WHAT ARE THE JUDGES LOOKING FOR?
It is one thing getting all Cowboy'd up and riding the pattern as prescribed, but what is the judge looking for?
RANCH CLASSES
It is to judge a horse’s ability to be a pleasure to ride while being used as a means of conveyance from performing one ranch task to another. The overall manners and responsiveness of the ranch riding horse to make timely transitions in a smooth and correct manner, as well as the quality of movement are of primary consideration. The ideal ranch horse will travel with forward movement and must be able to demonstrate obvious lengthening of stride at extended gaits. The horse should carry their head in a manner comfortable and natural for that individual. The overall performance of gaits and manoeuvres is more important than a high headed horse with a lot of hinge on the poll. A ground covering stride is more desirable than high motion. The horse should be bright with an attentive expression. A horse can be penalized for being over-bridled and out of frame. A rider should have light contact with the reins. An overly tight or a drape in the rein can be penalized.
REINING CLASSES
“To rein a horse is not only to guide him, but also to control his every movement. The best reined horse should be willingly guided or controlled with little or no apparent resistance and dictated to completely. Any movement on his own must be considered a lack of control. All deviations from the exact written pattern must be considered a lack of or temporary loss of control; and therefore, a fault that must be marked down according to severity of deviation. After deducting all faults set here within, against execution of pattern and the horse’s overall performance, credit should be given for smoothness, finesse, attitude, quickness and authority of performing various manoeuvres, while using controlled speed which raises the difficulty level and makes him more exciting and pleasing to watch to an audience.”
