The horse moves so well without those pads. Such a shame how the show horse has changed. I loved the movements of the plantation shod horse over those pads.
@@westwoodfarms I know of that, I own two Plantation walkers and show them as that. But the reality is that those stacked pads on today's show horses make the gait look so over-exaggerated and unnatural. I had a granddaughter of Midnight Sun and what a horse she turned out to be, never shod her, kept her barefoot and she could out walk any show horse with artificial aides. She had a feisty personality, which she passed on to her offspring, but I 3will never be able to appreciate the exaggerated gait of the padded show horse
@@bdctrans70 Extremely well said! Thank you for your excellent comment! Nobody in their right mind could support the insanity of Big Lick and the things that go into it. I'm just SO glad that the people from Horse Plus Humane Society have taken up the cause to get it STOPPED for good, and that they and RaleighLink 14 and others are publicizing that fight on UA-cam. We all need to donate to Horse Plus Humane Society, which is a registered tax free charity. They are just so amazing! They rescue horses every month from the kill (for dogfood) pipeline, and rehab all the ones they can for adoption. Even those that are too near death to be saved are given food and love for the first time in months, after enduring the absolute hell of the slaughter auctions, and are taken over to the other side in a peaceful loving way, instead of enduring the awful torture of the actual slaughter process. Think of the torture they endure in their last days! Horse Plus saves as many every month as they can with the donations they receive, and they document it on their UA-cam channel. Please donate to the saving of horses, and/or to the stopping of Big Lick!
Thank you Bob, for this look into the days before torturing horses for fun became a passtime of the rich. Do you know the history of who invented the nonsense of Big Lick, and how that process evolved, or where a person could find out about it? (I will view your entire playlist of Walking Horse History, but I mean beyond what can be shown by you in a few short videos.) I'm also quite disgusted by the riding of these people. They are yanking on the mouths in the cruelest way! Just look at the reins and the way the shanks on those shanked Pelham bridles are pulled way back! That causes great discomfort. I can't see if they are wearing spurs, but I'll bet they are, because when you pull back so hard there needs to be another way to force them forward. Spurring a horse on, while pulling so painfully on their mouth, is cruel, but snobby rich people in all disciplines today just call it normal, and ignore it. And on top, of that the riders are all leaning way back. This causes every single one of them to have their feet way out in front. They have little balance or control, so at the canter they flop on the horses back like a 200 pound sack of potatoes, and yank of the reins to try and compensate. Bang, Bang, BANG! Imagine how the poor horse feels! Look at Mr Haines bounce at 2:22! With a thud at every stride! No English rider would get away with that. The only saving grace is that unlike in Big Lick, these are not 2 year olds. But it's incredible how such bad riding became accepted. Again at 2:58 there's a long shank bit. And Bob says the mare doesn't have the natural looseness of the other horse, but I guess not, with that long shank bit, and with the rider hauling on it as they are! What else would be expected when she is being told by every part of the bridle to STOP! She has the bit and curb chain both cutting her at every stride! Naturally she can't tell what is being asked of her, and she's as tense as heck because of everything that she feels! This is not hard to figure out. The stupidity here is just astounding. You can see both things very clearly at 11:53. From 12:23 onward he opens his mouth at every step. This is purely a pain response. Replay that part and look at how desperately the poor horse is shaking his head to try to escape the bit, and how wide open his mouth is, because his poor mouth is being pulled on to kingdom come at every step! That terrible rider that's banging around up there is trying balance his whole 200 pounds by hauling on the reins! Somebody PLEASE tell him to get into a proper English saddle and learn how to sit a horse! He needs to ride without stirrups for at least 6 months at all gaits, to retrain himself. And to bring his bloody feet back, his hands down, and to learn what his seat is, and how to use his seat and legs. I'm positively sickened by all of these riders, but that guy is the worst by far. There is no excuse for that torture. He should have been stopped right there and thrown out. The horse is BEGGING to have that yanking stopped, and no doubt his mouth was bleeding afterwards. I can't believe they allowed it! And again, If the horse at 21:05 is such a great horse, why do they have such a long shanked bit on him? Thank you very much for this Bob. I know it's NOT your fault that they rode that way, but it's a huge problem that most of them still do all of these things. This industry seems to have not learned a thing in all those years! And the average rider now is much fatter than then, so when they flop all over, as they most definate still do, they come down even harder. In that style of riding, not one of them travels with the horse. They all go bang, bang, bang at every step. The canters are painful to even watch. At 26:09 onward you can see that even Mr Walker, who was supposed to be so good, was banging onto that horse's back very hard, at every stride, in some places (but not all) he is getting about a foot of air between his butt and the saddle, when there should be none. That's a big part of why they yard so hard on the reins. But they are using bits that use leverage on the mouth through shanks on Pelham bits. It's nuts when all they have to do is ride properly. They could show these beautiful horses off just as well in a bitless bridle, with a proper English saddle and some decent riding. It's just painful to watch this, and all of them do it. I only point it out because they haven't progressed at all up until now. Saddle Seat and Big Lick riders have no skills and are hurting their horses. Bob, please use whatever influence you have to advocate for change, instead of just going along with it. I'm not saying you do that. I'm just saying that the poor sweet horses who swallow every instinct in order to please us deserve to loved and respected, not treated like things, and at your point and position in life, you can afford to speak out. PLEASE do a search on UA-cam and watch the videos on Big Lick and Saddle Seat riding, and watch them with your critical eye. And please do your best to help stop that insanity! Thank you for reading my post.
Thank you for taking the time to post. I agree with all you say. Anything can be done in a bitless bridle, even no bridle at all. As for the Big Lick.....Their horses are not partners, but slaves. ĺ wish anyone involved were made to have anything they do to their horses, done to them. I'm in Australia & I wish I could come over & be involved in the protesting & rescue. Thank you again for your wonderful post.
Have you ever ridden a gaited horse? I agree about the stiff riders and their pounding on the horse's backs, and agree about banning the Big Lick altogether. As for the rest, explain what is a "proper English saddle". Also, those are types of TWH bits, not Pelhams. High hands raise the head to improve the gait and encourage front end turnover. The vertical head bobbing is a natural trait of Walkers. They are penalized in the show ring if they don't do it. Every gaited horse performs its own unique 4 beat gait. It's much easier to feel the gait and correct it by sitting with your tailbone tucked under and feet slid a little forward than riding like a hunt seat rider. The horse is penalized in the ring for lack of consistency in its gait. Western performance riders manage to do their own pretty impressive version of dressage without incurring other's wrath, like we gaited riders do. As soon as someone can show me that it's just as effective to ride a gaited horse your way, then I'm ready to learn. Until then, stop consulting Wikipedia like it's the Oracle of Delphi and try actually riding your nearest gaited horse!
The horse moves so well without those pads. Such a shame how the show horse has changed. I loved the movements of the plantation shod horse over those pads.
Many of the show horses today still go without pads. Check out the National Walking Horse Association: nwha.com/
@@westwoodfarms I know of that, I own two Plantation walkers and show them as that. But the reality is that those stacked pads on today's show horses make the gait look so over-exaggerated and unnatural. I had a granddaughter of Midnight Sun and what a horse she turned out to be, never shod her, kept her barefoot and she could out walk any show horse with artificial aides. She had a feisty personality, which she passed on to her offspring, but I 3will never be able to appreciate the exaggerated gait of the padded show horse
@@bdctrans70 Extremely well said! Thank you for your excellent comment! Nobody in their right mind could support the insanity of Big Lick and the things that go into it.
I'm just SO glad that the people from Horse Plus Humane Society have taken up the cause to get it STOPPED for good, and that they and RaleighLink 14 and others are publicizing that fight on UA-cam.
We all need to donate to Horse Plus Humane Society, which is a registered tax free charity. They are just so amazing! They rescue horses every month from the kill (for dogfood) pipeline, and rehab all the ones they can for adoption. Even those that are too near death to be saved are given food and love for the first time in months, after enduring the absolute hell of the slaughter auctions, and are taken over to the other side in a peaceful loving way, instead of enduring the awful torture of the actual slaughter process. Think of the torture they endure in their last days! Horse Plus saves as many every month as they can with the donations they receive, and they document it on their UA-cam channel.
Please donate to the saving of horses, and/or to the stopping of Big Lick!
I totally agree. Why can't our country outlaw the big lick once and for all!!
Most beautiful horses of all time and versatile horses
Their natural gaits are beautiful. No need for alter their normal movements.
It's became all about greed. Screw the horse.
Yeah! What sheer insanity! And to create a thing that's actually far less appealing! It's nuts!
those were great days!
Look at Midnight Sun's action. Much prettier to watch than the "big lick."
Grace and beauty without big lick
Thank you Bob, for this look into the days before torturing horses for fun became a passtime of the rich.
Do you know the history of who invented the nonsense of Big Lick, and how that process evolved, or where a person could find out about it? (I will view your entire playlist of Walking Horse History, but I mean beyond what can be shown by you in a few short videos.)
I'm also quite disgusted by the riding of these people. They are yanking on the mouths in the cruelest way! Just look at the reins and the way the shanks on those shanked Pelham bridles are pulled way back! That causes great discomfort.
I can't see if they are wearing spurs, but I'll bet they are, because when you pull back so hard there needs to be another way to force them forward. Spurring a horse on, while pulling so painfully on their mouth, is cruel, but snobby rich people in all disciplines today just call it normal, and ignore it.
And on top, of that the riders are all leaning way back. This causes every single one of them to have their feet way out in front. They have little balance or control, so at the canter they flop on the horses back like a 200 pound sack of potatoes, and yank of the reins to try and compensate. Bang, Bang, BANG! Imagine how the poor horse feels! Look at Mr Haines bounce at 2:22! With a thud at every stride! No English rider would get away with that. The only saving grace is that unlike in Big Lick, these are not 2 year olds. But it's incredible how such bad riding became accepted.
Again at 2:58 there's a long shank bit. And Bob says the mare doesn't have the natural looseness of the other horse, but I guess not, with that long shank bit, and with the rider hauling on it as they are! What else would be expected when she is being told by every part of the bridle to STOP! She has the bit and curb chain both cutting her at every stride! Naturally she can't tell what is being asked of her, and she's as tense as heck because of everything that she feels! This is not hard to figure out. The stupidity here is just astounding.
You can see both things very clearly at 11:53. From 12:23 onward he opens his mouth at every step. This is purely a pain response. Replay that part and look at how desperately the poor horse is shaking his head to try to escape the bit, and how wide open his mouth is, because his poor mouth is being pulled on to kingdom come at every step! That terrible rider that's banging around up there is trying balance his whole 200 pounds by hauling on the reins!
Somebody PLEASE tell him to get into a proper English saddle and learn how to sit a horse! He needs to ride without stirrups for at least 6 months at all gaits, to retrain himself. And to bring his bloody feet back, his hands down, and to learn what his seat is, and how to use his seat and legs.
I'm positively sickened by all of these riders, but that guy is the worst by far. There is no excuse for that torture. He should have been stopped right there and thrown out. The horse is BEGGING to have that yanking stopped, and no doubt his mouth was bleeding afterwards. I can't believe they allowed it!
And again, If the horse at 21:05 is such a great horse, why do they have such a long shanked bit on him?
Thank you very much for this Bob. I know it's NOT your fault that they rode that way, but it's a huge problem that most of them still do all of these things. This industry seems to have not learned a thing in all those years!
And the average rider now is much fatter than then, so when they flop all over, as they most definate still do, they come down even harder. In that style of riding, not one of them travels with the horse. They all go bang, bang, bang at every step. The canters are painful to even watch. At 26:09 onward you can see that even Mr Walker, who was supposed to be so good, was banging onto that horse's back very hard, at every stride, in some places (but not all) he is getting about a foot of air between his butt and the saddle, when there should be none. That's a big part of why they yard so hard on the reins. But they are using bits that use leverage on the mouth through shanks on Pelham bits.
It's nuts when all they have to do is ride properly. They could show these beautiful horses off just as well in a bitless bridle, with a proper English saddle and some decent riding. It's just painful to watch this, and all of them do it. I only point it out because they haven't progressed at all up until now. Saddle Seat and Big Lick riders have no skills and are hurting their horses.
Bob, please use whatever influence you have to advocate for change, instead of just going along with it. I'm not saying you do that. I'm just saying that the poor sweet horses who swallow every instinct in order to please us deserve to loved and respected, not treated like things, and at your point and position in life, you can afford to speak out. PLEASE do a search on UA-cam and watch the videos on Big Lick and Saddle Seat riding, and watch them with your critical eye. And please do your best to help stop that insanity!
Thank you for reading my post.
Thank you for taking the time to post. I agree with all you say. Anything can be done in a bitless bridle, even no bridle at all. As for the Big Lick.....Their horses are not partners, but slaves. ĺ wish anyone involved were made to have anything they do to their horses, done to them. I'm in Australia & I wish I could come over & be involved in the protesting & rescue.
Thank you again for your wonderful post.
May I add, we are petitioning here in Australia. Hoping to make the petition as global as possible & handing it to the Horse Plus Humane Society.
Have you ever ridden a gaited horse?
I agree about the stiff riders and their pounding on the horse's backs, and agree about banning the Big Lick altogether.
As for the rest, explain what is a "proper English saddle".
Also, those are types of TWH bits, not Pelhams.
High hands raise the head to improve the gait and encourage front end turnover.
The vertical head bobbing is a natural trait of Walkers. They are penalized in the show ring if they don't do it.
Every gaited horse performs its own unique 4 beat gait. It's much easier to feel the gait and correct it by sitting with your tailbone tucked under and feet slid a little forward than riding like a hunt seat rider. The horse is penalized in the ring for lack of consistency in its gait.
Western performance riders manage to do their own pretty impressive version of dressage without incurring other's wrath, like we gaited riders do.
As soon as someone can show me that it's just as effective to ride a gaited horse your way, then I'm ready to learn. Until then, stop consulting Wikipedia like it's the Oracle of Delphi and try actually riding your nearest gaited horse!