Our therapy barn is moving to the horse center. One thing that was mentioned besides Dressage, was adding Hunt Seat. I have asked for them to add Western Pleasure, as opposed to Reining. I think Reining might be too fast for me.

What I'd like to find out is, how difficult would it be for me to learn how to compete in Western Pleasure? Is it possible to learn from a book, or a DVD?

My Dressage teacher says she does not know anything about Reining. How difficult would it be for her, or me to learn how to compete in Western Pleasure?

Besides Western accoutrements like a "western" saddle, (hopefully a comfy one, I hate their Wintec), bridle, do I need a particular type of horse?

What sort of fancy duds do I need to wear? Would whatever horse need to be fast, or slow at the lope, and jog? Would I have to know how to transition using half-halts, or would I need to know how to show collection.

Would some judge pentalize me for wearing a hard hat? I AM going to wear a hard hat.

As lond as the horse can collect you shouldn't need any special type of horse but they want it's head to be LOW(which I totally disagree with but thats what the judges like). As long as your outfit has some bling to it you should be fine. Rhinestones, Sparkles ect. you would want a nice slow, relaxed and collected lope and jog. No the judge wouldn't count a helmet against you in the local shows but the bigger you get the more you see riders using cowboy hats.

All of those answers depend entirely on what level you plan to compete.

All of the stock horse breeds (QH, paint, app) are hghly favored for western pleasure. Morgans, arabians, saddlebreds, and tennessee walkers all have western pleasure classes as well. And the ideal standards for those are all breed-specific. An arabian should be different from a quarter horse, for example. So really, you could ride just about any breed of horse in western pleasure. But that doesn't always mean you'll be competitive, as not all horses are suited to the event--just like not all horses aren't suitable to be jumpers. I know my western pleasure horse would probably break her neck trying to bet over a small fence!

I'll give you the generic standard for a stock breed western pleasure horse: the horse should be slow, collect, and relaxed and perform all maneuvers on a moderately draped rein; should exhibit three clean gaits (four beat walk, two beat jog, three beat lope) and be able to extend and collect those gaits on command; maintain a headset that is natural for the horse, althought he favorable headset is to have a level neckline (poll even with withers) and head slightly past the vertical; horse should have smooth transitions; and have a pleasant expression. Remember, the orignal intent of the class was to show that your horse was truly a pleasure to ride--a nice slow, relaxed, collected lope can feel wonderful!

AQHA put out a few videos in conjunction with Alex Ross that would be EXCELLENT for you and your trainer to watch. One details selecting the western pleasure prospect and judging the gaits. The other was put out about 5 years ago and was sent to all the judges to remind them what to look for I own the Cleve Wells video series, and they dovetail nicely with my own training program, and I've heard very good things about an older book by Doug Carpenter.

I personally love my western pleasure horses, and use the event as a basis in training from which I expand their repertoire. A well-trained pleasure horse knows all the basic skills needed to progress to horsemanship, western riding, and trail. I would think that your dressage teacher could probably do fine learning western pleasure, although it wouldn't be a quick transition. The feeling of a western pleasure horse and a dressage horse is very different.

If you have any other questions, please let me know. I think I'm the resident western pleasure junky

Oh, and if you want to wear a helmet then go ahead. You're hear no tut-tuts from me.

My first year with the therapy barn, I used to ride an Appendix that had a long top line. His head, I thought was real low. I thought he had a terrible jog.

I can sew, so I think I can come up with a nice outfit using one of those Suitability patterns. I wonder if anybody has ever thought of taking apart a western hat, and glueing it to a hard hat? Sounds cheesy, I guess. It would take some experimentation.

I'd have to start out as a beginner, I reckon. I really don't know much of anything about this. But I want to do it, so I can have some variety. So probably a Quarter horse would be the best, since they aren't too hard to find.I will be looking for those videos that you recommended. Thanks for telling me!

There used to be a company that made hard hats with cowboy hats over them. They looked like crap (partially because of the very low quality "cowboy hat" made from felt, and partially from the sheer size from the helmet), and needless to say did not sell well. They've been out of production for so long now that even if you found one used it would be worthless as a helmet. Best just to suck it up and wear the typical velvet english helmet with your western attire.

If you are just starting, you don't need to be incredibly slow, a smoother gait is more important when beginning.
This is a video of my horse who I've just strted oing western pleasure to give you an idea. she needs more contact, and a more steady pace, but for just starting out if you're doing smaller shows this is about the pace you want. The jog and walk could be slower however.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eudm1W6FUV4

You don't need a special kind of horse or anything, just present your horse the best way possible. Accent thier features. My horse has a gorgeous blaze, so I chose a silver v-browband to draw attention towads her face. She's got good movement, so I wear a very plain, simple outfit to keep attention on her. If you need any tack help, let me know.

You're welcome

I think there may be an online clip of the AQHA western pleasure judge's video at horsecity.com, or on the AQHA website.

As far as clothes and tack, you don't need anything fancy to start with--just good quality that fits you and your horse well. It's when you move up to bigger shows and/or breed shows that you need fancier things. There are a lot of nuances to western show attire, so when you're ready to get sewing just let me know. We design and sew our own show outfits, so I may be able to give you some pointers (and save you some time and money!).

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You're welcome

I think there may be an online clip of the AQHA western pleasure judge's video at horsecity.com, or on the AQHA website.

As far as clothes and tack, you don't need anything fancy to start with--just good quality that fits you and your horse well. It's when you move up to bigger shows and/or breed shows that you need fancier things. There are a lot of nuances to western show attire, so when you're ready to get sewing just let me know. We design and sew our own show outfits, so I may be able to give you some pointers (and save you some time and money!).

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Oooh, I've been wanting to sew my own shoe shirt because i can't find any in the color I want. Are there any tricks to it or special things I need to know?

My brother was trying to think of that company that made those "hats." Troxell has those Western style helmets.

I'll have to look at your video when I visit the library. I'm on dial-up, so videos don't do as well. LOL

Turn out was always important for English shows. I sort of tweek that somewhat with a purple show shirt.:)

Did you choose an outfit color that complemented your horse?

I can't wait to hear about your outfits!

Well, definitely use the Suitability pattern, and make a shirt out of cheap fabric first just to practice. One of their patterns runs really small--so you just want to be sure!

I really like the 4-way stretch lycra. The 2-way is harder to get to fit your body. Stretch cotton twill works well for jackets, but it has to be the heavy kind so it lays right. We've changed the Suitability shirt pattern to better suit our needs, so we've made the cuffs longer which enables us to put snaps on the ends. I like that look better than the free-standing cuffs. Also, I like my collar to stand up more, so we tack it up. When making the collar and cuffs, get the heaviest interfacing you can find. The stiffer interfacing allows the collar and cuffs to better hold their shape. Topstitching the collar and cuffs helps give the shirt a more finished look, and then there's always the addition of crystals!

I think one of the reasons western pleasure is so popular among novice and youth riders is because the CONCEPT is fairly simple. The pleasure classes I've been in just ask for all three gaits both ways, plus a back up.

So yeah...from there you just have to be able to do it well. I think there are even some articles on equisearch on it.

 I reacently Went to a Show and was showing I Always were my Helmet with a Black Cover over it (because it is bright blue) and Did not get counted down everybody in my class wore a helmet. and only about 2 were English riders (out of 20). Also I have seen some hats with Helmets in them and They really really really sucked. Some of them look like a 2 year old with a Glue Gun Put them together and some look like an oversized milk gallon stuck on to a Helmet with tape. For the show outfit most people in my classes and my cousin's and I wear a Big belt buckle, Black Chaps (one of my cousin's wears White), Pointed Western Boots, and then a Show Shirt (some of our colors are- Blue-Teal-Red-Orange-Purple-Bright Pink-and-a White,Pink,Black,Purple, combo) Most Western Saddles are very comfy. I have one that I can spend ours in.  Also I have never seen my cousin (who is graduating Collage in the next year or so) have to use Half-Halts(she has been showing seance she could sit in the saddle and controll the horse) 

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The Wind of Heaven is that which Blows between a Horses ears

~Arabian Proverb