Stopping the Head Bob at the Lope, Part 1
November 16, 2010
Borrow a trainer and stop the head bob at the lope.
Today's winning western pleasure horses must exhibit a forward, free-flowing lope.
By AQHA Professional Horsewoman and National Snaffle Bit Association
Executive Director Dianne Eppers with Christine Hamilton from The American Quarter Horse Journal
When we talk about a “head bob,” it refers to a western pleasure horse whose head and neck bob up and down within the rhythm of the lope. You see it in horses asked to lope too slowly – usually the horse is struggling to maintain his balance and uses his head and neck to compensate for it.
There are different degrees of head bobbing; some horses are more severe than others. In my opinion, the head bob is a fault and is always a problem, regardless of degree. I do not believe that trainers intentionally train the head bob into a horse. It is a result of other parts of the training process. They emphasize parts of the training – such as the horse’s body position or speed – and take those elements to the extreme, and the head bob becomes a byproduct of that.
In my opinion, two elements cause it. I think that you see it with horses that are over canted, and you see it when trainers put the horse in a rhythm that is too slow. When they put the emphasis in the hock and over-cant the horse, they train a kind of mechanical, disengaged step and cause a hesitation in the stride. They try to get the stride so slow that it has a suspended motion: It’s as if they say to the horse “lope one step, and now wait, lope one step and wait,” etc.
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I believe that some trainers find the head bob acceptable because they think the other pieces are so good that the head bob is not really that much of the big picture.
But a head bob is a fault and should be judged according to its severity.
Common Problems
A lot of the problems associated with the head bob come from wrong perspectives on training.
- Training to an ideal instead of training an individual. The key is to allow each horse to be an individual at the lope and not to expect all horses to fit a mold. For example, a good lope should be consistent with the horse’s size. A larger-bodied horse should not be asked to perform in the same way as a shorter-coupled horse.I like to see balanced movement with cadence at the lope, a flowing three-beat gait. The rhythm of the gait should be one of ease. You want a steady or level topline, where the horse’s poll and neck remain level with – or slightly above – the withers. A strong hock is the driving force that engages the other parts of the body. Balance is key – the horse should have lift through his shoulders to maintain a quality lope.Movement that exhibits soundness, a willingness to perform and comfort while performing are all attributes a good pleasure horse exhibits. It all begins with the horse’s natural movement and the training should complement that. If you train a horse to complement his existing movement – striving to achieve the ideal without sacrificing natural movement – that will give you a horse that likes his job and shows that expression while competing.
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2. Making a horse something he’s not. Training that artificial movement also happens when a trainer is working with a lesser-quality horse, trying to make him more than he is. Or it can happen when a trainer has a short amount of time to train a horse to a certain level of competition.
Trainers usually over-cant a horse when they’re trying to make a horse appear to have a stronger way of movement. They think it creates the illusion of a horse having a stronger hock, by moving (the hock) to the inside and exaggerating the horse’s body position.
If you honestly show your horse and present him to his best advantage, you’re not going to be able to make him into something he’s not.
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Comments
19 Comments on “Stopping the Head Bob at the Lope, Part 1”
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November 30th, 2010 at 4:01 am
[...] This is the last in a two-part series. Need to review part 1? [...]
November 30th, 2010 at 10:00 am
Can you tell me why performing horses are being trained to show a gate that looks like they are partially hobbled and have a broken back. I don’t know what you call it, but it looks like cruelty to horses. Your article on head bobbing during the lope criticizes the “mechanical” looking trainer induced head bob that is being trained into performance animals as a necessary performance element. It is unnatural, and probably harmful to the horses. Do you support this type of training and performance?
December 1st, 2010 at 8:24 am
It’s been said before, horses are unnaturally being trained to fit the judges ideals. It has to stop with the judges awarding top pick to these trainers.
December 1st, 2010 at 10:42 am
Lori says it best, the judges need to stop pinning these horses which promotes this training.
To Jim, we call this the “limpy lope” in our neck of the woods.
December 1st, 2010 at 11:53 am
This type of lope just isn’t natural. Poor horses. I train horses, and do not like the Western Pleasure lope that is wanted by judges. It just isn’t natural! I prefer training speed events and english events apposed to the WP. Just looks silly.
December 1st, 2010 at 4:37 pm
each horse is an individual…it’s so tiring to see trainers “make” every horse fit the way they ride and cull horses that don’t fit. these trainers limit themselves in my opinion and may over time ride some awesome horses but they can only ride horses that fit them. a truly great trainer can make great horses at every level of competition. it is sad the way the judges expect each horse to duplicate a standard mold like robots and those horses that don’t “fit” don’t place..with pleasure horses to me it has always seemed unnatural in the way the industry expects to carry themselves and there are very few judges in every equine discipline that are able to view each horse as an individual and score it accordingly based on its performance. it’s hard for a clock to lie so that is why i barrel race but i also ride cutting horses which is so mentally challenging and just plain fun. stay mentally tough, focused and relax….make it a great experience for you and your horse every time you hop on board for a trail ride or to show in the arena.
December 8th, 2010 at 3:45 pm
This type of lope looks painful. We call it the crippled lope.
Why take a talented horse and turn it into a pitiful looking
hop around the arena? PLEASE judges, STOP placing this look.
Allow the natural of a horse shine through. ONLY then will the
trainers change their training methods. Who created this mess
anyway???
December 8th, 2010 at 6:36 pm
Julie T. – I agree – this must be stopped – from the top down. I loved showing western pleasure horses as a child, now find myself as an adult barely able to watch it. Sadly, the movement has bled over into western riding and trail, etc. as well. Everyone talks about it changing, but the same movement on the rail is what keeps winning.
December 8th, 2010 at 9:19 pm
I agree with Kat and the others. If Judges keep rewarding this type of micromanaged movement, it will continue to be trained. Change WILL only be possible when show ring participants start seeing the more natural, beautiful, free movement of the horse start winning. Trainers also will see this, but will only change their ways when judges stop placing these horses. There are only a “few” horses that I have seen at shows that don’t look like robots. So many are unhappy or they physically breakdown just after a few years of showing. It’s cruel. A lot of others agree, but give up showing all together instead of trying to speak out and make change happen. I’m with Julie T too, as far as how did this even become acceptable in the first place????
December 22nd, 2010 at 12:02 pm
I have grown up on a qh farm my entire life i have seen the good and the ugly fo training horses but this style of lope is the best no judge wants 2 look at a class of fast loping yahoos the shortend lope just looks better in the ring for western.
January 11th, 2011 at 10:35 am
Unfortunately, what happens in the Quarter Horse show pen bleeds over to Paint, Pinto, Palomino’s and Buckskin horses. Just like years ago, we had some breeders raising 1200lb horses up on triple 0 shoes, caused the conditions perfect for navicular. Nearly devastated our part of the country.
Same with this counterfeit lope, I call it. Makes me want to find a trash can to puke in at the shows. Once in a great while, you will find a Judge that will do the right thing and gate the horses with junky lopes, and we will live thru this too….At least we’ve quit going sideways down the rail. This “fad” has lasted way longer than I ever wanted it to. Watch the youtube clip of Zips Chocolate Chip when he was being shown. Now that’s greatness. Let’s see about getting back to great horses moving naturally. Amen
January 19th, 2011 at 11:28 pm
i so agree. I currently show in the eighteen and under classes, and my horse is a surviving victim of this abuse. i hate watching horses in the arena that flinch while moving, because of their fear of being punished with the cruel bits and training strategies, and yet they keep winning, even though you can clearly tell the difference between a freely moving, confortable horse from the ones that are only doing what they are told out of fear. JUDGES PLEASE STOP THIS. you are the only ones that have any power over how these horses are treated. if you place cruely treated horses, you will keep getting cruely treated horses in your arenas.
March 10th, 2011 at 2:10 pm
I agree that Judges should be looking at the horses as individuals, and not all conforming to an artificial lope, some horses need to jog a little faster to give a good outline, whilst others are able to go very slow, and the judge should not be biased to the slow slow ones, or who is riding it, after all the horse should look like it can go at that pace all day, whilst being comfortable as well, perhaps then we will have fewer horses with man made hock problems
March 29th, 2011 at 4:02 am
[...] a good downward transition, the horse’s head and neck will stay balanced and his poll soft. He sort of compresses himself from the back end, lowering his back end, keeping [...]
August 15th, 2011 at 1:32 am
I agree with everyone, until the judges stop placing this look then nothing is going to change. And its hard when you go in to the show ring and show your natural, free-flowing horse, and the ‘tiptoe’ lope still places first everytime. I always wonder “Wow i had an amazing ride and yet i didnt place, how can that be?” but then i remember when your the one who doesnt fit in your not going to place.
November 4th, 2011 at 12:53 pm
Just returned from my first trip to Congress in some 20+ years. Looked forward to the WP classes, and boy was I ever disappointed! Looks like the poor 2 & 3 yr olds are being asked to “lope” in place, slinging their fake tails up between their legs and bobbing their heads like I don’t know what! You certainly don’t see them moving this way out in the pasture. Judges can’t place anything different until it starts appearing in the show pen. Trainers, take the reins-literally-and stop ruining horses for the almighty buck. What happened to versatility in the quarter horse? Specialization has worn out its welcome in my humble opinion and needs to be frowned upon instead of applauded. And as a side note, the most thunderous applause of the night on Saturday was for the one horse that was chosen by only one of the judges – but it was travelling nicely (slow, but correct) without the head-bob and go-nowhere gait, while appearing to enjoy his job very much… I think everyone in the arena knew why we clapped so loudly. Pick a horse with the aptitude for the job, the athletic ability to execute it, and emphasize the natural gifts of that talented individual. ‘Nuff said.
August 15th, 2012 at 9:18 pm
I have not been to an AQHA show for many years until recently. I had heard and read that there were so many complaints about the “crippled lope” that the AQHA had addressed this issued and judges were not rewarding it. I was hugely disappointed when I saw that it appears even worse than 10 years ago. All these gorgeous animals were travelling around looking like they had four bad leg the farthest thing from pleasurable. It broke my heart to see these poor animals travelling in this fashion.
January 23rd, 2013 at 8:39 am
AQHA are you hearing this!! Judges training should be discouraging this type of horribly unnatural gait on a QH. The trainer in my barn is turning out horses that carry their noses about 2 ft off the ground and have this ridiculous looking shuffling lope that is completely unnatural for this breed. AQHA has done little to nothing to discourage rewarding this at shows and with standards. At least the Ranch Horse Association says the horse shouldn’t lope more than 1 or two strides with their head below the withers unless it is a NATURAL head carriage for THAT horse. Individual evaluation. Wow! What a concept!. I will not show Western Pleasure because I will not do this to my horse. My god…if you had to actually get somewhere with that gait it would take you a month of Sundays to get to town or go collect your herd on the ranch. Real cowgirls/cowboys laugh at this carriage since it has no practical application for the breed. Sorry this is long but…Sheesh!
March 14th, 2013 at 11:11 pm
Hadnt been to a horse show in over 25 years and I took my husband to a horse show a couple of years ago. So excited to show him all the western events. When we saw the western pleasure horses loping both of us looked at each other and then looked around to see if anyone else noticed these horses were “limping” and trotting in the hind end. I couldn’t even watch it was so sad. To take a beautiful gait and turn it into something that is painful to watch is horrible and what’s worse is how hard it looks on the horses. Why, why, why has this happened!!!!???