This question came from one of our readers on this Daily post: What Judges Look For in Western Pleasure .

Question:

How would you address the “flat knee” within the context of what you look for? Is that part of the cadence or stride? My horse has the level top line, beautiful, happy expression, no head bob, consistent frame, free-flowing movement, but he has a little more knee action and is a little faster in the lope than others. It just doesn’t flatten out totally in the front at the lope. He gets placed below horses that have a lot of head bob and cant, with less proper cadence and poor expression. This happens consistently. I am wondering why this is?

-Becca

Answer:

A horse being flat kneed is a small sign of some other larger characteristics that judges look for in a western pleasure horse.  The five main characteristics are:

1. Cadence (The accuracy of a horse’s footfalls at any given gait.)
2. Rhythm  (The speed of those footfalls)
3. Topline and Expression
4. Consistency
5. Length of Stride

All that being said, the flatness of a horse’s front leg is often seen as a sign of both cadence and length of stride.  If a horse looks restricted in its length of stride, it would be considered a negative trait and placed accordingly. That is not to say a horse that bends its knee cannot win at western pleasure, if its other positive characteristics greatly outweigh a shortened stride with its front leg.

I agree that head bob and excessive cant are also negative traits, more negative than a horse not being flat kneed. A judge has to consider all the characteristics that were listed before and pick the horse that he or she thinks has the most positive characteristics first, the     horse with the second most positive characteristics second and so on.

Bottom line is, it all depends on the level of competition and how severe each of the negative traits are, as well as how great the positive traits are.

Sincerely,
Dave Dellin,
AQHA Professional Horseman