BY KATIE MORROW, JUNIOR JOURNALIST
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| Youth exhibitors will face more than 20 difficult patterns at this year's Ford Youth World Show. |
The seemingly impossible patterns filled with rollbacks, hand gallops, flying lead changes, and complex transitions are back again for this year’s Ford AQHYA World Championship Show. But who is responsible for creating these daring patterns? “Notifications are often sent out to professional horsemen for any suggestions they might have for the patterns,” says Alex Ross, AQHA Executive Director of Judges. Alex adds that he generally writes the patterns for the horsemanship and showmanship while horsemen who are actively involved in the hunter events write the equitation patterns.
Here are Alex’s insights on this year’s patterns:
Ford Youth World Patterns
“You want to make sure that the pattern rides correctly. That is something that we can’t stress enough. It needs to be correct and not trap the riders.” Alex says that he sets the patterns on the first day he arrives at the Ford Youth World and even “test rides” and measures the patterns to make sure that they will run smoothly.
“For example, this year after I set the horsemanship pattern and measured it, I knew that I wanted the line to be a little longer for the lope with speed. I always go over the patterns with the judges. I asked them, and they agreed that they would like to see it a little longer. So we lengthened it another 15 feet. It just makes it ride a little better, and they can show off a little more.”
Showmanship
“Exhibitors are so good in the showmanship that you just have to try to make the pattern a little different each year, using the same maneuvers over and over but trying to structure it a little differently each time.”
Horsemanship
“It’s a good decision to ask riders to display maneuvers that show off their horsemanship skills. It is not always about riding a pattern and how you lay the pattern out. Although it is important to be technically correct in the pattern, it’s even more important to be a good rider and to execute the maneuvers in the pattern.You want to show the judge how well you can make your horse execute those maneuvers.
“Horsemanship patterns are meant to show the rider’s skills and how well he or she can ride in western classes. Whether it is a jog to lope maneuver in the pleasure or a turn around and lead changes and the differences in speed that you would see in the western riding or working cow horse.”
Equitation
“We have changed the equitation patterns a little bit in the last couple of years to not make it so much like a horsemanship pattern with an English saddle. It is more like a hunter course. “Equitation riders should be able to not only ride horses on the flat but also over fences; they should have good equitation. When designing the pattern, we want to show some of those characteristics that a rider needs to have in the equitation classes.”
Preliminary vs. Finals Patterns
“There is an increase in difficulty between the preliminary and finals pattern. There are some different keys and insights that we don’t tell the exhibitors; they will have to figure it out themselves. That’s part of being a good showman.”In the Future
“Someday it would be interesting to give the riders a pattern in the warm-up pen and say, ‘OK, you have 10 minutes to practice the pattern by yourself without your trainer’s assistance. You get to study it and plan it out here, and then you can execute it for the judges.’ That is a real test of horsemanship; it will be a way to tell the real horsemanship riders. There are some different things that we are thinking about doing; you need to change it up to find the good horseman - the ones who not only have nice horses but can also think their way through and execute the maneuvers. It’s the World Championship Show; we need to find the World Championship riders.”
