Classic or Country

[MiniNHF]

My four year old stallion has progressed by bounds and leaps since we started introducing him to a cart. My problem right now is that he is in between a classic and country pleasure type horse and I really dont know what direction to go in with him. He likes to hold his head up high and really doesnt relax it down far enough to be classic but his stride is not super fancy or extended.

At the last big show we did his first class he did really well with his head set and his strides but in the second class at the end of the four day show he definitely was tired and people on the outside of the ring said his stride wasnt opening up enough at the extended trot (yet he still placed 3rds and a 4th out of 6 horses).

Currently I am working him in a type of training fork which actually has helped him relax his back and move his stride out. I just dont know which direction to take with him. Locally they love him as a country pleasure horse but Im being told that if he goes to regionals the way he is now he needs to be classic due to his stride.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

 

[Kendra]

I would put him in Classic for 2 reasons.

First, he's a young horse and it's more important for him to learn to drive forward with a relaxed topline and build the right muscles to eventually achieve more self carriage and collection. Encouraging more of a Classic frame will help with these goals and his future success and longevity.

And purely from a competitive aspect, it's better to be at the upper level of movement for a Classic horse, then the bottom for a Country horse.

Just my thoughts, for what it's worth - have fun with him!

 

[MiniNHF]

Thanks Kendra, the first show he did this year in driving we put him in country and he placed 2- 5th and a 6th out of 8 horses, even with all his bobbles so we decided to put him in classic going into the A part of the show and he only placed 1-6th because his head carriage is so high. He has grown leaps and bounds and when I put him in a all around "pleasure class" at local shows he places in the top 3... So he is confusing to me lol

I know he is only 4years old so he has a lot of growing to do but I just want to make sure im going in the right direction with him. I do train him in a training fork type set up to help him learn to relax and stretch and his strides have gotten better I have to say.

His daddy just started driving last year and he is in country pleasure at the moment; he is actually the second foal of his to drive but I cant remember if his brother is classic or country I would have to double check with his past owners.

ill have to get my driving shots of my boy and post them probably would help haha

 

[MiniNHF]

I added a few pictures of my boy, I added a halter shot just to show his build and what not. He is in the stock classes now because he has bulked up from starting to drive and what not.

The photo with my multi colored shirt was the first class we ever did which was country pleasure and the other two shots with my red shirt was the general "Pleasure class" we do locally. One shot with his head up he is trotting and the other with his head further down was when we had reversed and were walking.

He is pretty light in my hands which is great, the only time he gets heavy is if he is extremely nervous but that is slowly getting better.

 

[ponyreb]

Hi there! He is a very handsome fellow! I can see where he'd make a dandy Classic horse. You are permitted to use a martingale on your show harness, which will help you keep him together. Also, try a bitting rig (or a bridle, surcingle and clothesline) to help teach him where he is supposed to be and help him develop the strength to hold his frame. Make sure to keep him active and forward in the bitting rig, otherwise they tend to fall on the forehand.

On a side note, he is a bit stretched out for stock halter, he should be square.

He looks like a nice little gentleman! Best of luck with him!

 

[MiniNHF]

Ponyreb -

Thanks for the comments!

I haven't used a martingale yet because my harnesses (all three) did have a spot for the attachment, since those photos I have altered the one harness and rigged up the training one to hold a martingale and the show one doesn't look bad at all so ive saved myself some money.

I started and up till 2 months ago used a surcingle and side reins on him and then I had a miniature horse pessoa type training system made up for him which teaches him to collect and balance front to back vs what just the surcingle and side reins does and I have already seen a BIG different in his striding since then. I have also added in the past week him working with trot poles while in his rig.

He has another little show next weekend that is an open pleasure class so we will see how he does. He always places top 3 at the little shows with the driving classes while I have been fumbling at the bigger ones trying to figure out where to put him.

The stock halter shot was only his 3rd class of that type and we are still trying to transfer him out of the regular one. Its nice now I have a good relationship with him he comes right in and sets himself up and I really don't need to touch him but he has a tendency to park out like he is in the regular class. He think he is doing awesome as you can tell by his look haha so we are working on that.

 

[paintponylvr]

Looking forward to hearing how he does for you.

Interesting to hear how his movement changed/improved when you utilized the Pessoa system over just the surcingle/side reins.

I've noticed that when I train my driving ponies that I seem to loose that "collection, impulsion" after they get used to the breeching. where as with the riding ponies that haven't had breeching on at all, we've used a "cheater breeching" (lead rope around the haunches from one side of the saddle to the other) and they will drive up under themselves very well... and then we build on that.

I swear it's taken more work to acheive the same results w/ the driving ponies started w/ gradually introducing the harness parts...

Makes you go 'hmmmm'.... smiley scratching head...

 

[MiniNHF]

I will be working both my boys in the system over the winter along with the ground poles. I will definitely try and get "after" pictures of him when he comes out into the spring of 2016. My gelding has a natural flowing classic movement so I really don't have to work on him to much but then again driving is bred into his blood so im sure that helps. My stallion started off with that awful choppy trot but over time he learned to relax, which was his biggest problem, and his stride opened up but I needed more from him, so that's when I started searching for something on the big horse side I could get for him and I found the pessoa system.

I think he has potential to be a good classic horse, I think it will just take him a little longer then some.

 

[MiniNHF]

Here are two shots from a show from this past weekend and already I can see a difference in his headset and stride and thats only after a month roughly.

My guess with the shots the first one is a pleasure trot and other is the extended trot. (working trot and road gait as they called them at this show)