QHAA Holding Ranch Horse Pleasure Classes at All Shows

The new American Quarter Horse Association ranch pleasure class yielded nine qualifiers for the 2012 AQHA World Championship Show.

AQHA added ranch pleasure as an open class in January, and the Southwest Quarter Horse Association February Show was the first show to put that class on the show bill.

“It was fantastic,” said Ferrell Morton, manager for the show in Las Cruces, New Mexico. “We had 41 entries. We had a lot of veteran exhibitors, who had drifted away (from showing in AQHA), who came back for it. The (horses) were (mostly) working horses, reiners, cow horses, that type of thing.”

“It was a fresh new look,” St. Clair said. “It was kind of exciting. The exhibitors were all excited. It went off good. I think it’s going to be a popular class. It allows them to show the ranch-type horses the ranch type. They have to show extensions and work obstacles. I was really impressed with it.”

Horses will need two points to qualify in ranch pleasure for the 2012 World Show. Between the two judges, nine of the exhibitors from the SWQHA show earned at least two points.

In ranch horse pleasure, horses and riders enter the arena one at a time to perform a prescribed pattern. Pattern 1 calls for a walk, a jog, an extended jog, a change of leads, a 360-degree turn and a walk across poles.

More information about Ranch Horse Pleasure

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