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
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AQHA Professional Horseman Dave Dellin gives advice on prepping your 2-year-old for the fall futurities.

It is important that horse shows are positive experiences for a young horse. Journal photo.

Are you thinking your 2-year-old has what it takes to show at the futurities this fall?  Prep your prospect right with advice from AQHA Professional Horseman Dave Dellin of Purcell, Oklahoma. Dave has trained a lot of youngsters for big shows, including One Hot Krysum, who won the 2001 2-year-old western pleasure AQHA World Championship. This is the second in a two-part series; want to review Part 1?

Show Preparation
Dave familiarizes his horses with the futurity environment by taking them to shows where he is exhibiting other horses. Even though he’ll take the youngsters along to local shows, Dave isn’t afraid to take them to the big ones, either. Read the rest of this entry »

Athene Ward and her get could fill a trophy case with awards.

By Megan Brownell in The American Quarter Horse Journal

Oscar A Ward is Athene Ward's third foal. After several Youth World Shows, he now carries lead-liners in his retirement years.

When Paulette Higdon of Yakima, Washington got Athene Ward as a yearling in 1976, she had no idea the chain reaction that would take place over the years, through the mare and her get.

By Buddy Ward (by Sugar Bars) and out of Bo’s Scorchy (by Midnight Hank), Athene Ward began her show career as a 3-year-old. Within two months, Athene Ward earned her Superior in open western pleasure. Read the rest of this entry »

In a pattern, maintaining your horse’s straightness can be the difference between first and 10th place.

By AQHA Professional Horseman Jim Searles with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

Straightness can make the difference between 1st or 10th place.

If you go by the dictionary, being straight means free from curves, bends, angles and irregularities. But our show-ring patterns always have circles or half circles and bends of some kind. It’s still important to stay straight, or on line, even in those maneuvers.

Think of it like driving an automobile. When you’re approaching a bend in the road, you curve, but you still stay straight in the middle of the road. If you don’t, you veer off and end up in the woods. Read the rest of this entry »

He was a halter horse with cow sense.

From The American Quarter Horse Journal

A striking chestnut stallion, Major Bonanza turned heads in halter before winning performance classes as well. He went on to sire 15 AQHA World Champions in seven disciplines.

Andy Rees had a big decision to make, and it couldn’t wait.

In 1972, Andy Rees and his wife, Carol, were both 25 years old and dreamed of owning and standing their own stallion. They had approached Bill Moomey about purchasing a son of AQHA Champion Coy’s Bonanza. Read the rest of this entry »

Nancy Cahill explains “the world’s simplest, hardest exercise” for you and your horse.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman Nancy Cahill with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

The world’s simplest, hardest exercise will round your eggs into circles. Illustration by Jean Abernethy

Want to review Part 1?

To have “guide” in your horse means that you move your hand an inch, and you get a “mile” of movement. When you neck rein an inch left or right, your horse’s nose bends, then his poll, neck, shoulders, ribs and hips all follow in the same path, immediately.

You can ride an island of cones for a young horse learning to neck rein or to reinforce an older horse’s guide. Eventually, what you want to have is your reins in one hand, and when you lay the rein to turn, he wraps his head around a cone in the direction you want to go. But you have to take the time to help him get there. Read the rest of this entry »

Some frank talk from breeders on how they select broodmares.

By Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

A good broodmare is worth her weight in gold.

Ask great breeders what the secret is to raising top individuals, and they’ll say their mares. Stallions have many chances to sire a great individual every year, but most mares have only one chance a year to produce a great foal.

That’s why so many breeders believe in the prepotency of great mares, even though the genetics come equally from sire and dam. Finding a great-producing mare is like hitting a seam of gold in quartz.

The American Quarter Horse Journal asked three leading performance and halter breeders how they pick the “gold” in their herds, and here’s what they had to say:

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Gaining guide in your horse.

Move your hand an inch, get a “mile” of movement — trainer Nancy Cahill shows you how.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman Nancy Cahill with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

To have “guide” in your horse means that you move your hand an inch, and you get a “mile” of movement. When you neck rein an inch left or right, your horse’s nose bends, then his poll, neck, shoulders, ribs and hips all follow in the same path, immediately.

Why do we want guide? No. 1 is the safety of being in complete control of your horse.

No. 2 is because it’s prettier. A horse and rider should look like one motion, not seven motions of hands, legs, body and feet going every which way. A horse and rider should move as one, just as good dancers or ice skaters do. You want people watching to think, “That’s easy; I could do that,” knowing full well that’s not easy at all. Read the rest of this entry »

Understanding your horse’s natural arc at the lope.

Dana Hokana training for a natural arc.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman Dana Hokana with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

This is the second in a two-part series. Want to review part 1?

Getting It Right
There are some keys to working on and strengthening a horse’s natural arc at the lope. First is for riders to become educated and mindful in their riding. Second is to use the arc in exercises to build collection, body control and forward motion.

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Understanding your horse’s natural arc at the lope.

Dana Hokana demonstrates a natural arc.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman Dana Hokana with Christine Hamilton in The American Quarter Horse Journal

All horses, when they lope or canter naturally, perform that gait at an arc. If you go out into the pasture and watch your horse lope, you’ll notice that he carries his body in an arc. He hits a lope stride and moves his inside hip slightly in depending on the lead he is traveling. He travels straight but holds his body on a natural arc.

There is a correct arc for a left lead and a correct arc for a right lead. When you watch a horse’s legs as he lopes toward you, if he’s on a correct arc, you should see his outside hind leg fall dead center in between his two front legs. (If he’s on a right lead, it would be his left hind leg.) Just as people are either left- or right-handed, horses tend to be better on one arc versus the other. Read the rest of this entry »

This performance sire was a three-time world champion halter horse.

Legendary Zan Parr Bar as depicted in Orren Mixer's painting.

From America’s Horse

Because Zan Parr Bar’s descendants shine so brightly as performance horses, many people don’t remember him as the first three-time world champion halter stallion.

Zan Parr Bar was foaled in California on April 30, 1974. Bill Gibford, a professor at California Polytechnic State University, bought him from breeder Bobby Silva when the colt was 4 months old. Read the rest of this entry »

Borrow a trainer and stop the head bob at the lope.

Borrow a trainer to stop the head bob at the lope.

By AQHA Professional Horsewoman and National Snaffle Bit Association Executive Director Dianne Eppers with Christine Hamilton

This is the last in a two-part series. Need to review part 1?

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. Read the rest of this entry »