Western Pleasure, Juvenile Exhibitor

[Argillite]

So as not to hi-jack the original western pleasure invitational thread, I have a somewhat related question/issue. When will we find demand for more junior exhibitor western pleasure classes? I have a son who has no interest in riding saddleseat but he LOVES riding western. Now, I'm not about to put an 8 year old in a western pleasure class with a bunch of adults on $30K horses. I've ridden saddlebreds since I was 9 years old and as much as I love them, I find myself looking outside the saddlebred world for options for my son to enjoy riding and showing horses. :001_unsure:

Anyone else out there have a similar situation?

[ihfarm]

Hi! Some Saddlebred shows do have a Jr. Exhibitor Saddlebred class for western country pleasure. It is usually 18 and under, though. Some academy classes and/or schooling shows are set-up for riders to show western, too.

Two of my nieces ride western and saddleseat and my other niece likes to ride hunt seat, saddle seat, and western.

We try to do 1 to 3 Saddlebred shows a year. Rest of the time the girls show at local open shows and the youth/4-H ciricuit in the area. We show Saddlebreds western. A lot of the open shows have started offering either a light horse western pleasure or non-stock type western pleasure class.

Have a great day!
Rebecca

[kaitsmom]

So as not to hi-jack the original western pleasure invitational thread, I have a somewhat related question/issue. When will we find demand for more junior exhibitor western pleasure classes? I have a son who has no interest in riding saddleseat but he LOVES riding western. Now, I'm not about to put an 8 year old in a western pleasure class with a bunch of adults on $30K horses. I've ridden saddlebreds since I was 9 years old and as much as I love them, I find myself looking outside the saddlebred world for options for my son to enjoy riding and showing horses. :001_unsure:

Anyone else out there have a similar situation?

Why don't you just let him show?? I started in the "adult" classes when I was 10 and my daughter started at 9. Now granted these were Parade and Western Show Horse classes, but still...

If he's a good enough rider to show in a jr exhibitor class, he's probably a good enough rider to show with the adults! IMO jr exhibitor classes are usually tougher...plus there are usually more "train wrecks"!!

[vlayne]

I believe the show that De Equus puts on has Western Academy classes. That would be a good place to start!

I'm sure you could propose adding the classes to IASPHA or the UPHA shows, as well as the UPHA academy show. There are quite a few junior exhibitors showing western and as large as the classes are, perhaps a split would be in order.

[wstrngrl]

There use to be a few shows with Junior Exhibitor Western classes; though some of them were 29 & Under instead of 18 & under... ASAW still has the 29 & Under class.

Why aren't they there anymore? Lack of entries. When I first started showing western (at 14) there was a group of Jr. Ex. western riders that filled pretty much every class offered.

But we all aged out within a year or two of each other. Then there where no entries.

Though, when I started, it wasn't unusual to have 21 or so western horses at IASPHA either; it's been a few years since I've seen nearly that many.

From what I see at shows, you might be able to fill a 29 & Under western class, but I doubt an 18 & Under class would get more than 1 or 2, if any.... And most of the current Jr. Ex I can think of that show western will be ageing out at the end of this year.

I would just let him show with the adults. It's not like it's a saddle seat class where the adults might be riding 'for blood'; it's western, everyone's more laid back.

[Renae]

Find your son a safe Saddlebred western pleasure horse. Start with 4-H and local open shows. When he gets good come to the Saddlebred shows and show against the adults, when he does a good job he can feel all the more special that he has beat people with so many years more experience. At our local non-rated shows we usually do not have a seperate 5-gaited junior exhibitor championship; a few years ago one of our kids who was 12 at the time beat all of the adults, amateurs and trainers, in the open 5-gaited championship.

Even if the Saddlebred western division were more popular with junior exhibitors that does not mean they would be on cheaper horses- a national level Arab western horse that is suitable for a junior exhibitor can easily be priced over $50k. Being the kid with the local level horse can be discouraging when you are in classes with horses like that, but you strive for your personal best, and again on some days you will do better than your competitors, classes are not judged by the horse's price tag.

[deerridge]

Keep in mind, the price of the horse is closely related to the ego of the rider rather than the value or performance of the horse.

[vlayne]

FYI, Garrett Weiler won the Western Championship at IASPHA Fall a few weeks ago on his former equitation mount Max's Prince. Garrett is, I believe, 9 years old. He trained the horse himself (for the most part). He was in the ring against 7 or 8 adults, some of whom were on winning mounts. His mother Amy was also in the class.

So a kid can certainly compete against the adults, especially at that level. You just have to give him the confidence that HE CAN DO IT! If his mother starts out with the attitude that he's not going to do well, he'll pick up on it and think that himself. Dig out your pom-poms! :)

[SADLUP]

I'm not about to put an 8 year old in a western pleasure class with a bunch of adults on $30K horses. I find myself looking outside the saddlebred world for options for my son to enjoy riding and showing horses. :001_unsure:

Awe, This saddens me. There are many really nice western saddlebreds out there that do not cost $30K, that would be really great for your son. Even though your son is only 8 he could have really good riding ability, and many years to be an expert rider. When I was looking for my western saddlebred I looked for a "kid safe" horse. Not because I was a kid, but because I was in my mid 30's and just starting out riding western. I think we have done ok in the show ring and trust me my mare did not cost $30K, more like 3K. You can look to other breeds too, but you will have the same issues, no matter what the breed is.

[wstrngrl]

So true Sadlup! Sam (Slamtastic) who has a list of wins and high-point awards as long as I am tall (including 2 Horse World's People Choice Horse of the Year awards for Juvenile Western Pleasure, one of which was unanimous), was only $5k.