[Plumcreek]

Many good horsemen have been grossed out by the extremely low head carriage required to win HUS in AQHA shows. I and some others have complained to Alex Ross, the new Ex. Director of Judges (and a good horseman), and he is making it his mission to return HUS to the "level or slightly above and vertical or in front of vertical" head carriage mandated by the rulebook. One warning letter has already been sent to judges. Now a new stronger letter (judge by rules or turn in card) letter is going out as well as notice on AQHA website next week. The upcoming Judges Seminars will cover Working Hunter and Hunter under Saddle as they relate to each other, with Shane George and Carla Wenberg as moderators, to explain why HUS heads cannot be so low. A notice will also be posted in show offices.

AQHA offers so many nice programs; Incentive Fund - earn money for showing, Age 50 and over "Select" classes and new Select World Show, and Youth World Show - where jumper and eq. over fences winners get a $5000.00 training grant, etc. I hope some of you with AQHA or Appx. horses will take another look at the QH english and hunter classes.

Changes in judging should be apparent by late summer. This time I think it will really improve!

[Plumcreek]

Many good horsemen have been grossed out by the extremely low head carriage required to win HUS in AQHA shows. I and some others have complained to Alex Ross, the new Ex. Director of Judges (and a good horseman), and he is making it his mission to return HUS to the "level or slightly above and vertical or in front of vertical" head carriage mandated by the rulebook. One warning letter has already been sent to judges. Now a new stronger letter (judge by rules or turn in card) letter is going out as well as notice on AQHA website next week. The upcoming Judges Seminars will cover Working Hunter and Hunter under Saddle as they relate to each other, with Shane George and Carla Wenberg as moderators, to explain why HUS heads cannot be so low. A notice will also be posted in show offices.

AQHA offers so many nice programs; Incentive Fund - earn money for showing, Age 50 and over "Select" classes and new Select World Show, and Youth World Show - where jumper and eq. over fences winners get a $5000.00 training grant, etc. I hope some of you with AQHA or Appx. horses will take another look at the QH english and hunter classes.

Changes in judging should be apparent by late summer. This time I think it will really improve!

[RumoursFollow]

I am most positive that the AQHA is headed in the right direction with Alex Ross "in the irons." Thank God for him! What wonderful horseman and person he is.

[OakesBrae]

thank god thank god thank god. Used to hurt to watch.

[HiJumpGrrl]

call me crazy (ok, crazy), but I think they had addressed this issue a couple years ago, not only in HUS but also Western Pleasure. it has yet to make much of a difference, and i hate to be the doubting thomas, but honestly, i'll believe it when i see it. maybe they're not (or will stop) pinning the peanut rollers at higher level competitions (nationals, worlds, etc), but i'd be willing to bet that regionally peanut-rolling is a trend that will continue.

however, i fervantly hope the restatement of the AQHA's position on this will make a difference!

[RumoursFollow]

Oh I agree that this isnt the first time its been brought up. I just honestly believe that if anyone around can make the change, its Alex Ross. http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c...icon_smile.gif

[Magnolia]

What is the point of peanut rollers / how did it come into fashion. Not practical for jumping, but also, sounds none too practical for western activities either. I understand the concept of a pleasure horse not going in a dressage frame...... but why did the peanut roller become "the headset"?

[FUTUREJUMPER]

What does AQHA offer as far as hunter o/f and eq? Do they have divisions, what heights, etc?
I am in Georgia and have seen a couple of AQHA shows in Conyers, and there just didn't seem to be alot of attendance in the Hunter department. Also, do they have jumpers??

[EquineLegalSolutions]

Hallelujah!!!! Hopefully, APHA will be next, and then perhaps we'll be competitive at APHA shows. In addition to head set, I hope they plan to address gaits (i.e., you can't jump easily from a lope - HUS horses need to actually canter).

[HiJumpGrrl]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by EquineLegalSolutions:
In addition to head set, I hope they plan to address gaits <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>
i think they've already addressed gaits, as well... as in, 4-beat canters in WP are supposed to be dq-ed. again, the rule change just hasn't been enforced. drives me nuts, one of my biggest pet peves.

i think the AQHA does offer some o/f stuff (AO, regular working, green, and even jumpers), but as with the arabs, the focus is on the undersaddle divisions, and many shows do not have the classes. at least down here, that's the way it is.

[Flashy Gray]

A big old rah rah rah to Mr. Ross and the AQHA for taking this proactive step regarding judging standards.

It will be interesting to see how it plays out, as folks who own currently ribbon-winning 'peanut rollers' are going to be none too happy when they aren't regularly winning, but I don't want to sound like a cynic here. The association and QH show folks can cross that bridge when they come to it.

For now, the correspondence to the judges is a good thing, and again I applaud the AQHA's proactivity on this.

[Gunnar]

How will the peanut rollers stop peanut rolling? Hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Much as I hate peanut rolling it seems a lot of horses may be out of a job. Pick up your heads and join the in crowd.

[J. Turner]

It's easier to pick the horse's head up a little than get it down.

[Plumcreek]

PANDA3030,
Not every AQHA show offers the hunter over fences classes, but many more do in the East than in the West. If you want to do them, ask someone who does or get an AQHA Journal where classes to be held at shows are listed. Two big ones I know about are the January Florida Circuits (20-30 hunters per class), the Lexington, Virginia shows, and of course the Congress in Ohio. Florida is the definate hot spot for AQHA hunters.

Heights for Novice Youth and N. Amateur, and Green Hunters are 2'6" Jr. Horse (5 and Under),Youth and amateur are 3' Open Senior Horse 3'6". Most weekend shows set a little lower than these heights, but full height at huge shows like World and Congress.

I should also mention the fairly recent AQHA restricted judge program that allows hunter experts to be hired to judge the over fences classes at the larger shows where they can afford a separate judge.

[RumoursFollow]

In addition to the questions asked by Panda- yes there are in fact jumpers. I'm not sure of the heights though.

When I did AQHA I did it in GA (where, btw, the o/f classes are hardly ever even offered, other than Hunter Hack which lots of the western crossovers do because its 2 VERY low fences) I just did hunter hack and never actually saw a working hunter class fill.

Does anyone know what the amateur jumpers and also senior open (assuming they're divided?) are at Paint Worlds? I'd like to take my horse next year and know of shows I can take him to to qualify, but I wouldnt bother if they're bigger than 3'6. I've seen them mostly at 3' with maybe a 3'3'' thrown in (all levels same jumps) around where I've shown- but they were small shows.

[KellyS]

Hey RumoursFollow, when did you do AQHA in Georgia? I actively showed as a youth in '95, '96, & '97, and I was wondering if our paths ever crossed? http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c...icon_smile.gif

Height-wise, if I remember correctly, at least for the Youth classes, Hunter Hack was 2'6, Equitation Over Fences was 2'6, and Working Hunter was 3' (and these were the heights for the youth world). I can't remember about jumping, but I bet it was between 3'3 & 3'6 for the youth, definitely bigger for the open divisions.

We always had a hard time filling the classes, but we normally averaged 3-5 in the Eq and Hunter O/F classes, Hunter Hack averaged 8-10 riders. Considering that the pleasure and HUS classes (the biggest youth classes) averaged anywhere from 10 - 20 riders, that really was not to bad of a turnout.

Regarding the low headset, in '96 I showed at almost every show against the horse that eventually won the World Championship. My guy and I were always right behind them, but I'll never forget the day when a judge gave the horse the gate when the horse went around with its ears below its withers. After that, I saw the trainer schooling the horse with an "overcheck" to help keep it from putting its head so low! http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c...on_biggrin.gif

[hideyourheart03]

That's great! I'm quite excited about it as I have to judge HUS and WP classes for 4H and we have to judge them on the AQHA rules which has previously made it quite hard for us hunter riders to do well as they like the "peanut roller" type.

And I have to say that Alex Ross is a really really good horseman too. We had to watch tapes of him explaining how to properly judge WP classes and he did an AMAZING job (I actually understood what you were looking for in WP horses for once! http://chronicleforums.com/groupee_c.../icon_razz.gif)

[findeight]

Wonderful...but I heard the same thing 20 years ago...and it's gotten worse.

Gutless judges...who are also breeders and handlers, who will show next week under those they give the gate to today just will not stand up for what is right when it will cost them their best clients down the road.

We breed the finest sport horses in the world in this country..and lame them and drug them(legal in the cow horse and reining assiciations) and use them up and spit them out when they wash up and age out...at 5 years.

Oh..off the soapbox...but will believe change when I see it..and I...and my friends who show these, ain't seen nothing yet.

[pooh]

My QH was breed and intially trained by a western pleusre guy and it took me at least 3 years to get him out of peanut rollign without completely exhausting myself so YEAH!! I know a few years ago the western part really got on the judges about unnatural headset- usually obtained by very large ports. One year at Harrisburg they were pretty successful- many of the "old fashion" trainers were actually beaten by some of the amateurs due to headset.
I'd love to do some AQHA shows- but never can find any locally! ( and to drive my tranier who works primarily with TB/WB crazy!)

[findeight]

"They" say the rules are changed.
But at the show..........where are "they", because it is all SSDD...same...er, stuff...different day.