throat latch; well-proportioned, trim neck; long, sloping shoulder; deep heart girth; short back; strong loin and coupling; long hip and croup; and well-defined and muscular stifle, gaskin, forearm and chest. All stallions 2 years old and over shall have two visible testicles.
These characteristics should be coupled with straight and structurally correct legs and feet that are free of blemishes. The horse should be a balanced athlete that is muscled uniformly throughout.

Sounds like a fairly well made horse. And it’s not what we’re seeing the ring today. The above standard is used in almost all stock breeds.

Just to be fair I’ll include the breed standard for Arabians:
Comparatively small head, profile of head straight or preferably slightly concave below the eyes; small muzzle, large nostrils, extended when in action; large, round, expressive, dark eyes set well apart (glass eyes shall be penalized in Breeding classes); comparatively short
distance between eye and muzzle; deep jowls, wide between the branches; small ears (smaller in stallions than mares), thin and well shaped, tips curved slightly inward; long arched neck, set on high and running well back into moderately high withers; long sloping shoulder well laid over with muscle; ribs well sprung; long, broad forearm; short cannon bone with large sinew; short back; loins broad and strong; croup comparatively horizontal; natural high tail carriage. Viewed from rear, tail should be carried straight; hips strong and round; well muscled thigh and gaskin; straight, sound, flat bone; large joints, strong and well defined; sloping pasterns of good length; round feet of proportionate size. Height from 14.1 to 15.1 hands, with an occasional individual over or under. Fine coat in varying colors of bay, chestnut, grey and black. Dark skin, except under white markings. Stallions especially should have an abundance of natural vitality, animation, spirit, suppleness and balance.

Definitely looks like the Arab halter horse fits their breed standard more than the stock horses do. Why is this? I like Arabs, but they’ve been focused on “type” a long, long time. They even define “type” by subsets within the breed. You can have Egyptian, Crabbet (English), Russian, Polish and Spanish types.

The stock breeds have types too, such as racing, cutting, reining, WP, EP, foundation etc, but you don’t see all these types being placed fairly in the showring. I have seen Arab shows where all different types are represented in the halter ring, and all are placed based on their type and overall conformational balance. I don’t see that happening in the stock horse halter ring. In fact the main criteria in the halter stock ring seems to be how heavy, and how obnoxious acting, you can make your horse.

Why is stock horse halter such a narrow minded and prejudicial class? Because judges are blinded by big muscles to the point that they will excuse all other faults. The first fault they ignore is movement. Watch this video and tell me there are horses you’d ride in it. The second horse in the ring is very noticeably stifled and should have been excused. I see stiff, jerky and disjointed movement, yet it wins.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2r0dhF74C4w&feature=related

Now compare it to this video. Ignore the stupid smoke and note the horses are actually trotting and showing movement that could be used under saddle.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M6-xO4PBOU&feature=related

Where does this lead us? To the fact that our halter judges are muscle blind and they will forgive just about every fault, except a missing limb, as long as the horse is built like a feeder calf.

There’s an old poem my sister (she’s a judge) likes to cite. It’s about six blind men that are all asked to determine what an elephant looks like by touch. Each blind man touches only one part of the elephant and concludes from what he feels what an elephant is like.

The poem goes something like this

The blind man who feels a leg says the elephant is like a tree;
the one who feels the tail says the elephant is like a rope;
the one who feels the trunk says the elephant is like a snake;
the one who feels the ear says the elephant is like a palm leaf;
the one who feels the belly says the elephant is like a wall;
and the one who feels the tusk says the elephant is like a spear

You have to add it all up to get a picture of what an elephant is. Judging horses should be the same way. You should look at each part seperately and then put them together as a whole. I asked my sister and a few other judges I know how they place halter horses. Three of them use similar methods of rating each “part” on a scale of one to five, then rating the overall balance of the horse and adding it all up. The horse with the highest score wins. To me this is the fairest method of judging, and one that I feel is used very little. I think most judges pick the winner in the first two mintues of the class and that horse is usually the biggest butted animal in the ring.

Just for kicks let's do a little “blind” men examination of some horses. Instead of presenting the whole picture of the horse, which might lure you with pretty heads and cute expressions, as well as big butts, I’ve cropped photos to show just certain sections, and lined them to show where things should be. Included is a visual representation of the horse’s skeleton with some similar lines.


Blue lines: Form

Yellow lines: Leg correctness

Red lines: Balance

Green line: Top line






Now that we can see what a horse’s skeleton looks like we can start looking at the horses that are winning in the halter ring today. I’m going to be non-partisan and pick on stock type and Arab type today.




Here’s are first example of what the blind men would have felt:
I deduced that the horse is like an inverted bactrian camel. What is up with a hip that is that much higher than the withers? This horse goes beyond downhill, he’s actually built like a luge chute. He’d also be deducing that the horse’s neck was built like a pork barrel and his hind legs were built like a willow sapling. Had this horse been stood up where his gaskin and hock really want to be he would have been seriously camped out. I actually do almost like the forearm on this horse, but don’t like his pastern.



Here’s what the blind man would say: I deduce the horse is like a post. Seriously, don’t you just want to string a strand of clothesline between his legs? Can you imagine how rough this horse’s gaits are with that straight hock, no reach and pasterns like little pegs? His top line is better than the above horse and his hip to tail base is not as drastic. No way he could be camped out, because if you moved his legs behind the point of his gaskin the entire horse would collapse like a bridge without base supports.








Here’s what the blind man would say: I deduce the horse is like a stump. I like short backs, but seriously, this is a bit too close coupled. More post style legs and no pasterns to speak of. This horse will have no trot! He will not have impulsion. I also don’t like his hip ratio; this horse can’t get under himself to a huge degree. I’m not thrilled with him as a halter horse and I’d like him even less as a saddle horse.










Here’s what the blind man would say: I deduce the horse is like a llama. You think I’m kidding?


Looks like twins separated at birth, except one has a haircut and a pack saddle.









Just to be fair I think our little blind man would feel this horse and say: I deduce the horse is like a glacial rift valley with a built in ski slope. Come on Arab people! How can I pick on the stock horse industry when you’re breeding backs and shoulders like this?



Here’s another one. Believe it or not this is not the same horse as above. Yes, that means there are two of these little gems in the world, just waiting to reproduce and make more. Our little blind man is having a time with this guy: I deduce the horse is like a table. All this horse needs is a checker board and beer stein and he’d be the perfect horse. At first glance I thought this horse was one of those poor abused TWHs I rant about. But no, it’s an Arabian and the owner thought this photo really showcased his horse’s flat croup. It also showcases the horse’s weak hind end, bad pasterns, poor gaskins and nasty hamstrings.

I like a horse that can teach people things, but I don’t need a horse that can teach me how to spell VO. The front legs are base narrow, the hind legs are also base narrow, with a nasty bowing in the middle. Can you say interference and forging? Oh look, more straight pasterns! Must have been a special on them at Horse-Mart. I deduce the horse is like a spelling bee.







Where to start? By now our blind man thinks the horse is like a set of pick up sticks, with good reason. The horse above spells VO, this one spells OX. I can’t imagine what this horse’s trot is like. I imagine it tries to be airy and floaty like most Arabs, but I’m thinking there is going to be some serious interference going on. Think weedwhacker, not hovercraft. Toes out in front, cow hocked in the back, out at the knee, toes out behind. Please don’t reproduce this horse!





We’re going to leave our little tribe of blind men right now and go over to the tent where the fortune teller lives. She’s a cagey old broad, much like myself, and we’re going to ask her to look deep into her crystal ball and tell us the future of the halter industry. { crackling noises, smoke and mirrors}
Look deep into that ball and tell us what you see. I see that the halter industry is DOOMED! The colt you see before you is the reason why. He was bred to have a huge hip and butt. His legs look like toothpicks, used ones. He’s not even weaning age and he’s got such bad epiphysitis he’s already doomed to be one of those “retired early due to injury” horses. Look at those hind pasterns. He’s over at the pastern front and back. He’s crab shouldered. He’s got a big butt, typey neck and head ( which I cropped) but those legs are a nightmare. This is the future of halter right here!

Every one of these horses shown here is listed as a halter champion or halter prospect. From their names I know that some of them have placed high at sanctioned shows. It’s disgraceful that this is the best the halter show ring has to offer. If the human model industry was based on the same standards of having tiny heads and necks and big asses I'd be the top paid model out there.

The horse industry has taken a down turn. People are cutting back and they can’t afford a horse for each event. Horses that are specialized are going to be fast tracked to the dump pen. A halter bred gelding has less value than a grade kid’s horse once his show career is over. Those big meaty muscles are going to attract the wrong kind of buyer at the end of that horse’s life. Here are some links where you can view some more posted legged, poor shouldered, bad toplined and peg footed horses.

http://www.halterhorse.org/
http://www.halterhorseads.com/
http://www.thehalterhorse.com/


And for the record: I’m not bitter, jealous or a halter wannabe. I do know good conformation and the horses I featured are not up to standard, yet they have won awards and come from some of the industries most favored halter lines. You’ve doomed yourself by being greedy and specializing your horse, don’t blame me for pointing it out. Start breeding conformations that cannot only halter but can also ride. If you don't you will be flushed down the horse industry drain just as surely as the BYB's you bitch about.

Two is too young!

I’m going to address something that affects all breeds, although we hear about it the most in racing and the show ring. For some reason in the not too distant past, greedy assed people decided a two-year-old horse was capable of racing at high speeds or carrying a rider for endless circles in the show ring. If I could take a time machine back to the point when this idea took hold I would kick these people in the ass, flatten their heads with shovels, and bury them in the desert.

There is no really good reason to ride a two-year-old. They are not mentally or physically mature enough the handle the stress. I don’t give a shit if they are 17 hands tall, 1300 pounds and calm as a coma patient. They are still not ready to deal with the stress of a rider, nor the repetitive training that the show ring requires.

Racing destroys the lives, and legs, of many horses every year. The greedy bastards have bred delicate-legged, speed demons and then employ a pharmacopoeia of drugs to keep them going. I think every state should ban two-year-old racing and make it that a horse cannot even step on a track for training until he has past his actual second birthday. Not the January 1st birthday that puts some horses on the track at 18 months of age. I mean the actual birthday that occurs 730 days after that horse is born. I can understand the need to create uniformity in racing ages, so that a horse doesn’t race one week at one age and the next week at another. But they should have started the age limit at three, not two. In the 1700s and 1800s it was practically unheard of to race a two-year-old. Horses weren’t even started under saddle until their late three-year-old year, although four years of age was the norm.

Of course the racing industry knows about the damages of early racing. They’ve known for years.

http://www.thoroughbredtimes.com/commentary/2003/April/05/Slow-down-two-year-olds.aspx

Face it; the race industry is controlled by greed. We know it, and they know it. As their horses break down more often they approve more drugs to allow the horses to stay on the track. It’s a vicious circle. Of course the greedy jerks try to justify it by saying it’s too expensive to feed and train a horse until it’s three-years-old before it can race and earn its keep. Right! How much more expensive is it to pay for those vet bills and drugs after your two-year-old bucks his shins?

The death of Eight Belles this year was just another example of a young horse that was used up and wasted by a greedy industry. She raced 10 times in her short life, five of them as a two-year -old. Her first race was in April 2007, a mere 60 days after her second birthday. This tells us she had been started in training months before she actually turned two-years-old. She broke down and was euthanized a little over a year later. Surprised? Not even.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbGu7btcLhA&feature=related

http://www.horsedeathwatch.com/

http://scrollsequus.blogspot.com/


I doubt we can bring about immediate change in the racing industry. There is simply too much money, too many lobbyists and way too much corruption. This doesn’t mean we can’t start to turn around the show horse industry. In fact, the tragedies in racing should make cleaning up the show horse industry imperative.

Why ride a two year old? There is no good reason to get on a horse that immature. They are not structurally mature, they are not mentally mature.
Dr. Deb Bennett has a very good article on Skeletal Maturation and every single horseman in the world should read it.

http://www.equinestudies.org/knowledge_base/ranger.html

I’m going to point out right now that I am not bashing the horses in any of the featured videos. They can’t help the fact greedy idiots that have no clue about a horse’s physiology ride them.

Let’s start with the worst section of the equine show industry: Tennessee Walking Horses. Not only do these sorry bastards ride their horses too early, but they put pads on their feet and ride with bits that should be made federally illegal.
Look at this sad video. These poor colts are not only in that thin gawky stage, but they’ve got some big ass human on their back, with a bit that has shanks you could pole vault with, and pads that weigh a ton on their feet.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wuqN9n4RF4Y

Sorry assed doesn’t even cover it. WTF are they doing abusing a young horse like that? Why is it allowed, even worse, why is it approved of?

Here’s an American Saddlebred being ridden by a complete piece of shit. Can you believe the seat and hands on this person? Look at the immaturity of that horse!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5giCqxhy7UQ

It’s bad enough in the gaited horse industry, we expect abuse from any group that would pad up a horse and ride in bits that should only be used as toilet paper holders.

To my everlasting shame the stock horse industry has turned showing two-year-olds into a pre-requisite for making a name for yourself in the pleasure industry. Just once I’d like to see a big name trainer flat refuse to show in two-year-old classes. It will never happen, because like racehorse trainers and owners the two-year-old show industry is run by greed and greed alone. It does not benefit the horse to any degree to be ridden as a two-year-old. It doesn’t make him happier, healthier, smarter or better able to cope later in life. In fact a whole lot of two-year-old show horses burn out early and become ring sour. They end up being dumped and, provided they don’t have to many stress related injuries, they become someone’s trail horse. I can already here the proponents of riding two-year-olds calling me uninformed and bitter and other such bullshit. Sticks and stones right back at you, dipshits.

Two-year-old Western Pleasure

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vwv2zckcDVM

Two-year-old Hunter Under Saddle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-i5Tv_P_oEs

Go search dreamhorse for 2 year olds. I found 1850, the majority of which were started under saddle. It’s just crazy.

Two-year-old reiner, already in training for five months.
Can you say complete dipshit trainer?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dEEyl4b_hVk


Oh look, another one! I remember when the reining people on one of my yahoo lists denied that anyone would train a two-year-old for reining. Must be our imagination.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6F1eem4Wpo8&feature=related

http://www.dreamhorse.com/show_horse.php?form_horse_id=1257117

Whoops another two-year-old reiner, sliding hard.


The only thing that pisses me off more than two-year-olds being ridden in western pleasure and reining is two-year-olds being worked for cutting. WTF is the deal with that?

http://www.onlycuttinghorses.com/ForSalePages/2YearOldMares/2YearOldMaresPg2.html
http://www.onlycuttinghorses.com/2YearOldGeldingsandStallions.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sqXHygG3bsU

Most of these horses are physically immature and they’re being ridden by guys that look like they swallowed a hay bale whole. Why? What is wrong with waiting another year and helping assure your horse stays sound? Don't you understand the damage to young tendons and bones that those hard stops and turns can cause? What about the spinal injuries from twisting and heaving their riders around an arena. It's stupid, just plain stupid.

Sadly the two-year-old show horse abusers industry is fueled by organizations that promote and condone riding horses that are physically immature. National Snaffle Bit Association, American Cutting Horse Association, all the stock horse breed associations, most of the gaited horse organizations, all promote riding and showing two-year-olds. I’d bet there is a direct correlation that shows that the increase in two-year-old events is related to the approval of more and more drugs. There is no way that these show horses can be started so young and perform soundly year after year. Nerving, hock injections, special shoes, pads, all these things are commonplace in an industry that used to look down its nose at anyone that showed an immature horse.

Now trainers brag about riding two-year-olds. Sorry, but I’m not impressed. If you want to impress me then show a sound, sane fifteen-year-old, without drugs. I’m looking for longevity, not short-term gratification.

With all the bitching about the show industry here’s what I don’t see; two-year-old dressage horses or two-year-old jumpers. Which is not to say that some uneducated idiot hasn’t tried to make a two-year-old piaffe or pop a fence. But there are no competitions geared toward horses that young in either event. Makes sense to me.

Ponies on Ice!

I’ve seen a number of different horse breeds and disciplines in my life, but I’m always interested in new experiences and I like to see exotic horse breeds. Growing up in the southwest we didn’t get to experience a big spectrum of horse breeds, simply because the heat was too harsh for most of them. We rarely saw draft horses, or the big thoroughbred hunter types. I don’t think I ever saw a padded up walking horse or saddlebred until I moved to Phoenix. I see them a lot more now that I’ve moved east, but that doesn’t mean I’ve gotten used to the abuse or creepiness of their showing methods.

I have to admit to a certain lack of knowledge regarding gaited horses. I understand that they move differently than non-gaited horses. I get that most of them are born knowing how to gait. What I don’t get, as an observer, is why the riders do some of the stupidest shit I’ve ever seen in order to make their horses gait. If it’s a natural gait then why all the thumping, pumping, hunching, mouth ripping, leg flogging and over all unpleasantness? If I didn’t know better I’d say it was like watching a low rent porno moving, with an even worse script than usual.

I’ve recently discovered the horrors of the Icelandic Pony show ring. To me Icelandics always seemed to be the “untouched” pony breed. They are cute, shaggy, tolerant and unfettered by our glossy, and sometimes a little too glamorous, American show rings. Little did I know that they suffer abuses that would send most horses over the edge. They must be one of the most tolerate and forgiving breeds out there because I can’t imagine an Appaloosa or Arabian putting up with this kind of abusive shit.

Let’s examine the tack. They use long and narrow saddles (called Dig n Pinch) so that they pinch the withers and dig into the loins, causing hyper-flexion of the neck, so that the horse will gait. They add heavier shoes to these ponies, along with a set (or maybe a double set) of *protection* boots on the front legs (sound like the beginnings of the TWH world?). Besides adding weight, the protection boots do protect the legs because sometimes the legs are so crooked, they might cut off a foot with another leg. With the saddles digging into the loins, if the horse isn't gaiting well enough, the rider will sit on the cantle of the saddle. Oh, yeah, we're sure the ponies really love this. In case there's not enough speed to this gait, they tighten the noseband down really tight so the horses can't breathe well, hello! Welcome to a rush of adrenalin.

The big bits dig into their mouths with the tight nosebands, adding insult to injury (or injury to injury), as the riders brace in the stirrups, sit on the cantle, and put their full weight against the reins.

Here’s our first shining example of just how screwed-up a particular section of the horse world is. Welcome to the world of Icelandic Ponies. Unfortunately for these poor fellows they have fallen into the hands of some of Satan’s minions and are being abused all in the name of stepping higher and faster, as well as keeping the Piece of Shit Bit Industry going.



WTF is the idea of putting a flash noseband on a curb bit? Isn’t that a federal offense? How fricking cruel do you have to be? Look at the edge of this horse’s mouth? The last time I saw stretch marks like that was when Britney Spear’s showed her naked hoo-hoo to the paparazzi when she got out of her car. The horse has the same look on his face that a horse does when it gets twitched. It’s a “this is such fricking agony, I wish I was dead” look. I personally think the rider’s hands should be cut off and he should have to hold the reins in his teeth. Maybe then the dumb son of a bitch would understand what mouth pressure is about.






Here’s our next darling pony being abused.This idiot is riding with a snaffle, but who knows what mouth piece lurks in there, I’m guessing something you could use to saw a off tree limb. Again with the dropped noseband and lip ripping. These assholes should have to give birth to a kidney stone the size of a bowling ball to understand how bad it hurts to have your lips stretch like that. It’s also evident this is a pony; as in a very short equine. It’s also apparent the rider is tall, much too tall for this pony. What’s the matter, too chickenshit to pick on someone your own size?










Here’s the same pony, same idiot. Is that fricking ice that he’s being raced on? Am I fricking crazy or is ice a hard slippery substance that can cause a horse to fall and possibly break a leg? Wtf is this all about?Can’t you find some nice soft surface to abuse your horse on? The only good point would be if the pony fell and rolled over on your dumb ass and killed you. And by the way, I’m not a horse dentist, I don’t need to see his fricking tonsils as you try to drag him to a stop.











Pain! Pain! Pain! There is nothing appealing or pleasurable about this photo. Why the hell would you jack your horse’s head back behind its natural extension? Didn’t you stupid shits read Black Beauty and about the “bearing reins” that held a horse’s head up? I bet this poor horse roars like an asthmatic moose. Again with the lip ripping and the nosebands! Have you ever heard of bitless bridles people?














Seriously this is Satan’s number one minion. Look at the fricking shanks on that bit. I bet even Tennessee Walking Horse trainers accuse you of being abusive. For those of you that can’t see it clearly that is a shank bit with a curb strap and it’s at a 45-degree angle to the horse’s mouth. Can you say leverage? Again with the long stirrups! You are too fricking tall for this pony! Get a horse, better yet get a motorcycle with a barbwire seat. What’s with the hoof gaiters? This is supposed to be a naturally gaited horse. Here’s another clue for you, hyperextension of the neck is considered a bad thing in all other equine events.








Now if the above photos don’t offend you enough (and if they don’t you’ve obviously got a tolerance level for abuse that would have made Mengele proud) here are some links that just scream “Stupid Humans Are Ruining This Breed”

http://womenministers.government.is/media/W_Gallery/xlarge/31.jpg We joke about riders needing roller skates all the time, but this guy really does. This link is from the Icelandic Government’s site. They promote this shit riding and abuse!

http://www.eidfaxi.is/Uploads/images/gudmartyr.jpg. This photo has a better look at that hinky curb bit. What a piece of shit. And what is the deal with sitting on your horse’s hipbones? Can you imagine what this poor horse’s kidneys look like? And you’re too fricking tall for the pony you asshat!

http://i.pbase.com/g6/86/758586/2/83650549.dMMtX18a.jpg
Is that a fricking leveler noseband in a competition? Are you kidding me? Does that horse even have a tongue left? And this asshole is way to big for that pony.

http://myndir.eidfaxi.is/myndir/pic_499.jpg Are you fricking shitting me with the contact here? I have never ridden a horse in my life with that much contact, even the old shitty rental string horses I knew growing up. I can’t imagine any horse that hasn’t been beaten to within an inch of its life putting up with this crap.

http://myndir.eidfaxi.is/myndir/pic_573.jpg Future Abusers Of Icelandic Ponies Unite! WTF? The guy on the end is practically touching the floor with his toes! The pony’s legs are like an X, probably from holding his big ass up. The second pony also has crooked legs! I can guess why looking at the size of those riders.

http://myndir.eidfaxi.is/myndir/pic_7972.jpg There is nothing right with this photo. You are riding a gaited horse on hard ground. You are sitting on the horse’s kidneys. You are tugging his mouth like you do your dick on Saturday night. Your horse’s neck is hyper-extended and he’s got a flash noseband on with a curb bit. The only merit I can see to riding around that track is that it makes it easier for a good marksman to pick your dumb asses off one at a time!

If the still shots don’t piss you off enough then the videos are going to enrage you.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6C_JM9fOnMk Fall on ice with a too big rider.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hJaDlfLBLtc&feature=related
You need killing! I could see your horses gaping mouth even at high speeds and on a shitty video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8TWTPIObZc&feature=related
Hall of Fame? More like Hall of Shame. You should all be on wanted posters at the Post Office!




Here's a closes up of an Icelandic bit. Does this look like something you'd put on your horse? Look at those fricking shanks!
















How about this beauty? Not only curb action, but also some nutcracker gag action! Whoo whoo, lets kill the tongue, chin, lips and poll all at once!














What the hell is this? A snaffle with a hard-on?
You have got to be freaking kidding me! I can't make this shit up. These are the bits used on the horses in the photos above!





I know the Icelandic is a good breed. I know there are people out there that love and respect the natural beauty of their ponies. Why the hell you don’t all gang up and kill the abusive bastards is beyond me. Clean up your industry, your ponies deserve better.

Welcome to the Pleasure Horse Forum

It's been a sheer delight to have you pop in and then stumble back to your forum and bitch about me, the blog, the children on the blog and the photos I used. Your letters of outrage have been most gratifying, and in some cases humorous.

I'll clear up a few misconceptions your insular little group has about me and this blog.

1) I love stock horses. I grew up with good stock horses and I appreciate good stock horses. What I do not like are good stock horses ruined by poor riding and stupid fads.

2) You can't justify plucking on your horse's reins every three strides. There's no reason for it. If your horse can't hold a frame for more than three strides then he isn't trained.

3) Constantly jabbing your horse with spurs while plucking the reins is stupid. Stop, go, stop, go. It boggles the mind that you think this is riding.

4) The rest of the equine world thinks western pleasure is a joke. You're right there with the Big Lick TWH people.

5) Cantering sideways is not indicative of a comfortable well trained horse.

6) The fact the poll on tail blocking showed a surge in yes votes for this cruel and unnecessary treatment shows that you don't have a problem with cheating or abuse.

7) This blog has an ISP tracker, I know where every single visitor comes from, so if you really want to make "ass whipping" threats be prepared to suffer the repercussions. Your ISP is a unique address right to your computer. Just ask Jack Abramoff how that works.

8) I love how you've now gone into speculating about my private life. For the record I'm not married and I have no kids. All this fanciful speculation because you don't have the balls to email me and ask. If you're all such a bunch of mind readers how come you can't figure out your horse hates being spurred and plucked at all the time?

9) You-Tube undercuts all of your bitching and moaning. Sorry, but there is just too much video evidence to show how crappy the pleasure industry is.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S4VcDMO98a0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M87fYgir2oc&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-QFVmYkX3A&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h7wpnZNnffM

These are not isolated incidents. There are entire classes full of leg pumping, rein plucking, spur jabbing riders out there and this is the evidence. If you don't want me to bitch about it then clean up the show ring.

English Drecquitation

Since I’ve enjoyed ragging on WP so much, and inciting the rage of the various Western Drecquers, I decided to be non-partisan and take aim at the crappy English equitation in the breed show rings. Those of us that have shows USEF hunter under saddle usually consider stabbing our eyes out with sporks while watching breed show hunter under saddle. It really is too painful to watch.

For some reason the stock horse industry decided to take a perfectly good sport, that had traditions, and standards, for hundreds of years, and turn it into a mechanical nightmare. Slapping an English saddle on a WP horse does not a hunter make. Instead it makes about as much sense as doing dressage on a Paso Fino. You’ve got no extension, no impulsion and no collection. And for those of you that read the western version and thought I was in favor of tight reins: you’re wrong. I want collection. Collection starts in the rear end, rounds the back, and lifts the shoulder at the base. Collection doesn’t even require a bridle. What is does require is a seat and good legs. A bridled horse collects with a touch and tension on the reins is an illusion. You ride a collected horse with your seat first and your hands only when finesse is needed. Let’s take a look at a few English Equitation standards. This first one is a handbook drawing.



This is from an actual equitation handbook. The rider is slightly forward at the trot, the heel and hip are in line, the shoulder and elbow are square and going straight to the rein. The rider has contact but the horse is not over bent. The eye is level with the withers. This horse could take two steps into a canter and head into a fence with no problem. This is what hunt seat is about. The intent is that at some point your hunter could pop over a fence. If your horse’s head is below level he’s not going to be able to elevate in order to jump.





Here’s a photo I like of an actual rider. The horse is relaxed and has great lines. It’s driving under itself and is working well on the bit. The reins are slack, but you can see the horse is collecting and pushing from behind. For the record the child is ten in this photo and the horse was bought as a 10 year old rehab that had chronic barn sourness and run away issues when the child started showing it. So we can forgive a few flaws, but overall it’s a nice photo and the child won the class of 18, over adult and more advanced riders. (those of you saying I don’t appreciate stock horse breeds can note that this is an Appaloosa, who also has Doc O’Lena breeding, so can’t get much stock horse than that) And for the record this mare has won high point at open and breed shows.

Here she is again coming into a downshift transition. She’s straightened up for the gait change, sitting deep, leg in line, heels down, hands nice and even, reins in contact but relaxed. Mare has her nose poked out a bit, but considering she was one of the worst rooters I’ve ever seen three months prior to this photo this is pretty good head set. Mare is rounded, working under herself to slow down without propping on the front. Nice relaxed photo. The child is even smiling, she’s enjoying the ride, hell the horse looks like she’s smiling too.
Now we drop a few levels in ability, and rise a few levels in expectations. We’re going to compare some top stock horse HUS riders on top bloodlines to a ten year old on a rehab horse.









Boy, sure love that foot jammed forward and the nice duck butt this gal has going. How about those slack reins but over flexed head? Can you say picked at so much this horse’s tongue is probably black? The head is at least level with the withers, but overall it looks strung out, downhill and uncomfortable.











First thing I find wrong is the fact the heels of the rider are up. WTF is the deal with that? You can see her entire knee is disengaged and her toes are down. If this horse propped or spooked her ass would be riding air. The horse has poor cadence. You can look at the leg angulations and see that the hind leg angle does not match the front leg angle on what should be the top of the stride, since both feet are flat on the ground. Mechanically I can tell you that the front foot of this horse hit the ground well before the hind foot did, making for a four beat trot. Yuck! Loose rein, way behind the vertical. There is a spur stop and a lot of plucking in this horse’s past.







Where do I begin? Leaned forward. This horse is walking, wtf is the rush to the fire? The heel is up. The head is too low. It’s like the hunchback took off from bell ringer duties and decided to take in a HUS class prior to matins. Horse has no collection, strung out, over flexed and not getting any relief from those heels digging in. Of course a quick buck would remove the annoyance from his back, because her seat is so weak she’d flick off like a booger from a redneck’s finger.









If this horse dropped his head below his withers and she ditched the vest this pair could just about win a stock horse HUS class. Heels up? Check. Bad posture? Check. Poor collection? Check. Ass bouncing out of the saddle? Check. We have a winner!

Dreck! Dreck! and more Dreck!

Western Drecquitation

I’m back to bitching about equitation. I grew up riding on a military base, with some seriously equitation ingrained instructors. Nothing like an old cavalry man to make you keep your heels down. It used to be that equitation was based on a balanced seat. You could run a plumb from the rider’s ear to their shoulder to their hip to their heel. Then you could run a line from the rider’s elbow to the wrist to the horse’s bit. These should be straight lines, not ones that look like the peaks and valleys on a heart monitor.

We stopped by a local show this weekend and the kids in it ride better than some of the industries top trainers. Do you think I’m kidding? Then look at the following examples and tell me I’m wrong. I’ve black barred the horses’ faces so they won’t suffer further embarrassment from being ridden by such poor trainers.


Here we’ve got a rather prominent WP trainer. For some reason his arm is behind the line from his ear, shoulder, hip, heel. His arm is straight to the horse’s bit, but his elbow is too far forward. According to AQHA rules the horse’s head is too low. Page 210 of the AQHA handbook states: (l) Faults that will be cause for disqualification, except in novice amateur or novice youth classes, which shall be faults scored according to severity: (1) Head carried too low (tip of ear below the withers consistently)
(2) Overflexing or straining neck in head carriage so the nose is carried behind the vertical consistently.
So why is this style placed so consistently? It looks like SHIT!

Here’s another winner:
Terrible lines, horse’s head too low, not using its rear end, crappy hands. He shouldn’t be able to win tenth in a class of nine.
Why is this shoddy riding excused? Even if every horse in the ring looked this way the judges can surely refuse to place the shitty riding.

Here’s another jewel: This guy is famous for the “lean back” style, although this isn’t the worst picture of it I’ve seen. This is another “top” trainer that looks like SHIT. What is with the hands? What is with the forward foot? Horse’s head is too low, face out of vertical and he’s got that nasty butt slump that tells us he’s not using his rear to move, he’s just skating along like a waterbug. My niece rides better than this and she’s just a kid.
I love this one; there simply aren’t enough words to say how wrong it is:

I love this one; there simply aren’t enough words to say how wrong it is:Head too low, nose out of vertical, poor body lines, slump butt and the horse’s ears are pinned. He’s embarrassed, probably ashamed too. He’s probably hoping he could get into a respectable line of work like carting Las Vegas prostitutes around, or hauling drugs across the border.

This one doesn’t bother me as much, in fact she’s doing a few things right, so the judge’s probably didn’t place her.
Her position is better than the others, even though her leg is still too far forward. Her horse is close to vertical, but he is happier looking and her reins are almost where they need to be. The horse’s butt is rounded and he doesn’t look as slumpy tense. But if this is the best we have in the ring then the entire western pleasure industry is in trouble.

Strangely enough, when I go outside of the stock horse industry I find all kinds of good riding and properly trained horses. This Morgan is striking, balanced and correctly on the bit. His eye is almost level with his withers, his face is vertical, he’s rounded and ready to work off his rear. I didn't cover his eye because he has no reason to be ashamed of his rider. He looks relaxed and happy. Her body lines are nice and she’s got her rein hand properly squared for using a rommal rein. Why can’t QH people ride like this? Is it too much to ask that they sit upright and properly aligned? Is it too much to ask that the horse is lively, alert, balanced and on the bit? I can go to any Morgan, ASB and Arabian western show and see better turn outs, better riding and happier horses in the western classes than you can at any stock horse show. It shouldn’t be this way! When will AQHA, APHA and ApHC actually require equitation and collection from their riders? What we're seeing is dreck, dreck and more dreck!