Performance Horses
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The Western Performance Horse: How to select the right one for the job
Today’s western performance horse is an exceptional athlete. Whether your passion is cutting or reining, team roping or steer wrestling, barrel racing or western pleasure, there’s a performance horse out there that can do the job for you. However, it is crucial that you understand the different demands of each of these sports so that the right horse is selected for the job. For example, there are significant differences in conformation and body type depending on the performance event.
Cutting and reining horses
Cutting and reining horses are bred for agility
and tend to be smaller and not as heavily muscled as other performance horses.
The cutting and reining horse is subjected to training-related stresses early in
its life and is expected to perform at the age of 3. Cutting and reining horses
are often closely bred down single genetic lines to capitalize upon their innate
ability to “read a cow” and to perform specific athletic maneuvers such as a
hard, deep stop. Although line-breeding may capitalize on many desirable traits,
it tends to also increase the occurrence of undesirable traits, such as
developmental orthopedic disease (osteochondrosis). When selecting a young
cutting or reining prospect, particular attention should be paid to those areas
in which DOD is common, such as the hocks and stifles. It is not uncommon for
this type of horse to be small and fine-boned, which may affect its ability to
train and compete over an extended period of time, so it is important to choose
a horse with proper conformation and “bone”.
Team roping and steer wrestling horses
These are larger and more
heavily muscled horses that must combine strength, speed and agility. They have
a significant repetitive workload, especially during practice sessions. It is
not unusual for an entry-level team roper to make 25 or more practice runs in a
single session. Good steer wrestling horses may carry several competitors during
a rodeo event. The larger performance horse has traditionally had a relatively
high occurrence of navicular disease due to small foot size, straight pastern
angle, and large muscle mass. Team roping
horses have added stress placed on the lower forelimbs (especially the left)
while turning the steer or positioning the horse to rope the heels.
Significant strides have been made in breeding the
more modern type performance horse with better overall conformation, but
attention must be paid to the principles of lower limb conformation and balance. Another area of major concern is the lower hock joints. Close attention should
be paid to the leg conformation of the prospective arena horse.
Barrel racing and gaming horses
Barrel racing requires
speed and agility over a short course. These horses are usually shorter,
compact, and less heavily muscled than arena horses. Many speed horses come from
a racing family, often Thoroughbred. Highly competitive horses that are ready to
perform and win are difficult to find. Prospective owners want long careers for
this type of horse, but this is often difficult to attain due to the stresses of
concussion and speed while turning sharply around barrels. Usually, the arena
footing is less than ideal and proper warm-up areas may be nonexistent. Top
level barrel racing horses, like many competitive rodeo-type horses, may spend
an entire year on the road with little or no rest periods. Correct conformation,
proper foot size, balance and a good mind are necessary to endure the continuous
stress of competition.
Western pleasure and
trail show horses
Horses are specifically bred for this event with different body types and conformation than other performance horses. The modern western pleasure horse tends to be taller, have less muscle mass in the shoulders and hip regions, and tends to have steeper angles to the shoulder and pastern than the typical stock horse-type. Often there are strong doses of Thoroughbred blood in the modern pleasure horse. Foals often are fast-growing and, without careful attention to nutrition and exercise, can have a relatively high occurrence of developmental orthopedic disease. Training begins young with some competition as yearlings on the lunge line, two-year-olds under saddle, and includes the development of significantly slow gaits in the jog and lope. The lower forelimbs of the western pleasure horse should be carefully evaluated. Due to the excessively slow gaits while being ridden a pleasure horse should have a strong back and loin to prevent chronic lower back pain. Hocks and stifles should be carefully evaluated for correct conformation.
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