Western Pleasure Done...

...right. Well, mostly.

The video focuses on the palomino, but I like every horse in here except the solid chestnut.

ONLY the chestnut is four beating. The palomino lacks gait purity right after the transition to the lope, but does pick it up later. In the walk, he is tracking up nicely, he has more issues in the jog but that could be his natural gait. Yes, it's slow. They're supposed to be slow. They're supposed to carry their heads low - and I ride a couple of horses who do that naturally, it's the way they put their heads when they're relaxed and on the bit.

And these horses look relaxed and happy, not sour or stressed. I'd still like to see a bit more forward in the lope, but it's way better than you normally see.

A long one.

I have no problems with pleasure classes. In fact, I know a little mare who is perfect - when she's carrying herself in the way that works for her with a rider you can put a spirit level on her neck.

I do have a problem with this:

It's a long video, but you see a lot of horses being yanked in the mouth for absolutely no reason, excessively low head carriage and "bridle lameness" or "rein lameness".

Bridle lameness is caused when a horse is backing off from the bit and tense. Some horses are prone to it even when ridden in a non-abusive manner, but the methods used in a lot of pleasure classes create it.

A pleasure horse should go forward smoothly with a smooth "daisy cutter" gait. The topline should be level with the poll level with or JUST below the withers. The horse should be moving - it's a test of the sort of horse you would take out for a fun trail ride.

Not nearly enough of that here. It's sad, really.