The American Quarter Horse Journal, December 21, 2007 – They came to discuss one of the oldest and most traditional classes offered by the American Quarter Horse Association and National Snaffle Bit Association. And discuss they did. By the time the group of nearly 70 professionals, who came from as far away as Virginia, Kansas, Ohio and Florida, were finished talking about western pleasure, there wasn’t a detail left unaddressed. The top 100 riders from NSBA, the top 10 riders from open Western Pleasure at AQHA’s World Championship Show from the past three years and a team of judges who specialize in western pleasure were invited to attend.

The purpose of the meeting, which was jointly hosted by AQHA and NSBA, was to develop a standardized system by which all western pleasure exhibitors are judged.

“I was very pleased with the willingness shown by these key professionals in western pleasure to be open in their discussion and truly interested in bettering the discipline,” said Pete Kyle, chair of AQHA’s Judges Committee, who helped facilitate the discussion.

Over the years as the event has evolved, issues such as head carriage, cadence, gaits, transitions and overall expression have been interpreted differently, all of which was discussed at the December 19 meeting.

Some of the points that were made that will be included in a video to be developed by AQHA and NSBA are:

• Placing more emphasis on judging the walk and using the video to
  educate exhibitors on improving the walk.
• Finding a balance for the amount of time spent judging the jog and
  the moderate extension of the jog.
• Addressing the head-bob at the lope, why it occurs and ways to
  avoid or correct it. This included educating exhibitors on
  lengthening their horse’s stride versus shorter, manmade strides;
  addressing the importance of conformation and what movements
  certain horses are physically capable of; and reassuring
  exhibitors that it is OK to show off the rail and that passing
  another horse can give exhibitors an opportunity to demonstrate
  their horsemanship and show their horse’s ability to guide while
  maintaining an even cadence and consistent performance
• Educating rank-in-file members and beginning western pleasure
  competitors on the positive and negative characteristics of
  western pleasure horses, and on how the discipline continues to
  improve.
• Additional education for judges and continuing to push for and
  establish industry standards.
• Varying the gait calls to make it more interesting for horses,
  exhibitors and spectators.

The participants appointed a subcommittee to further discuss the video, review it and approve the final version of the video. Cleve Wells, Karen Hornick, Jay Starnes, Brett Parish, Dave Dellin, J.R. Reichert, Shane Dowdy, Tom Chown, Troy Oakley, Brad Kearns, Charlie Cole and Tina Kaven will serve on the subcommittee. The video, which is expected to be completed late summer or early fall 2008 will use the latest technology, including split screens, graphics and computer animation to underscore many of the nuances of western pleasure.

“Western pleasure is the foundation class for nearly every other event,” AQHA Executive Director of Judges Alex Ross said. “There are some who feel the written rule is the benchmark. While that might be the intent, until we are all able to agree on what our standards are and be consistent, there will be confusion. I think we made a lot of progress during this meeting to get people to understand how western pleasure horses are to be exhibited.”

The unprecedented step of gathering such a large group came after a western pleasure task force met in Dallas on September 27. That task force also began the discussion of developing a video that would illustrate the industry standards for western pleasure.

“One of the purposes of the National Snaffle Bit Association is to define, promote and improve the quality of the pleasure horse as well as to encourage the use of standard rules for judging the pleasure horse,” Director of NSBA Dianne Eppers said. “NSBA is proud to be part of the open dialog among industry leaders to improve western pleasure and help set standards for the class.”

For more information on showing American Quarter Horses or for a western pleasure event in your area, visit aqha.com/showing and select the show schedule option.