Four On the Floor
August 26, 2009
A lope should be a definite three-beat gait.
From The American Quarter Horse Journal, with trainer Clark Bradley
A true, properly-cadenced lope has three distinct beats.
Most horse-show competitors have seen it: the horse that appears to lope in the front and trot in the rear. Called the “trope,” the “shuffle” or just the “four beat,” it can be almost painful to watch. And once a horse learns to four-beat, it’s a habit that can be difficult to correct without proper training.
Judges agree a western pleasure horse should be a good mover and a pleasure to ride. However, just because a horse is a pleasure to ride doesn’t necessarily mean the animal is moving correctly. Despite the fact that a horse may be performing at the correct speed, relaxed and responsive to the rider, if he’s four-beating at the lope, he is not considered to be performing the gait properly. It can be easy to ride a horse that’s four-beating because it’s generally smooth. However, just because it is smooth does not mean it’s correct.
A correct lope on the left lead, for example, means that the horse first engages with his right hind; this foot hits the ground first. Next, the left rear and the right front hit the ground simultaneously. The left front is the last hoof to hit the ground.
A four-beat lope on the left lead would mean that the right front hits the ground first, and the left front is the last hoof to hit the ground. However, in the four-beat, the left rear and the right front do not hit the ground simultaneously; they strike the ground separately, making the fourth beat.
An integral part of the lope is rhythm. Richard Shrake addresses the importance of rhythm in our FREE Riding Lessons with Richard Shrake report. Download it today!
Origin of the Four-Beat
In the case of most horses who four-beat the lope, the condition is manmade. It often is the result of a rider who, in an effort to set a horse’s head and make him lope slowly, allows the animal to shorten his stride thereby losing impulsion in the rear, which creates a four-beat lope. Too often, the rider becomes too concerned with making the horse slow down, as opposed to ensuring that the horse moves correctly. In general, the more slowly a horse moves, the more likely he is to shorten his stride and begin four-beating, particularly if the rider lacks the training or experience to avert the problem.
Riding solely with your hands and not using enough leg to keep the horse driving from behind — allowing the horse to become lazy or sloppy at the lope — are the primary reasons for a horse to begin four-beating. When a horse is tired — physically and mentally — he will look for an easy way out. Loping properly, in a three-beat cadence, is hard work for some horses.
Timing and precision are crucial in preventing and correcting the four-beat lope. Learn more about these important ideas in our FREE Riding Lessons with Richard Shrake report.
Watch for future articles about how to fix this common problem!
Comments
16 Comments on “Four On the Floor”
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August 27th, 2009 at 11:09 am
For many years I have disliked what trainers and judges were doing to the pleasure horses, which includes trail, showmanship, horsemanship, etc. To expect these animals to look so dogged and mechanical is appalling and I have been upset many, many times at shows when spectators comment on how pitiful these horses look. And now it seems that the trend is for the horses to lope sideways! Quarter horses have been taken to the same areas of unnaturalism and artificialism as the American Saddlebred and Tennessee Walker, but to the other side of the spectrum. I have always despised what people try to make of these horses and the way they do it, and I feel that the American Quarter Horse Association has allowed the same thing to happen to the quarter horses. When I see a Western Pleasure horse that is scrawny looking, low headed, steep shouldered and crouped, that looks mechanical and crippled, with artificial tail pieces, and then hear and see some of the things that owners and trainers do to these horses to get those results, I am appalled. I am glad for the article concerning the 4 beat lope and hope the AQHA will open its eyes and get their judges to start penalizing unnaturalness and get these horses back to where it is a pleasure to look at and ride them. I love a slow lope on a horse, but I want to go faster at a lope than I would at a walk or trot! I have a good horse and have been wanting to show her for a long time, but would not even consider showing with the AQHA because of how I feel. However, I recently discovered the American Ranch Horse Association and am now showing at the shows and having the time of my life. I hope that you will institute changes that will stop some of the foolishness and cruelty (hock hobbles, bleeding, nerve deadening in the tails, and tying heads up for hours, etc.) being used on these normally beautiful horses – NATURAL IS DEFINITELY BETTER!!
September 1st, 2009 at 7:46 pm
I concur with Barbara Berry in regards to the continued showing on the QH in pleasure classes. I know the rules are now calling for more forward motion but you couldn’t prove it by me at the shows I have seen, the peanut pushers are still out there and stil the ones winning.
September 1st, 2009 at 7:54 pm
I totally agree with Barbara. I think it will take YEARS before this trend is gone. It starts with the judges – they first have to quit placing the horses that are moving unnatural. Recently, I attended an open horse show. The attendance was unbelievable. I have noticed the the open horse shows are getting larger and larger and the AQHA shows are going down in attendance. I truly believe that the reason is because the average person can not afford to have a horse trained to move like they do in AQHA western pleasure. It takes many, many months to train a horse to move unnatural. By the time a person pays a trainer to finally get a horse to move this way, they have run out of money to show or their horse is crippled and sore. The trainers will not stop training this way until they are penalized by judges who do not place their horses. There is TOO much emphasis on “SLOW” and not on “CORRECT”.
September 2nd, 2009 at 3:39 pm
Barbara, Becky and Lisa could not have said it any better. We need to hold the AQHA judges accountable for this nonsense. And whatever happened to natural? Get rid of the fake tail and spur stopping already! And this is why I now train with my foundation Quarter horse in dressage. No more attempting to show in pleasure classes with those poor horses that look sick and lame, and constantly being squeezed with spurs to slow down or turn and yet rewarded. It makes me very sad to witness what has become of the quarter horse. My little cowhorse is enjoying the forward movement and diversity of dressage training. He also jumps, works cattle, trail rides, contests and can do some reining. He will also show in
4-H arena/pleasure classes, but does not place, as his 3-beat canter is slightly faster than the 4-beat sideways nonsense we see today. AQHA, please bring back the 3-beat canter, presenting the horse in his natural state, and outlaw the spur-stop training!
September 2nd, 2009 at 4:50 pm
With respect to the former comments, I do believe AQHA is very aware and is doing a lot to help remedy the poor image of the Western Pleasure horse. They have recently developed a new western pleasure video which was sent to all AQHA judges and it is also available for purchase. I have not yet seen this video but am sure it is excellent just as the first one was. The first video which has been out for many years, emphasized correct movement and describes what it should look like, they also discuss cadence and rythem as well as the conformation best suited to a western pleasure horse. AQHA can do many things to help its members but it cannot CONTROL breeders, owners, trainers or judges personal opinions or preferences. It can continue to provide the best education to its judges, breeders and members as it is already doing. I know that AQHA has the HORSES best interest in mind when it makes its rules and educates its members. It can only lead, it cannot make people follow. WE do that because we put the horse first, it is a personal conviction not all people have. (This isn’t just a problem in the horse industry)
Back to Western Pleasure; Judges are not perfect, they are out there trying to do the best job they can. They all have different ideas, preferences, pet peeves etc.. Being human,they can’t help that. I believe that AQHA has the best educated judges of any breed organization. Most of the judges I encounter will definately use the “correct” movers over the “artificially slow” bad movers. However, not every judge has a good mover to choose from. Sometimes it is choosing the “best of the worst” and that comes down to what they personally find most offensive. For some it may be a head that is too low for others it may be a horse that is inconsistent in speed and so on.. I think it is important to remember that most of the horses you see are just horses. They are individuals. Some are good and natural movers some are not. It doesn’t matter if you let the horse move faster with their heads more elevated, they will still be the same horses. Poor movers with bad cadence and lacking self carriage will be the same fast or slow. Horses that are balanced can lope slow or fast and look just the same. Loping slower (done well) just happens to be a higher degree of difficulty, just as running faster circles and sliding further would be considered of greater difficulty in reining. Not all horses are created equal, they don’t all have the balanced conformation that allows them to be great or even good athletes. Just like people some are athletic some are not. Some are suited to specific jobs, some are not. It is the trainers job to continue to try to educate people about what correct movement is and perhaps find another job for the horse that doesn’t quite have that naturally balanced movement. Sometimes they are just doing the best they can with what they have been given. Seeing things in the show ring doesn’t mean they are endorsed or approved of by the judges, AQHA or most trainers. It is not a perfect world…
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:17 am
The judges are the trainers and the trainers are the judges. The judges place the horses moving the way they trained them. I have had QH for over thirty years and no longer show due to this nonsense.
September 3rd, 2009 at 3:10 pm
I absolutely have to agree with the majority here. As someone who showed in Hunter classes in my younger days,I can tell you,just as a for instance,that what the AQHA calls “hunters” would never make it in an open show! How could you possibly cover the distance needed in the hunt field on one of these poor animals? They totally lack impulsion! Frankly,these overly fine-boned,ewe-necked animals that have come into favor in recent years bear no resemblance to a Quarter Horse-look at the Orren Mixer ideal! We currently show my QH in open driving shows and we would not even be allowed into the ring with a whip still in the socket of our vehicle. If my husband were to slap the horse with the reins,he would be excused. If my horse were to move like a peanut roller in harness,we would not have one ribbon on the wall.It’s actually very sad that people think he is a Morgan most of the time,because,as they say,”he doesn’t move like a Quarter Horse”. And why all the specialization? When we talked about the versatility of the Quarter Horse years ago,we meant within individuals,not just the breed. Look at the Foundation horses and how they excelled in multiple disciplines! I truly hope that there will be real changes soon and that this wonderful breed of ours will be restored to what it once was.
September 3rd, 2009 at 5:24 pm
Thank you on the article For On The Floor! I thought it was only me complaining about this! I have been out the Quarter Horse world for about 15 or so years, and now I’m back. Just to check things out, I went to a Quarter Horse show about a year ago. I thought I was loosing my eyesight because of what I witnessed in the pleasure class. I questioned as many people as I could at the show and they all agreed that it does not make since what the judges/trainers decided they wanted in the show ring, but that’s the way it was and they all had to conform to it! Obviously Heather Thrapp is either one of the Judges or has some close contact with the judging group. I can not fathom how or why The American Quarter Horse Association conformed to this ridiculous design in the pleasure Quarter Horse. AND, what is up with those ridiculous tail pieces! I thought I was at one of those child beauty pageants. The American Quarter Horse Association keeps complaining on the attendance of shows . . . well, I’m with Deborah George on this one – I will only attend the open shows until this craziness stops.
September 7th, 2009 at 4:04 pm
With the exception of one comment I feel like everyone has been in my head. I two used to show quarter horse in the late 70’s, I was away for a few years because my husband was not interested in the horses and I had small children. I always had my horses just didn’t show, when I went back to see about showing again I too was disappointed in what I saw. I had taken my son with me, he was about 9, he had never been around shows, just our horses at home, he said to me “Mom why do all the horses looked depressed?” I told him he would be depressed to if he was treated like those horse were. You wonder why there are so many quarter horses with front leg problem? Get the head up, get them working off the hindquarters like they are supposed to be and get them balanced! Oh yea and since when should there be a difference between a halter horse and a performance horse? Shouldn’t halter be based on the ability to perform? I too have foundation bred horses, HERDA N/N by the way, lets start doing what is best for horses and give everyone a chance to compete not just the ones that can spend the money to get what they want.
September 10th, 2009 at 7:24 pm
I just read the article and comments by the others. I showed my mare in some Quarter Horse shows and generally go to watch some of the World Show. But the Western Pleasure class is a pain to watch. Slow moving horses that look like they can barely move are still the style.
When I showed my mare one time in a one day Quarter horse show a man came up afterward and said that he knew I wouldn’t win anything but he liked the way I let her move in a natural pace. I thank him profusely. To me those words were better than a ribbon. I was not willing to cripple my mare for the sake of a blue ribbon.
Horseless now, I still enjoy wataching the Quarter Horse show but not the classes with the slow movers. I get bored with that. Action is more my style like Jumping and the graceful movement of cutting.
September 11th, 2009 at 4:15 pm
My daughter rides a registered paint and has been beatened by a peanut pusher several times. She is so disapointed that she does not want to show anymore. This type of judging is not encouraging the sport. Some of those peanut pusher look like they are in pain, my 24 year old horse looks smoother than them!. Thank you for leting me vent.
September 15th, 2009 at 12:29 pm
I just don’t think there is anything else to say except try to be more positive and less hateful in your comments and go educate yourselves about all the disciplines and training styles before you make blanket statements about everyone in the industry.
September 15th, 2009 at 3:25 pm
I don’t think anyone here has been “hateful”,just expressing disappointment and concern. Quite frankly,I have spoken with people who were winning at the higher levels of breed shows,who were very up front about the methods used to achieve that particular “look” and “way of going” so now in vogue in the western pleasure show ring. It was not training in any way,shape or form,but rather,abuse. I sincerely hope they were the exception,but their show ring success was disheartening. As for being educated in all the disciplines,my husband and I have 70 years of combined experience and that includes gymkhana,western,trail,hunters,driving,dressage and saddle seat,with many different breeds. Most of the people commenting here are quite experienced,so I think we know of what we speak! No one was painting all trainers and judges with the same brush,only targeting those that aim for the bizarre and unnatural way of going that has been dubbed peanut rollers. We all share a concern that this hideous movement is still rewarded! It does seem like the AQHA is moving in the right direction to try and change things. I truly hope they will succeed.
December 8th, 2009 at 5:09 pm
I was so happy to find this article! Let me start by saying I am not as educated about horses as most of the people commenting. My husband and I are just getting horses of our own and my father had suggested a western trained horse with a nice lope as my husband has bad knees. I looked at horses and was shocked at what my father had suggested for us. It looked so painful for the horse and certainly not healthy!…It turns out we were speaking different languages. The lope of his youth was not what I had seen. I finally got him out to view one of the horses this weekend and it all came together! I am happy to see that efforts are being made to correct this abuse.
December 15th, 2009 at 11:24 am
Wow, you people are really tough! Except, possibly, Heather Thrapp, whoever you are. Where were you, five years ago, when I had an unbroke, two year old, that went to a MORGAN HORSE TRAINER, to learn all of the necessary skills so that I would be able to put a safe leg over the saddle upon his back?
So unlike the majority. I have never shown, owned, or even ridden a horse, until, my old age of youth. How unfortunatly, it seems, that all of you have forgotten, the true compassion, you once had for your equine friend and partner.
I do not have anything to compare too the here and now. Just the recent years of mistakes, because of all of the horror stories, others, just like many of you, told, and came through loud and clear. As you can tell by all of your comments, the truly direct, and educated one is from, Heather Thrapp. Who ever you are, a trainer, judge, whatever…… It just may not be the one that so many of you care to listen and hear. Why? Maybe because, it takes heart, two hearts. Commentment, true enthusiasm, with a dash of optimism
I read all of these comments with a shudder, and a heavy heart.
If you want a WESTERN PLEASURE HORSE, and your current horse is not capable of giving this to you, then you simply have a choose to make, don’t you?
Oh, yes, and before I forget, the new and REVISED, AQHA,DVD, SHOWING TO WIN: wESTERN pLEASURE”, is worth reviewing, before you make your decision. It’s totally up to you.
Now,GO SHOW YOUR HORSE!
August 17th, 2010 at 10:51 pm
The only way to improve the lot of the AQHA pleasure horse is to stop showing in AQHA sanctioned classes. Working cattle horse classes and open shows are the solution. Once the AQHA really starts losing money…they’ll stop this nonsense and treat these horses right.
Money motivates everything.