Whenever the term 'Western horse' is used, most people picture a rough-and-tumble rodeo—an event full of color but so full of danger, too, that no youngster would be permitted to enter the regular events. What few people realize is that many small, country horse shows have classes open to Western horses. The wide range of these local shows gives them their im­portance to the show world, and if you own a Western horse, you should pay attention so you'll know about the shows in time to enter your horse.

In case you strongly prefer western riding, you don't have to worry about being left out of the fun—or change your style simply because you thought all horse shows were exclusively for English riders. "Well," you may be thinking, "all I have to do, then, is to pick out the kind of horse I want and then use a western saddle and bridle on him. That's just fine."

But it isn't quite as simple as that! From what you've read so far about the different kinds of horse, you know that you wouldn't advise a person about to go on a hunt to use an Amer­ican Saddle Horse on the chase. You'd suggest he use a Thoroughbred—or a horse with Thoroughbred charac­teristics. The same standards of suit­ability hold true if you're picking out a Western horse for yourself. Suppose that, during your excursions to find a horse, a big, long-limbed Thorough­bred strikes you as a handsome an­imal—one you'd like to own. After all, you reason, he has speed, courage, stamina—just right for a Western horse.

Young Quarter Horse shows rounded muscles

Rider speeds by keg in a barrel race

True, the endurance and speed of the Thoroughbred are unquestioned, but still he is not what you'd want for western riding. Why? Because a good Western horse must have many other qualities. First of all, he must be a relatively small horse. Size is impor­tant because the working -cow pony has to forage for himself when it comes to food. He must be able to do a hard day's work on the scant rations he can find to nibble on the plains. Ir­regular, limited feed would mean the end of any Thoroughbred—he would simply starve on the rough diet of the Western horse. Another count against the Thoroughbred is his length of limb. Take a look at his legs: they are long and slender—built for the lengthy, thunderous stride it takes to cover the hunt fields or races. Can you imagine such a horse trying to dart in and out of a herd of cattle, making sudden stops and quick starts, whirl­ing turns and dashing sprints? Of course not. The Thoroughbred would be all legs in such a situation. He'd no sooner catch his stride than you'd be jamming on the brakes, ready to dart out after some stray.

Can you think of a third strike against a pure Thoroughbred? What about his gaits? That long, springy trot would reduce any western seat to a pulp after a day's work on the range. Some day you try sitting to the trot of a hunter. It takes a good deal of skill and effort not to bounce. However, a cowboy must devote all his skill and effort to doing his job— he has no spare time simply to keep himself from bouncing. Thus his horse must have a comfortable walk and a pleasing canter, or 'lope,' as it is called in the West. (The Western pony is rarely called upon to maintain an ex­tended trot.)

Well, having eliminated the Thor­oughbred from the field, you might now begin to wonder what breed is right for western riding. Strictly in terms of breeds, the Morgan and the Arabian offer good Western-horse prospects.

These independent fellows are never as sleek as eastern horses

Both are small horses and have plenty of strength and endur­ance. The Morgan is compact and therefore good at making fast turns, stops and starts. The Arabian is traditionally a desert horse and so is capable of working on little food and foraging for himself. Also, he has a perfect canter.

However good Morgans and Ara­bians may be, an important western breed we haven't yet talked about is the Quarter Horse. Every Westerner will boast of the qualities of this breed, but the fact is that the Quarter Horse had his beginnings in the East—in Virginia. In the late 1600's, Virginia gentlemen enjoyed racing their stock but there were no big race tracks available. They would use stretches of road near the towns—the road lap usually being about a quarter of a mile long. The distance became standardized and men began to breed horses especially for these quarter-mile races. Usually the breeder com­bined imported English horses either with the speedy little runners developed by the Chickasaw Indians or with a Rhode Island variety which had come down from New England and competed successfully against earlier Virginia horses. Then a horse named Janus, an English racer with Thor­oughbred bloodlines, was imported and began to transmit his character­istics to all his offspring. In time, the entire breed was influenced by the speed and power he passed on to his foals, and, as sprinters, Quarter Horses became unbeatable. Then, when race tracks were built, the East­erners gave up the Quarter Horse in favor of Thoroughbred racing on longer tracks. But ranchers and cow­boys soon discovered that the com­pactness of the Quarter Horse en­abled him to turn quickly and stop short. His large, rounded, muscular shoulders and hindquarters gave him plenty of drive and thrust so he could get off to a rapid start. That is why the Quarter Horse came to be almost every cowboy's favorite—and the breed has found a lasting home in the West. Nowadays, breeders frequently introduce more Thoroughbred blood into the strain so as to keep the heads of these large-quartered horses small and beautiful—like the head of a Thoroughbred.

A golden Palomino in western rig. Saddle and bridle are richly decorated for parade use

Life is not all work and no play for the Western horse's rider. One of the most enjoyable moments in a cowboy's life is when he and his horse can take part in a colorful parade on a holiday celebration. And here is one area in which color and all-round flashiness are what capture the Westerner's heart. The Palomino is a type whose popularity rests entirely on the beauty of his color and, when it comes to choosing a parade horse, a rider will have to look long and hard to find an animal that can beat the Palomino in this field. If you buy a Palomino, you will find many opportunities to show him in parade-horse classes, where he may compete against horses of other colors as well as in classes open only to Palominos.

The size and especially the abilities of Palominos vary greatly—to such a degree that even eastern show-goers take an interest in this horse. True, where breeding has produced the fea­tures of the American Saddle Horse, the owner usually sticks to keeping the Palomino in parade-horse classes. But there are Palominos with hunter characteristics. These are generally schooled in jumping and entered in open jumping classes. In open classes, the horse's appearance and manner don't come under consideration at all. The winning horse is simply the one which clears the most jumps or has the least number of faults scored against him. As for the rider, any form goes in an open class—as long as the horse clears the jumps.

How do you pick a good Palomino? Well, since the main feature is his color, his coat should be nearly the same shade of gold "as a newly minted U. S. gold coin," according to the American Horse Show Association Rule Book. If the horse you choose is very dark—almost liver-colored—he may be successful as a parade horse but he will be penalized in straight Palomino classes. The same holds true if your horse is very light in color— almost as pale as cream. But light or dark, every Palomino should have a white mane and tail. In a show, the presence of dark hairs in the mane and tail will lower the score. As far as white markings are concerned, a Palomino may have white on his face and he may also have white socks— but if the white reaches above the hock in back or the knee in front, the horse will again be penalized. A horse with white marks on his body would be considered a Pinto—the Spanish word for painted, and indeed these horses do look as if white paint had been splashed on their basic coat color— and because of this would be elimi­nated from a Palomino class.

Now we have talked about the breeds most suited for western riding —the Morgan, the Arabian, the Quar­ter Horse, and the Palomino—but, if you want to buy a Western horse, the thing you should watch out for above all are his characteristics. A Western horse can be of almost any breed—or any mixture of breeds—as long as his conformation is suited for western riding. He should be a small, rugged animal so that he doesn't require much food. He should be compact so that he can be easily maneuvered, and his gaits should be comfortable. He should also be very muscular through the shoulders and hindquarters so he can stop and start quickly. If you can find a horse with these qualities, he'll make a fine Western mount. It doesn't matter whether or not he has the breeding of a Quarter Horse, Morgan, or Arabian. The only reason these breeds are important to know about is that they produce the desirable char­acteristics with great consistency. If you buy a Quarter Horse, you know you've got all the makings of a fine Western horse. Many people would rather have this assurance and rely on breeding than scout for a horse on their own and take a chance on an animal of unknown background. The choice is up to you.

As far as price is concerned, you'll get a better financial bargain, of course, if you don't buy a horse of any special breed. But in order for it to be a bargain, you must be satisfied that the horse you choose can do happily the things you want him to do.

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