I enjoyed watching the WEG Reining finals - and a tiny bit on the start of the Endurance event - today. How about those of you who are there, taking it all in, in person, post your impressions, sharing with those of us limited to catching it on TV, cable and/or online? I'd love to hear what those on the grounds of this major equestrian event think of the facilities, the judging, the visitors and of course - the horses!
I'm not a Western type rider at all - though I've spent 50+ years in Texas and most of those involved with horses in some manner or other.....still have to say those were some gorgeous AQHA Reining stars - and I'm talking about the four legged ones! Was it as exciting to watch in person? I never thought I'd get such a kick out one competitor's roll back vs. another
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WEG World Equestrian Games
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I watched it also, I was so excited to see it televised. can't wait for next weekend for the eventing, a girl I used to ride with is on Team Canada...
Only complaint was that I found there were WAY to many commercials, and far too few rides shown.
Only complaint was that I found there were WAY to many commercials, and far too few rides shown.
A woman needs 2 animals in her life-the horse of her dreams, and a jackass to pay for it!
OOOooh YES! Photos would be most welcome!
Also agree that there were a lot of commercial breaks within the scheduled hour's transmission but I supose that someone has to pay the freight....and....I have to say that most of the ads were very well done, i.e. had high production values, many almost more informational than they were commercial.
Once the program was over I immediately went online to see about subscribing to the cable package for "Universal" for a short term period so I could see daily coverage but from what I could find it's not even offered in our area
May be launching an effort to query NBC as to 'where's the WEG coverage?!?' might cause some more public broadcasting to occurr?
The very brief view of all the endurance riders and horses milling about in the pre-dawn, pre-start melee was lovely - that snippet would have been a bit of a bust if not for all those elegant Arabian grays in the line up! Instead it was an all too brief glance at a sport I do know something about having served as a competing friend's 'groom/assistant' at the required vet check points. I did appreciate that they took the time to educate the general public, unfamiliar with endurance riding about the mandatory vet checks but the coverage was a bit superficial/brief to my thought.
I like the main announcer and so far Donna Brothers hasn't annoyed me with her 'sound bites' from competitors.
I was surprised when I heard from the announcer that "Anky" of Dressage fame (I'm not going to butcher her last name here in an attempt to spell it as I've heard it pronounced.....but you know who I'm talking about
) has recently taken up reinging and was competing on the Individual level....now I would have loved to see that performance, just to judge how well her dressage riding skills translated to the reining world.
Also agree that there were a lot of commercial breaks within the scheduled hour's transmission but I supose that someone has to pay the freight....and....I have to say that most of the ads were very well done, i.e. had high production values, many almost more informational than they were commercial.
Once the program was over I immediately went online to see about subscribing to the cable package for "Universal" for a short term period so I could see daily coverage but from what I could find it's not even offered in our area
May be launching an effort to query NBC as to 'where's the WEG coverage?!?' might cause some more public broadcasting to occurr?
The very brief view of all the endurance riders and horses milling about in the pre-dawn, pre-start melee was lovely - that snippet would have been a bit of a bust if not for all those elegant Arabian grays in the line up! Instead it was an all too brief glance at a sport I do know something about having served as a competing friend's 'groom/assistant' at the required vet check points. I did appreciate that they took the time to educate the general public, unfamiliar with endurance riding about the mandatory vet checks but the coverage was a bit superficial/brief to my thought.
I like the main announcer and so far Donna Brothers hasn't annoyed me with her 'sound bites' from competitors.
I was surprised when I heard from the announcer that "Anky" of Dressage fame (I'm not going to butcher her last name here in an attempt to spell it as I've heard it pronounced.....but you know who I'm talking about
) has recently taken up reinging and was competing on the Individual level....now I would have loved to see that performance, just to judge how well her dressage riding skills translated to the reining world.Really enjoyed the reining yesterday but it sure has changed since I did it back in the 60's and 70's. Back then, the sliding stops were much more abrupt and horses' forelegs were sticking straight out, not "walking" like they were doing yesterday. Head carriage now is way lower than before and we didn't do the downshift from gallop to lope as they do now. Back then we did a fast figure eight and a slow figure eight. Actually, there were several regulation reining patterns, probably still are; this was probably the official one for this organization. It looks much prettier now although that ultra-low head carriage looks weird to me. When the first horse came out I thought he was going to lay down! Some of the horses' noses were only about six inches from the ground. Another observation is that backing up is much slower now; back in the day, the horses were almost running backwards and I think doing it fast was a plus, scorewise.
T-Bird said:
I am glad to hear that someone familiar with this discipline also found the low head carriage disquietingly 'odd' - it was the one thing that bothered me about the reining but I wasn't sure I knew enough to question it. (I do know that the AQHA has been trying - for the past several years - to diminish what had become a pronounced tendancy among Judges for ultra-low head carriage to be considered a 'positive' trait in Judging of their sanctioned breed equestrian classes. (It's truly ridiculous to see a H/J class ribbon awarded to a horse who's ears are never above his knees at walk, trot and/or canter. Even though they don't go over any fences in the class being judged per se, the fact of the matter is that this is a class that's supposed to judge the appearance/movement/turn out of a group of horses for that purpose and I'd like to know how on earth a horse could effectively lift itsself over a jump starting from a position with it's head/nose on the ground?), let alone the rider maintain their seat if the horse never raised it's head? I thought the lovely palomino that competed as 'anchor' for Team USA in the Finals was distinguished by his 'normal' head carriage compared to those that came before and especially the one horse who I believe followed, that almost had his nose in the dirt - even at the run down prior to his stops (!). While I can understand the horse's head going lower when he's asked to stop, as a way of counterbalancing the dropped, tucked-under hindquarters - IMO, there can be nothing balanced or natural about a horse being asked to run while he/she keeps their nose six inches from the surface ahead of him.
I have a question for T-Bird/others familiar with reining about the protective boots worn on the forefeet - how do they keep them in place when the horses do those abrupt stops? I didn't see a single one that was pushed up or outwards from the back of the hoof despite the tremendous pressure against them from the arena material during this extreme movement?
It looks much prettier now although that ultra-low head carriage looks weird to me. When the first horse came out I thought he was going to lay down! Some of the horses' noses were only about six inches from the ground.
I am glad to hear that someone familiar with this discipline also found the low head carriage disquietingly 'odd' - it was the one thing that bothered me about the reining but I wasn't sure I knew enough to question it. (I do know that the AQHA has been trying - for the past several years - to diminish what had become a pronounced tendancy among Judges for ultra-low head carriage to be considered a 'positive' trait in Judging of their sanctioned breed equestrian classes. (It's truly ridiculous to see a H/J class ribbon awarded to a horse who's ears are never above his knees at walk, trot and/or canter. Even though they don't go over any fences in the class being judged per se, the fact of the matter is that this is a class that's supposed to judge the appearance/movement/turn out of a group of horses for that purpose and I'd like to know how on earth a horse could effectively lift itsself over a jump starting from a position with it's head/nose on the ground?), let alone the rider maintain their seat if the horse never raised it's head? I thought the lovely palomino that competed as 'anchor' for Team USA in the Finals was distinguished by his 'normal' head carriage compared to those that came before and especially the one horse who I believe followed, that almost had his nose in the dirt - even at the run down prior to his stops (!). While I can understand the horse's head going lower when he's asked to stop, as a way of counterbalancing the dropped, tucked-under hindquarters - IMO, there can be nothing balanced or natural about a horse being asked to run while he/she keeps their nose six inches from the surface ahead of him.
I have a question for T-Bird/others familiar with reining about the protective boots worn on the forefeet - how do they keep them in place when the horses do those abrupt stops? I didn't see a single one that was pushed up or outwards from the back of the hoof despite the tremendous pressure against them from the arena material during this extreme movement?
I can't bear to watch those horses dragging their noses around at the ground level. It's just awful. Demeaning. And trainers will do simply awful things to them to get them to do that. I compare training for these competitions like saddleseat - where they dream up horrific tortures to get those legs lifted to the sky....
So Run for the Roses, as fast as you can.....
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Skipitgirl
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I have a reining gelding. Ivew shared pics with you guys before. I raised him from a foal and he was professionally trained for 8 months by a 70 yr old guy who believed a horse should carry himself naturally. No low nose dragging on my boy. He carries himself in an "up" frame even with a loooooong rein. Riding him is like sitting on a feather. I would never take that away to appease how others think the horse should "go" or where his head should be held while performing. Why mess with what God gave him? : )
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Skipitgirl
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madelyn wrote:I can't bear to watch those horses dragging their noses around at the ground level. It's just awful. Demeaning. And trainers will do simply awful things to them to get them to do that. I compare training for these competitions like saddleseat - where they dream up horrific tortures to get those legs lifted to the sky....
Not all saddleseat horses are tortured to get that action - many Saddlebreds and Hackneys naturally move with a lot of action - perhaps you are thinking for Walking Horses?
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foothillsequine
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madelyn wrote:I can't bear to watch those horses dragging their noses around at the ground level. It's just awful. Demeaning. And trainers will do simply awful things to them to get them to do that. I compare training for these competitions like saddleseat - where they dream up horrific tortures to get those legs lifted to the sky....
Thank you for mentioning that..... I agree wholeheartedly. Besides, it looks ridiculous....
~Dare to Dream~
A word about the low headset during stops... It keeps them balanced. If you look at the physical image of the stop, the horse literally curls in a ball, stopping all hindend motion and "pulling" them selves withthe forlegs in the walking motion. These horses stop so hard, that if their heads were in the air, or even above vertical, they would likely lose their balance and fall. If you watch reinging horses progess through training, they get more balanced as they learn, and naturally lower their heads to balance themselves. Early stops are usually unbalanced, not straight, short, and rammy. As they get stronger physically, they put themselves into the safest, strongest position for the stop. A veteran reining horse gets a "feel" for the footing as they run a pattern. If you watch a reining show on a poor surface, you will notice the stops are not as deep, forward, fast or hard as that of the WEG. Few arenas allow for maximum slide.
By the same token, upper level dressage horses are not taught their upward carriage to start with, they are taught long and low to strengthen their backs, hind quarters, hocks, to engage their hind ends and reach under themselves. If you look at how much strength a reiner needs through his back, hocks, and hind quarters, there is method to the madness of the low head set they train with.
By the same token, upper level dressage horses are not taught their upward carriage to start with, they are taught long and low to strengthen their backs, hind quarters, hocks, to engage their hind ends and reach under themselves. If you look at how much strength a reiner needs through his back, hocks, and hind quarters, there is method to the madness of the low head set they train with.
A woman needs 2 animals in her life-the horse of her dreams, and a jackass to pay for it!
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foothillsequine
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